Arts
How about a giant squid for the Toronto Waterfront?
There have been a number of intriguing proposals for the redevelopment of the Canada Malting Complex over the years, the best-known likely being the Toronto Museum Project, which was scrapped last September. Since then, the City has come up with a two phase redevelopment plan, the first part of which got underway with the demolition of the germination and kiln buildings.
The second phase, which will involve the development of "a master plan to sell a portion of the site to private developers to fund parkland improvements and stabilize the 1929 and 1944 silos" is set to become one of the items on the plate of the newly elected city council. And with that council sitting for the first time next week, the specific direction of the site remains very much up in the air (aside from the provision to preserve the silos).
What about this, then?
The renderings depicted here are part of architecture student Mirko Daneluzzo's thesis project at the University of Applied Arts Vienna-Austria. Here's what he has to say about it: "the project uses the preexisting Canada Malting Silos industrial building to convert it into the contemporary form of a cultural contamination beacon. The project is defined by a series of layers that have different performative qualities embedded that modify the character of the building as a person flows seamlessly through the space and experiences the curated environment of the building."
Exactly what he means by this is anyone's guess -- what, after all, is a cultural contamination beacon -- but since I get quite the kick out of sharing TTC logo re-branding efforts that'll never come to fruition, why not architectural renderings for projects that'll never get built? But, really, wouldn't this just make the perfect counterpart to the Daniel Libeskind-designed ROM Crystal?
More on the project here can be found on Studioplex, suckerPunch, eVolo. And a hat tip to Urban Toronto, who tweeted about this earlier today, and has a good thread on the history of proposals for the site.
Discussion
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Then again, I'm kinda touchy about the waterfront. I'm working on a novel about the Toronto Islands, and I'm blogging about my attempts at self-publishing. Follow along at jakebabad.com.
Yes,yes your are. This building looks fantastic, lets do it.
I'm with Jake on keeping some old industrial elements on the waterfront. They are more a part of the city's history/culture than some generative experience from 'the curated environment of the building.'
It would make a great addition to the ROM's Crystal, the new AGO, and the disco lights on the CN Tower.
But this thing, although creative, looks like a messy dinner exploded. I'm all for something striking but this is a bit distracting and not in a good way.
It also reminds me of a facehugger.
I love it.
Please build it.
I love it! Make it happen!
-Rob Ford
It's a shame because it's precisely what a city like ours, desperately seeking world-class status, needs.
go for it
Who else has an evil giant squid/spaghetti building? NO ONE... imagine the lair some evil genius could have in that place to take over the world from.
Oh wait... this thing has the odour of gravy and city building. How are we going to stop the train if we don't say no.
let's let this this project buoy our spirits then, shall we?
Take the ROM for example. They destroy the classic architecture and throw in a bunch of stupid-looking glass pyramids.
The city lacks interesting architecture.