The Great Canadian Skyline thread for CMAs 1 million and under

[Chadillaccc]

I can't think of that many that are really set off away from the city.

Alberta's - right in downtown Edmonton
British Columbia's - right in downtown Victoria
Saskatchewan's - adjacent to downtown Regina across Wascana Lake
Manitoba's - right in downtown Winnipeg
Ontario's - in western downtown Toronto
Quebec's parliament is very close to downtown Quebec City
New Brunswick's - right in downtown Fredericton
etc...


Which ones are you referring to that are set off in the middle of nowhere? I understand that Province House in Halifax is literally smack-dab in the middle of the core, but most other province's legislatures are still well-inside their respective downtown cores.

[ssiguy]

I really like the BC Legislature but I don't like what they do at night. They have lights all around it like that London Dept store {Harrod's?} and I think it kind of looks tacky.

I don't know why people are down on Ontario's. It has a lot of character, a unique brickwork and colour, and is encircled by Canada's premier boulevard.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by someone123

The only big downside for NS, I think, is that there is surface parking on some of the space around Province House, and outside of the gates there are just normal sidewalks and streets (even though there are some other great buildings nearby, like the Bank of NS).

There are also things like the bricked-out windows and empty spaces that were clearly intended to hold statues which make it feel a lot shabbier and less complete than most other legislatures in the country.

If the province

- de-bricked the windows
- threw some statues in the alcoves
- got rid of the on-site parking
- fixed up surrounding buildings like the Joeseph Howe building

then I think Province House would approach the same level of dignity seen in other legislatures.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

I can't think of that many that are really set off away from the city.

Alberta's - right in downtown Edmonton
British Columbia's - right in downtown Victoria
Saskatchewan's - adjacent to downtown Regina across Wascana Lake
Manitoba's - right in downtown Winnipeg
Ontario's - in western downtown Toronto
Quebec's parliament is very close to downtown Quebec City
New Brunswick's - right in downtown Fredericton
etc...

Most of them are downtown/"in the city", but most are also "set apart" from their surroundings by huge parks or landscaped grounds. Nova Scotia's is actually very easy to walk/drive past without noticing that it's anything special, due to the lack of "lawn" that most legislatures seem to have.

[Chadillaccc]

Ohhh okay. I see, then I totally agree. I believe that Prince Edward Island's legislature is also sort of like that. It's just off the main street, but it doesn't really have a "great lawn", just sort of a port cochiere/driveway thing.

[Chadillaccc]

Kelowna


http://westharbourkelowna.com/

http://www.kelownarealestatepros.com...street-kelowna

[Chadillaccc]

My 5 favorite legislatures in order... all photos from Wikipedia:


1. British Columbia




2. Quebec




3. Alberta




4. Manitoba




5. Saskatchewan

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

I can't think of that many that are really set off away from the city.

Alberta's - right in downtown Edmonton
British Columbia's - right in downtown Victoria
Saskatchewan's - adjacent to downtown Regina across Wascana Lake
Manitoba's - right in downtown Winnipeg
Ontario's - in western downtown Toronto
Quebec's parliament is very close to downtown Quebec City
New Brunswick's - right in downtown Fredericton
etc...


Which ones are you referring to that are set off in the middle of nowhere? I understand that Province House in Halifax is literally smack-dab in the middle of the core, but most other province's legislatures are still well-inside their respective downtown cores.

When these legislature buildings were built, the cities in which they were located were quite small compared to nowadays. When SK's leg opened up in 1912, it was considered as "far away" from the city. Lol! (At that time.)

The same may be said about other legislatures for that time period as well.

[Hali87]

The other five:

Ontario


Source


New Brunswick


Source


Nova Scotia


Source


PEI


Source


NL


Source

[LeftCoaster]

Ontario's was such a wasted opportunity. Such an incredible architectural style, robbed of it's potential by sloppy design.

It seems there really is a gulf in quality between the top 5 and the rest, no offence intended.

[Hali87]

...The other three:

Yukon


Source

NWT


Source


Nunavut


Source

[Beedok]

The Prairie ones just look too American to me.

[kool maudit]

i never knew what new brunswick's one looked like. now, it might be my favorite in the country.

[SignalHillHiker]

I love it too. A simpler version of Quebec's, really. And the colour is gorgeous.

I think, though, that Alberta's might be my favourite. That dome is something special.

I still love the location of Nova Scotia's.

Ontario's, though, wow... nothing wrong with any of its constituent ideas... but altogether? And so out of scale in relation to each other?

Gorgeous colour, though.

[Hali87]

The only thing I really like about Ontario's is that it mirrors the architectural style of the Annex. I don't think it looks very good as a stand-alone building.

The location (and condition) of Nova Scotia's, I think, subtly says a lot about us as a city and a province.

[vid]

The lack of symmetry and really bizarre scale is one of the defining aspects of the Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style. All those American courthouses you guys drool over are in the same style, as is Toronto's old city hall which also, by the way, is not symmetrical.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardsonian_Romanesque

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ann...ex_style_house

This architectural style is one of Toronto's defining characteristics, and it is unique to that city within Canada. That's probably why so many people outside of Ontario don't find it aesthetically pleasing.

Lack of symmetry was part of the Victorian era aesthetic. It is why Victorian houses look like this:


http://yourhousedesigns.com/?cat=5

And not like this:

[SignalHillHiker]

It's so... heavy-handed. Some of the American examples are quite nice, though! They don't seem as... I'm not sure what the word is. Rushed?

Wikipedia's picture of the Ontario Legislature makes it look nicer.

[Chadillaccc]

Atlantic Skylines - tried my best to find uncommon and recent images of each city...



Charlottetown - 70 000


Downtown Charlottetown by Martin Cathrae, on Flickr


Fredericton - 100 000


Kayaking on St. John River by Fredericton Tourism, on Flickr


Sydney - 105 000


Sydney Harbour by mark.seymour, on Flickr


Saint John - 128 000


http://rehabexpert.com/canada-drug-r...hn-drug-rehab/


Moncton - 145 000


http://autotransportassociation.ca/v...k-moncton.html


St. John's - 210 000


St. John's harbour winter panorama by tuanland, on Flickr


Halifax - 410 000


Halifax Skyline Downtown by fazz33 (Chris), on Flickr

[SignalHillHiker]

My crush on Saint John is getting stronger lately.

I love how you can't even tell where our main little chunk of skyline is, near the left side of the photo. God, I don't miss winter.

That Halifax pic has a cool effect. It looks almost like there's no hill and all that bulk behind the skyline is more taller buildings.

Pity about Sydney.

[Chadillaccc]

Yeah, I tried for like an hour to find good pics of both Sydney and Corner Brook. Could only find a half decent one of Sydney.