Quote:
Originally Posted by Drybrain
Yeah, due to its height and the fact that it sits fairly high on the downtown incline, it's starting to pop up from a few unexpected vantage points.
|
I've often thought that, in Halifax, the buildings do a particularly poor job of taking advantage of the interesting street layout and topography. A lot of the unique triangular sites or spots that could terminate important views are just open space. The viewplanes also encourage a tabletop rather than a stepped look and discourage ornamentation or unique shapes (you have to give up a big part of a restricted potential building envelope), so much of downtown just looks like a blob from afar. Meanwhile the "meaty" parts of downtown are just on a regular grid that's a little boring. The parts that had some weight and an interesting street layout were mostly where the Cogswell Interchange is now (three or four Morse's Teas equivalents were torn down).
There are a few exceptions like George Street (somewhat diminished by the loss of the building next to the Dennis and the old customs house), Bedford Row, and the Historic Properties. Fenwick is an exception too; it doesn't shy away from the topography. Of course lots of people complain about it for sticking out. Duke Street would have great Citadel views but it has a horrible brown pedway. Dresden Row and Agricola do still have the views. Hopefully the number of interesting spots like this will increase in the future.
Another thing the new construction makes me notice is just how sparse much of the city is. Streets like Spring Garden Road and Gottingen used to have almost a small town feeling since they were surrounded by parking lots instead of buildings.
Prev
Linear Mode
