Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[saffronleaf]

Originally Posted by softee

And South of Bloor more often than not rowhouses with 4-6 units seem to predominate in the oldest neighbourhoods.

I love old streets such as these:

https://goo.gl/maps/H38H891GhQT2

https://goo.gl/maps/k2DerXmPWwH2

It's remarkable how varied the urban form of the city is.

[Hali87]

Source

[isaidso]

I've always loved how one side of those office twins are literally in the water. I hope they stitch this part of the Halifax waterfront together. From the Sheraton to the casino it's a dead zone.

[Hali87]

I could see it becoming a more important public space once Cogswell is redeveloped. Right now Purdy's Wharf is cut off from the rest of Downtown by the end of the interchange and the office complex in isolation doesn't have much to offer the average person who doesn't work there. The wharf itself rarely has anything going on, boats can dock there but it is the least used section of dock downtown.

[isaidso]

I've never seen anyone on that wharf. I'm not sure how you'd entice anyone to go unless you put a 24 hour Tim Hortons at the end of it. Floor to ceiling glass on 3 sides for a great harbour view?

[FrAnKs]

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I've never seen anyone on that worf. I'm not sure how you'd entice anyone to go unless you put a 24 hour Tim Hortons at the end of it. Floor to ceiling glass on 3 sides for a great harbour view?

The lieutenant feels personally attacked by this comment.

[DrJoe]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

By Jasonzed: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/to...rio-varacalli.17683/page-96#post-1392432

This is absolute perfecton in city building right here.

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by DrJoe

This is absolute perfecton in city building right here.

To me, without the skyscrapers in the background, it almost looks like a Suburb of London, UK.

[dleung]

Originally Posted by rousseau

So much character-less, monotonous green glass. Looks oppressive.

All these slate mansard roofs and monotonous cladding, so oppressive!

Of course, I'd love to see the development of a "west coast" style that is better than what there is now, but a bit of critical thinking helps in terms of understanding why we sometimes like monotony, instead of just regurgitating the same not-even-accurate "green glass" line from SSC.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

To me, without the skyscrapers in the background, it almost looks like a Suburb of London, UK.

London housing is a bit more uniform at a block level due to a higher level of speculative development, but there are a lot of similarities between residential housing in old Toronto and London “suburbs” (still within the Greenbelt but outside the central city). Which of course makes a lot of sense!

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by dleung

All these slate mansard roofs and monotonous cladding, so oppressive!

Of course, I'd love to see the development of a "west coast" style that is better than what there is now, but a bit of critical thinking helps in terms of understanding why we sometimes like monotony, instead of just regurgitating the same not-even-accurate "green glass" line from SSC.

I think he was referring to monotony in terms of a city's skyline rather than streetlevel. Obviously a skyline tends to be visible from far outside of an immediate neighbourhood or district and looms over the city forming an integral part of many cities' aesthetic identity. Although even if he was referring to the street level, I don't actually recall him saying that he prefers, or even likes, Parisian-style midrise monotony. I think we'd need to hear some additional detail before suggesting a lack of critical thinking.

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by niwell

London housing is a bit more uniform at a block level due to a higher level of speculative development, but there are a lot of similarities between residential housing in old Toronto and London “suburbs” (still within the Greenbelt but outside the central city). Which of course makes a lot of sense!

Yeah. I essentialy meant to speak about architectural similarities.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I could see it becoming a more important public space once Cogswell is redeveloped. Right now Purdy's Wharf is cut off from the rest of Downtown by the end of the interchange and the office complex in isolation doesn't have much to offer the average person who doesn't work there. The wharf itself rarely has anything going on, boats can dock there but it is the least used section of dock downtown.

Purdy's Wharf is getting new landscaping, seating, and small outdoor performance spaces (for something like buskers I guess).

http://www.uplandstudio.ca/purdys-wharf-2/62150v97l0kw8ui69c4chbxoinwvua

Looks like an improvement but I don't think it will make a huge difference to the use patterns in the area. It'll get the lunch crowd, a few walkers, and occasional events.

It'll be interesting to see how much the Cogswell redevelopment changes things. The interchange will be gone but the Purdy's complex includes some parkades and buildings that don't open up to the west side. Then again this will be the closest waterfront for a much larger population of residents and workers because of the change to the road network and the infill development that will happen.

For those who aren't familiar with this spot it's kind of interesting even though it would not win any modern urban design awards. One of the more interesting 80's office complexes in the country, and it will probably gain more retro charm as time goes on: https://www.google.com/maps/@44.6517619,...Xs8ybtmo0ajyy0Lx78YwA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[someone123]

Halifax skyline


Source

The building under construction in the foreground will look like this when it's complete (this rendering is a few years old and is missing other buildings):


http://queensmarque.com

It's a little sad that the Art Deco building in behind will be mostly blocked but then again hopefully the new building will be attractive in its own way. It will be clad largely in sandstone too with some copper so hopefully it will be complementary.

[ainvan]

Pete Cline

[FrAnKs]

Queen's marque is very nice addition! But I got a question...do the people who are walking on the piers/Docks will now have to make a detour rather than keeping a straight way after the building will be completed ?

[someone123]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

Queen's marque is very nice addition! But I got a question...do the people who are walking on the piers/Docks will now have to make a detour rather than keeping a straight way after the building will be completed ?

There are going to be a few different outdoor ground level passageways so people can walk through the development without a detour. Plus there will be the less direct wooden boardwalk on the water side.

[giallo]

Originally Posted by ainvan

Pete Cline

Love me a good Vancouver aerial.

[mistercorporate]

^
What a beauty!