The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! II

[caltrane74]

Next year, ICE condo and the Delta Hotel will be blocking 3 green glass condos from this very exact view. ( Including the recently built and very tall MLS complex)

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by DrJoe

Think New York and all the art deco it built. The theme of the day happens to be blue/green glass. .

i'm sorry, but that's a clunky comparison. Art Deco is a style with tons of possible variety into it, including with materials (stones, concrete, metal, glass). The green box of Toronto or Vancouver is not an architectural movement.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Next year, ICE condo and the Delta Hotel will be blocking 3 green glass condos from this very exact view. ( Including the recently built and very tall MLS complex)

Well then, we're saved!

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by dleung

The logical end to this line of thought is a skyline that looks like a box of crayons.

My problem isn't the lack of colours in Vancouver or CityPlace per se, but the fact that from even a small distance, I can't even distinguish one building from another. They literally visually meld together into one another creating a blob most reminiscent of a borg cube. Awful.

I don't think it's so much a lack of colour which is the problem but a lack of variety in materials and design. It's all clear glass, but very little stone, brick or steel. This must be due to the fact that all the towers are of the same era. Chicago and New York certainly don't look like a box of crayons.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by dleung

I fully disagree and believe the problem is more the architecture than the colour of glass. How many colours are people willing to use on a building anyway? The logical end to this line of thought is a skyline that looks like a box of crayons. A lot of the usual complaints about transparency and seeing the blinds makes me wonder if people are longing for that mirrored crap from the 80's or on soulless dubai proposals that look like uninhabited sculptures for that very reason.

It's not so much a desire for colours that are bright and flashy, but rather colours that are distinguishable from one another. For me the Toronto financial district represents the ideal in terms of a mix of colours and textures. There's the white of FCP, dark reddish brown of Scotia, silver of Commerce Court west, black of TD, grey of Brookfield place, light brown of Commerce court, gold of RBC, blue of BAC, etc.

Honestly, it's never come across to me as looking wild or unruly. It just looks richly textured and diverse, which is exactly what I desire of an urban environment.


Oliver Plante http://www.flickr.com/photos/oliverp...57628799491037


louise@toronto1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lopoulin/4072322541/

[armorand93]

[chrisallard5454]

I will keep the Winnipeg Train Rolling...



Taken by me this past week. More to come.

[Travis007]

^ Impressive! That is going to be quite a striking skyline icon.

[chrisallard5454]

Originally Posted by Travis007

^ Impressive! That is going to be quite a striking skyline icon.

The size of the building is almost overwhelming, especially when considering its location. It is completely isolated, thus making it seem that much bigger. But each one of those pieces of glass is 6' high, and at least 12' long (Depending on the piece). It is just a colossal building!

[DrNest]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

It's not so much a desire for colours that are bright and flashy, but rather colours that are distinguishable from one another. For me the Toronto financial district represents the ideal in terms of a mix of colours and textures. There's the white of FCP, dark reddish brown of Scotia, silver of Commerce Court west, black of TD, grey of Brookfield place, light brown of Commerce court, gold of RBC, blue of BAC, etc.

Honestly, it's never come across to me as looking wild or unruly. It just looks richly textured and diverse, which is exactly what I desire of an urban environment.

I totally agree. It's largely for that reason that I so like the Toronto CBD. The mixtures of claddings to the buildings is quite diverse and gives more depth and character to the area. I'm not a fan of virtually all the new condos having the same looking green glass, but do wonder, would people want to live in black or red (for example) glassed windows?

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by DrNest

I'm not a fan of virtually all the new condos having the same looking green glass, but do wonder, would people want to live in black or red (for example) glassed windows?

No, but there are many more options for residential design that aren't blue/green glass or red or purple or something. For example:

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by DrNest

I totally agree. It's largely for that reason that I so like the Toronto CBD. The mixtures of claddings to the buildings is quite diverse and gives more depth and character to the area. I'm not a fan of virtually all the new condos having the same looking green glass, but do wonder, would people want to live in black or red (for example) glassed windows?

You can have a black building without the windows being black glass.


http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...3#post54086943

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

It's not so much a desire for colours that are bright and flashy, but rather colours that are distinguishable from one another. For me the Toronto financial district represents the ideal in terms of a mix of colours and textures. There's the white of FCP, dark reddish brown of Scotia, silver of Commerce Court west, black of TD, grey of Brookfield place, light brown of Commerce court, gold of RBC, blue of BAC, etc.

Honestly, it's never come across to me as looking wild or unruly. It just looks richly textured and diverse, which is exactly what I desire of an urban environment.


Oliver Plante http://www.flickr.com/photos/oliverp...57628799491037


louise@toronto1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lopoulin/4072322541/

Wow.
That pic really demonstrates just how massive the Toronto Waterfront development will be. There is no reason to go down to that area yet so I don't think even most Torontonians realize the sheer size of the undeveloped area of the Waterfront & Portlands.

[rousseau]

Impressive impression: when you drive south on the 427 and are about to take the turn onto the Gardiner you see the Mississauga skyline in the distance to your right, replete with the Marilyn Monroe buildings, and then to your left you see downtown.

Then you get onto the Gardiner for a tour of craneville. It's kewl. But you know what would be even kewler? An elevated train running along the 427 and the Gardiner between the airport and downtown.

[DrNest]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

You can have a black building without the windows being black glass.

I do like the look of this tower. Wouldn't want all new builds to look like this, but if some of the new condos around the Gardiner area were built like this rather than almost all having the same blue/green glass it would give more variety in the skyline. Especially considering that looking from the islands or the CN Tower this is what most people will see.

[vegeta_skyline]

Actually black glass is increasingly becoming a more popular offering on condo projects in Toronto;

300 Front;

Originally Posted by cruzin4u

One Valhalla;

Originally Posted by drum118

The first of 3 buildings;


The Florian;

Originally Posted by anonymous0024

Couture, with perhaps the darkest glass in the city;

Originally Posted by WATERCONDOS

Curiously enough the render showed no hit of just how dark the glass would be here;


Reve;

Originally Posted by drum118

Avonshire (2 buildings - second one is identical to this one);

Originally Posted by Solaris

Radiance & Spring;

Originally Posted by vz64

Paintbox;

Originally Posted by rdaner

Residence Inn Toronto Downtown

The Met;

Originally Posted by Hypnotoad

and Encore;

Originally Posted by hgallardo

Even a few of Cityplace's buildings have dark glass, unfortunately its only covers small portions of the buildings.
Panorama;

Originally Posted by yonderbean

and Montage;

Originally Posted by avatarreb

both employ some degree of dark cladding as well.


Here's some future dark exterior clad buildings(though the glass itself may or may not be a darker tone, tough to tell from renders alone).

X2;


Lumen, another black & white building like 300 Front;


E condo's;

Originally Posted by khristopher

The Yorkville


Rise;


Tango;


Picasso;


Tableau


355 King


All images either from or courtesy of UrbanToronto

[dleung]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

It's not so much a desire for colours that are bright and flashy, but rather colours that are distinguishable from one another. For me the Toronto financial district represents the ideal in terms of a mix of colours and textures. There's the white of FCP, dark reddish brown of Scotia, silver of Commerce Court west, black of TD, grey of Brookfield place, light brown of Commerce court, gold of RBC, blue of BAC, etc.

Office towers have the resources to be unique, but condos are a dime a dozen, and looking at all the derivative zig-zags and punched window designs posted, it seems we've exhausted all attempts at variety given a certain budget. Glazing technology is getting better, and will eventually make punched windows no longer irrational, since everyone prefers more light. As I mentioned before, variety won't make our cities more beautiful.

Originally Posted by dleung

A lot of the usual complaints about transparency and seeing the blinds makes me wonder if people are longing for that mirrored crap from the 80's or on soulless dubai proposals that look like uninhabited sculptures for that very reason.

For me, the ideal glass colour is 100% clear or white from an angle. Technology has brought us past the time when windows were small and cladding was everything. Now we can make the envelope disappear and let the insides tell the story.

There are countless beautiful historic cities all over the planet, yet all the buildings in those cities are identical in style save for a few landmarks. Buildings only looked different if their purpose or scale was different. The need for architectural variety for the sake of variety is a very recent, post-modern, idea. One has to assume that it is to make up for a declining aesthetic on an urban level, and our inability to resolve it with a template that can be repeated and still looks good.

[Nouvellecosse]

"Beauty" isn't the only thing of relevance though. I also care about things being interesting and stimulating. Not only because there are a lot of beautiful places that are somewhat bland, predictable, or even sterile, but because everyone has a different definition of what is beautiful. And for me, that definition can even change over time. It is not a static, specific thing.

To me beautiful and monotonous isn't any more desirable than ugly and interesting. I prefer the middle ground. A city filled with beautiful and ugly, quiet and exciting, bizarre and routine, quaint and corporate, tall and short, modest and imposing an so on.

[Martin Mtl]

By Zeuxis.PixelSurgery on Flickr

[Ramako]

Gorgeous. Montreal is easily the most beautiful major city (i.e. having more than a million people) in Canada.