The Soul-Sucking Canada Thread

[MonctonRad]

OMG!!!

This building reminds me of some type of ersatz commie block one would find in an alternate universe Soviet style dystopia.

I actually remember this building from previous visits to Kingston, but I had shut this out of my mind (likely some form of automatic protective mechanism to prevent PTSD)...........

[stevanford1]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

OMG!!!

This building reminds me of some type of ersatz commie block one would find in an alternate universe Soviet style dystopia.

I actually remember this building from previous visits to Kingston, but I had shut this out of my mind (likely some form of automatic protective mechanism to prevent PTSD)...........

It looks Norilskian!

[wave46]

Originally Posted by stevanford1

Ditto, you see the sameness of that suburb is soul-sucking whilst the mafia villa is ugly. Reminds me of Princess Tower's in Kingston, Pizza Pizza (soul-sucking), PT (ugly).

It's kind of a London, UK council-estate-cum-Soviet-bloc mashup. It's a set I might use if I was shooting a future dystopian thriller film.

[esquire]

There must be an interesting story behind that one.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by wave46

It's kind of a London, UK council-estate-cum-Soviet-bloc mashup. It's a set I might use if I was shooting a future dystopian thriller film.

Indeed, something like "Children of Men" (one of the best dystopian films of all time BTW).

[stevanford1]

Originally Posted by esquire

There must be an interesting story behind that one.

There is.
https://www.queensu.ca/encyclopedia/p/princess-towers

[MolsonExport]

Soul sucking is a state of poor mental well-being (with possible physical side effects) induced by the physical environment. Vast parking lots. Commie blocks against a grey sky. An empty, dated mall. Big Box Barf. Banal smartcentres with the same collection of stores with the same architecture. Cookie-cutter subdivisions. Snout-houses. Unidriveways. 6-8 lane suburban boulevards with cars zooming by. The CIBC logo. The inside of a Smitty's house of pancakes. Walmarts and the McDonald's inside Walmart. Miltonization. The wretched sameness/banality, more than anything else, sucks your soul away.

Ugly, on the other hand, is recoiling with revulsion, from the object of said ugliness. It doesn't suck your soul; it repels you, mind and body.

In many respects, soul-sucking is worse than ugly. Soul-sucking doesn't have to be ugly. It just has to suck your soul.

Mind you, something can be both soul-sucking and ugly (e.g., Princess Towers, Missingsausage City Hall, any Residence Soleil).

[stevanford1]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Soul sucking is a state of poor mental well-being (with possible physical side effects) induced by the physical environment. Vast parking lots. Commie blocks against a grey sky. An empty, dated mall. Big Box Barf. Banal smartcentres with the same collection of stores with the same architecture. Cookie-cutter subdivisions. Snout-houses. Unidriveways. 6-8 lane suburban boulevards with cars zooming by. The CIBC logo. The inside of a Smitty's house of pancakes. Walmarts and the McDonald's inside Walmart. Miltonization. The wretched sameness/banality, more than anything else, sucks your soul away.

Ugly, on the other hand, is recoiling with revulsion, from the object of said ugliness. It doesn't suck your soul; it repels you, mind and body.

In many respects, soul-sucking is worse than ugly. Soul-sucking doesn't have to be ugly. It just has to suck your soul.

Mind you, something can be both soul-sucking and ugly (e.g., Princess Towers, Missingsausage City Hall, any Residence Soleil).

Good definition. Mississauga City Hall is just a composite for DT I Missingsausage. Princess Towers ruins the beautiful downtown of Kingston.

[someone123]

That Kingston building might be in the "so bad it's good" category. Although that's easy to say when you don't live anywhere near it.

Princess Towers is a few blocks away from the older historic area in downtown Kingston (particularly the market square).

[esquire]

Originally Posted by stevanford1

There is.
https://www.queensu.ca/encyclopedia/p/princess-towers

Thank you, that is interesting. I admire the idealistic yet totally unrealistic sense of optimism that was behind it.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by stevanford1

There is.
https://www.queensu.ca/encyclopedia/p/princess-towers

Interesting..the Queen's version of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochdale_College

Rochdale College.

My wife lived in Princess Towers for a year I think when she was at Queen's. It doesn't seem to have impacted her long term.

[MolsonExport]

Montreal-Nord
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6025...4!8i8192?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6000...4!8i8192?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5983...4!8i8192?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5958...4!8i8192?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6224...4!8i8192?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5870...4!8i8192?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6234...4!8i8192?hl=en

best of all:
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6212...4!8i8192?hl=en

[wave46]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Soul sucking is a state of poor mental well-being (with possible physical side effects) induced by the physical environment. Vast parking lots. Commie blocks against a grey sky. An empty, dated mall. Big Box Barf. Banal smartcentres with the same collection of stores with the same architecture. Cookie-cutter subdivisions. Snout-houses. Unidriveways. 6-8 lane suburban boulevards with cars zooming by. The CIBC logo. The inside of a Smitty's house of pancakes. Walmarts and the McDonald's inside Walmart. Miltonization. The wretched sameness/banality, more than anything else, sucks your soul away.

While I get this thread is in jest, I'm not exactly sure what you want.

A lot of these things have made life more affordable for the masses. I know it's not an urbanist's dream, but the urban utopia espoused by many is simply an unaffordable dream for those of us who aren't six-figure earners.

While we may dream of beautiful Cabbagetown houses in the heart of the city near bustling urban cores, it's a dream whose cost is out of sight. So, yes, the 1960s/70s-era bungalow subdivision is about the best we can do. And yes, there's blocks of those side-splits in all their blandness. Sometimes, I just want to get some groceries and something I need and not have to trek to 3 different stores to do that, so Superstore or Wal-Mart it is. Sometimes, I just want a hit of caffeine at 6 a.m. as I head in for my shift, so Rim Whortons it is.

I do agree that some of the aesthetics/choices are pretty questionable (snout houses, Tim Hortons coffee, Budweiser being good beer) but as long as I have the choice, I'm alright with these things existing.

It just looks like elitists pissing on the commoner from a certain vantage point.

[MolsonExport]

commentary is healthy. There have been many design issues, which would benefit from a healthy discussion of how things went wrong. When our neighborhoods are banal/ugly, we all have to live with it, despite having little say in the matter.

you will note that a lot of what is being dissed is not always the lower income developments. Special wrath is laid out for architectural abominations in more upscale places.
I actually love the older inner-city and decidedly working-class (albeit, now increasingly gentrified) areas of Montreal.

I am not sure why, on an architecture and urban affairs website, we can't feel comfortable discussing these things.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

commentary is healthy. There have been many design issues, which would benefit from a healthy discussion of how things went wrong. When our neighborhoods are banal/ugly, we all have to live with it, despite having little say in the matter.

you will note that a lot of what is being dissed is not always the lower income developments. Special wrath is laid out for architectural abominations in more upscale places.
I actually love the older inner-city and decidedly working-class (albeit, now increasingly gentrified) areas of Montreal.

I am not sure why, on an architecture and urban affairs website, we can't feel comfortable discussing these things.

I understand the difference between commentary and just slagging it page after page.

I do agree that some of these places will date very poorly as '70s decor did - I personally think snout houses are ugly. Or that the modern house is just so huge compared to its forebears, especially as they contain fewer people. Or that the huge lots and development patterns of the '50s through '90s were a colossal waste of space in our largest cities.

In another sense, I do understand that mass production - banal as it may be - made stuff affordable for ordinary people. As for taste, well, it definitely makes North America distinct, if nothing else.

Admittedly, I wonder in the era of easily being able to find interesting local restaurants why anyone would choose Montana's or whatnot.

[stevanford1]

Do tabloids count as Soul-Sucking? They are banal and absolutely everywhere.

• Royal Family
• Trump RA! RA!
• Doctor Fucking OZ!
• Horoscopes
• Trump RA! RA!
• Doctor Fucking Oz

Ad nauseum at every Super Market check-out until you get sick of them.

Vomit

I hate this prick!

DrSchloz

[esquire]

I thought all the old folks moved on to Facebook for their made up news and celebrity gossip? What is the median age of the remaining Enquirer readers these days... 85?

[stevanford1]

Originally Posted by esquire

I thought all the old folks moved on to Facebook for their made up news and celebrity gossip? What is the median age of the remaining Enquirer readers these days... 85?

. I don’t know why people read Enquirer! Same with Archie comics. Tend to not buy books at the checkout . However I do buy chocolate bars!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by esquire

I thought all the old folks moved on to Facebook for their made up news and celebrity gossip? What is the median age of the remaining Enquirer readers these days... 85?

If you're a Trump supporter, and a high school dropout, Jesus loving, gun totin', Wal-Mart denizen from Arkansas or Mississippi, I imagine that you could still be in your 30s or 40s.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by wave46

While I get this thread is in jest, I'm not exactly sure what you want.

A lot of these things have made life more affordable for the masses. I know it's not an urbanist's dream, but the urban utopia espoused by many is simply an unaffordable dream for those of us who aren't six-figure earners.

While we may dream of beautiful Cabbagetown houses in the heart of the city near bustling urban cores, it's a dream whose cost is out of sight. So, yes, the 1960s/70s-era bungalow subdivision is about the best we can do. And yes, there's blocks of those side-splits in all their blandness. Sometimes, I just want to get some groceries and something I need and not have to trek to 3 different stores to do that, so Superstore or Wal-Mart it is. Sometimes, I just want a hit of caffeine at 6 a.m. as I head in for my shift, so Rim Whortons it is.

I do agree that some of the aesthetics/choices are pretty questionable (snout houses, Tim Hortons coffee, Budweiser being good beer) but as long as I have the choice, I'm alright with these things existing.

It just looks like elitists pissing on the commoner from a certain vantage point.

We can build cheaply in a more urban way though. Sure suburbia is for the masses, but Big Box land could at least have facades up the street and invite people to walk between Children's Place and Bulk Barn, but they don't. They put acres of parking between a group of four stores. So you drive to Walmart and drive to Children's Place and then drive to Tims to go through the drivethru.

We build cul de sac after cul de sac after cul de sac and winding roads so the distance one needs to walk in most cases is three or four times what it would be with a grid pattern of streets.

There are simple things we can do. But we let the developers drive this with asinine choices. I can remember the Harbour Landing brochures and development plans for the smart center, but it is in practice nothing like the glossy pictures, it is this thread.