Kazakhstani Developer Unveils Plans for 'International Icon' at Yonge and Bloor: You Like?
Yesterday morning, to a surprisingly large gathering of the local media at Panorama, Bazis International revealed its plans for an 80-storey condo tower at Yonge and Bloor. The name for the project? Quite simply, 1 Bloor.
While I got the distinct feeling the developer isn't as familiar with Yonge and Bloor as say, Zanta, they have sold 80% of Crystal Blu on Balmuto Street and they have hired a Toronto boy, Roy Varacalli, as their architect. Varacalli's previous firm was behind The Absolute Community-but not the 'Marilyn Monroe' Tower itself.
They've certainly got the full backing from Councilor Kyle Rae, who was at the press conference and answered more questions than the developer and the architect themselves. Rae had strong words for the current state of the 'most important intersection in Canada', calling it a 'failure' and said that Torontonians must 'demand fine architecture'.
So, is this 'fine architecture'? Will 1 Bloor be an 'International Icon'? It's too early to say, but I think the current rendering shows a building that is bold, interacts well with the street, and certainly isn't boring. I was most impressed with Varacalli's interpretation of the city in his design. The east and west sides of the building are intentionally different, to reflect the different personalities of the East and West sides of the City.
And what did the developer and Rae have to say about the issues brought up in the comments section of my teaser post? Height issue? There is no issue. The height has already been approved by council and remember-this is Downtown, get used to tall buildings! Additional strain on the Yonge-Bloor subway station below? Won't be a problem. Loss of public space? That's what the 3-storey retail podium with the roof-top garden is for.
What do you think of the design?
Image courtesy of Bazis. The high-res version will give you a much better look. [Bonus points for the first person who spots what's wrong with the image.]
Comments (48)
Louis Vuton? I'm no fashionista, but isn't it Vuitton? As well the background high-rises south of Bloor don't exist...yet.
Yes, it may be controversial, yes, it's glaring and conspicuous, but is it wrong that I find that building remarkably sexy-looking?
It looks great. Sleek and elegant. I hope this project will start the revitalization of Yonge Street south of Bloor. That's a dump too and such an ugly embarrassment for our city.
I'd love to see this tower built and Yonge Street south of Bloor transformed into a pedestrian only street like the Distillery District reflecting Toronto's history. Cobblestone streets, Old Toronto street lamps, trees, shrubs, plants, a bike lane and beautiful shops, boutiques, restaurants, galleries and fountains all down Yonge Street to College (or even farther down to Queen).
It would be truly spectacular to have the contrast of this very modern 21 st century tower at Yonge and Bloor and a beautiful, upscale pedestrian street evoking the rich history of Toronto just beside it.
A pedestrian only street on Yonge would be a real magnate for locals, families and international tourists. It's great for business, it's great for the environment, it's great for residents, it's great for tourism. And with so many high end, luxury condos in the neighborhood, a pedestrian-only Yonge Street would be an incredible commercial success. It would be bustling with people day and night.
As for funding this concept, the City should require that the developer put money towards creating a pedestrian-only district on Yonge Street south of Bloor as part of its agreement to allow them to develop the south east corner.
It would be a win-win situation for everyone.
It's certainly nicer than all the windowless concrete brutalism that's down there right now. Maybe this will force the Bay to at least decorate their walls?
What's wrong with the picture? First off, no huge illegal signs on top of the Stollery's building.
Also, to see the whole building like that, you'd probably have to be standing somewhere in Yorkville, rather than at the northwest corner of the intersection.
I love the fact that today on blogTO a picture of a woman's vagina was immediately followed by a gigantic steel phallus. We are going places, my friends.
DING DING DING! Allan gets the bonus points for spotting the typo on "Louis Vuitton". [If anyone wants to insert a joke about counterfeit goods now would be the time to do it.]
Sameer-I can't disagree with you. It does have a certain sex appeal, doesn't it?
Viktor-You should consider a career in urban design if you're not in it already ;) I'd definitely want to take a Sunday stroll down your version of Yonge Street.
I think this 80-storey condo is a great idea. Finally we're getting rid of the disgusting buildings at what should be the most important, most impressive-looking and most awe-inspiring intersection of the city.
Viktor, I think your idea of an Old Town Toronto pedestrian street on Yonge is FANTASTIC!! It would be one of our top tourist attractions and it would bring a great deal of pride and pleasure to Torontonians!
How do we convince our politicians of such an idea? This section of Yonge Street is a lump of coal just waiting to be transformed into a brilliant diamond! Let's do it right this time!
Kyle Rae are you listening?
Viktor, I forgot to add that the developer is contributing $2 Million to the redevelopment of Bloor Street.
http://www.bloor-yorkville.com/09bloor.html
Similar to the $3 Million or so Rogers contributed to Jarvis St. when it built at Jarvis+Bloor.
The Bloor-Yonge subway station is already pretty badly strained. I don't see how this would not make it worse, but there isn't really anything that can be done to fix it...
Varacalli did NOT design the "Marilyn" Absolute buildings in Mississauga. That was the Chinese arm of MAD Architects. Burka Varacalli Architects designed the shorter highrises that are also part of the complex.
As far as the developer's contribution to the Bloor Street development, $2 million is chickenscratch. They should be required to donate much, much more than that.
I'm definitely a fan of the building, and I'm happy to see the developers put the metaphor of the East vs. West into it. It's height is great, too - it should draw attention away from the brutal buildings on the north side of the intersection.
It's got better feng shui (fewer 90 degree angles) than most, but i don't dig the blades at the top. i think too that they could come up with a better street level design.
if you want to see a good example of a corner revitalized, take look at Columbus Circle. the recently built Time Warner building brought life back to the formerly stiffled NYC intersection.
Is it just me but doesn't it look like its ready to tip over with a strong gust of wind? Can't say I am impressed. The spot could be used much better. Bringing a giant condo doesn't really bring "glam" to the "most important intersection in Canada" which alone itself is a joke of a statement.
Although the building itself is sexy, this is another great example of how Toronto architects have absolutely no clue of how to design a building that interacts with pedestrians at street level. What we have here is another individualistic statement that fails to integrate with and enhance the surroundings.
A few further ideas about making Yonge Street a pedestrian-only street. Putting a streetcar on a pedestrian-only Yonge Street would work very well. Streetcars that have to battle with cars are just so inefficient. Look at what a nightmare taking the streetcar along Spadina is. It's just a stupid idea.
See The Grove at the Farmers Market
in Los Angeles for an example. It has outdoor streets, a trolley, and major public space. It abuts LA's oldest Farmers Market.
http://www.danth.com/pdf/trends_3_25_05.pdf
We don't want to become Skyscraper City with enormous 80 story towers and traffic infested streets everywhere!! We need to make sure that our streets are places where people can live!
Think about how cool it would be with all these new condo towers in the Yonge & Bloor area to have a pedestrian only street on Yonge with high end restaurants, boutiques, trees, plants, cobblestone streets, a bike lane and a streetcar or trolley line that is quick and efficient. In spring/summer/fall we could have a Farmer's Market on the street, street festivals etc.
It would be amazing!!
Victor- A streetcar or bus-only section of yonge could work between Wellesley and Bloor- With large widened walkways and LARGE MATURE STREET TREES... Toronto DESPERATELY needs precincts like this.... but pedestrianization needs to be done carefully so that it does not create some faux-historical, "Olde Towne," new urbanist joke... A pedestrian precinct with some CONTEMPORARY DESIGN FEATURES and TREES combined with an older building stock could be really cool, though. i always thought Queen between University and Spadina would be a good candidate for this kind of idea, since so many people in the GTA arrive there, park and walk around, anyway. It's kind of mallish to begin with- so throw in some trees and take out the regular access of Cars, and toronto start to (kind of) become a place you want to walk around and not just "DRIVE THRU"!
I don't mind the building, but I would hope that it would give more to revitalizaing Bloor St. East, not Yonge St from Bloor to College.
I'm actually a fan of this stretch of Yonge, it's one of the few stretches in central Toronto that hasn't been turned into a complete yuppie joke, despite being surrounding by all the young professionals needed. It's gritty, dirty, busy and crowded and says if nothing else: CITY. Its one of the few parts of the city that doesn't quite belong to anyone - rich, poor, middle class, gay, straight, white, brown, Asian, black on and on. Turning such a stretch into a sanitized, cobble-stoned, pedestrian zone for tourists would do nothing except finally join the Eaton Centre and Yorkville is bourgeois consumption heaven.
Yonge Street is Toronto's main street and one of the most historically significant streets in the city. It should not look like the main drag of a crappy little third-rate town!!! It's a neglected, disgusting-looking dump and so is most of the area surrounding it. This is frankly just unacceptable!
This will sound harsh, but if I were to personify Toronto, I'd say that for most of its life Toronto has been an unsophisticated adolescent with low self esteem and no sense of style, who doesn't work out, eat properly, or dress well and gets out of bed in the morning with disheveled hair and wrinkled, cheap clothes.
Our city has been such a depressing urban wasteland for so long and no one has really cared much until only very recently. Finally some major changes are now taking place. People are starting to care about things like beautiful architecture and good urban planning. The adolescent is starting to grow up and realize its own self worth.
I'm glad to see the site finally developed, but this design is disappointingly underwhelming.
I'm loathe to say it, but Toronto is unfortunately so architecturally backward that most home-bred architects simply are incapable of creating world class designs.
There's an absence of a strong, innovative design culture in this city to keep architects on their toes. That's why so many of our buildings and neighbourhoods range from the bland to the truly ugly.
We have a LONG, LONG way to go before we become a sophisticated, global city. In order to do so, we need to stop accepting mediocrity and start demanding excellence.
This is a great building for Toronto. It looks great, the location is perfect (intersection of 2 subway lines) and will generate a lot of buzz.
Cave Spot
www.cavespot.com
Toronto Real Estate Discussion Board
The HBC Centre (i.e. 2 Bloor E.) looks much better since they replaced all its brown windows a few years ago with those bluish turquoisy ones... The CIBC building on the opposit corner (i.e. 2 Bloor West) needs some new windows too; or hell just tear the darn thing down! It (2 Bloor West) is one of the most hideous buildings downtown, joining the rank and ranks of the brown poop log building we call the Zurich
Centre on University, the inverted coil we call the Sears building on Jarvis, and the pigeon-net-infested U of T student family rez and that building on the NW corner of Yonge & Charles need to be razed STAT. :)
While we're on the topic of that 'hood, it will be interesting to see how Crystal Blu and the Uptown Residences are going to end up, considering the coziness of their real estate, i.e. right on top of each other.
The design of this building is another example of a wasted opportunity in Toronto. Thankfully we will get rid of the disgusting buildings that currently stand on our city's most important intersection, but the design of this building is second rate, conventional and really boring!! Once again we are going to settle for mediocrity instead of aiming for greatness! We Torontonians love mediocrity it seems. We aspire to mediocrity, although we often fall short of even mediocrity.
English architect Will Alsop recently hit a nerve when he referred to Toronto as "an incredibly ugly city." But it's TRUE, no matter what we try to tell ourselves. Let's just face the reality: we live in an INCREDIBLY, INCREDIBLY ugly city and it's not going to change since our politicians keep allowing our remaining open spaces to be built up with buildings that can only be described as cheap, ugly, boring and bland. And these ugly buildings are surrounded by more ugliness in the form of endless concrete. We don't design public parks or gardens in the city - we have parking lots instead. We don't plant trees or shrubs along sidewalks.
Torontonians don't seem to have any concept of the importance of beauty. Perhaps it should be compulsory for architects trained in Toronto to study and work in really great cities with really great architecture and urban design, because our Toronto-bred architects seem to be incapable of building great buildings or designing beautiful public spaces. The directors of the opera house were most proud of the fact that they came in under budget!! Great. They came in under budget and we have an opera house that looks like a convention centre from the outside!
When are we going to make beautiful architecture and urban design a priority for our city??? Let's get some public discussions going on this topic, more articles in the newspapers, more debates in the press. Something has to change if we are to be proud of our city.
Perfectly written, Conrad! It's nice to see more people with a clue! You are spot on with e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g you wrote in your post. So much so that's it's worth reposting, so:
The design of this building is another example of a wasted opportunity in Toronto. Thankfully we will get rid of the disgusting buildings that currently stand on our city's most important intersection, but the design of this building is second rate, conventional and really boring!! Once again we are going to settle for mediocrity instead of aiming for greatness! We Torontonians love mediocrity it seems. We aspire to mediocrity, although we often fall short of even mediocrity.
English architect Will Alsop recently hit a nerve when he referred to Toronto as "an incredibly ugly city." But it's TRUE, no matter what we try to tell ourselves. Let's just face the reality: we live in an INCREDIBLY, INCREDIBLY ugly city and it's not going to change since our politicians keep allowing our remaining open spaces to be built up with buildings that can only be described as cheap, ugly, boring and bland. And these ugly buildings are surrounded by more ugliness in the form of endless concrete. We don't design public parks or gardens in the city - we have parking lots instead. We don't plant trees or shrubs along sidewalks.
Torontonians don't seem to have any concept of the importance of beauty. Perhaps it should be compulsory for architects trained in Toronto to study and work in really great cities with really great architecture and urban design, because our Toronto-bred architects seem to be incapable of building great buildings or designing beautiful public spaces. The directors of the opera house were most proud of the fact that they came in under budget!! Great. They came in under budget and we have an opera house that looks like a convention centre from the outside!
When are we going to make beautiful architecture and urban design a priority for our city??? Let's get some public discussions going on this topic, more articles in the newspapers, more debates in the press. Something has to change if we are to be proud of our city.
And Will Alsop is (unfortunately) correct.
Perfectly written, Conrad! It's nice to see more people with a clue! You are spot on with e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g you wrote in your post. So much so that's it's worth reposting, so:
The design of this building is another example of a wasted opportunity in Toronto. Thankfully we will get rid of the disgusting buildings that currently stand on our city's most important intersection, but the design of this building is second rate, conventional and really boring!! Once again we are going to settle for mediocrity instead of aiming for greatness! We Torontonians love mediocrity it seems. We aspire to mediocrity, although we often fall short of even mediocrity.
English architect Will Alsop recently hit a nerve when he referred to Toronto as "an incredibly ugly city." But it's TRUE, no matter what we try to tell ourselves. Let's just face the reality: we live in an INCREDIBLY, INCREDIBLY ugly city and it's not going to change since our politicians keep allowing our remaining open spaces to be built up with buildings that can only be described as cheap, ugly, boring and bland. And these ugly buildings are surrounded by more ugliness in the form of endless concrete. We don't design public parks or gardens in the city - we have parking lots instead. We don't plant trees or shrubs along sidewalks.
Torontonians don't seem to have any concept of the importance of beauty. Perhaps it should be compulsory for architects trained in Toronto to study and work in really great cities with really great architecture and urban design, because our Toronto-bred architects seem to be incapable of building great buildings or designing beautiful public spaces. The directors of the opera house were most proud of the fact that they came in under budget!! Great. They came in under budget and we have an opera house that looks like a convention centre from the outside!
When are we going to make beautiful architecture and urban design a priority for our city??? Let's get some public discussions going on this topic, more articles in the newspapers, more debates in the press. Something has to change if we are to be proud of our city.
And Will Alsop is (unfortunately) correct.
What Toronto deserves is a stunning landmark building at this intersection and we should settle for nothing less.
This intersection deserves a building which is unique, breathtaking and beautiful. It should be a symbol and an icon of our city. It should be a building that is featured in travel books, architectural magazines and articles on Toronto.
It's not too late to fight for this standard of excellence. We simply cannot afford to allow another mediocre building to be built -- especially at this important intersection.
While Varacalli's design would probably be received with great enthusiasm in the cities of Kazakhstan where almost of Bazis's projects are based, it is simply not up to the standard of world class cities!! And Toronto does aspire to be a world-class city!
So let's see some world-class thinking by our politicians, journalists and the architectural community. Let's not settle for another mediocre building. This is a chance for greatness. A city like Paris, London or New York would never allow something this second rate to be built in a landmark location. Neither should we! Let's not settle again!!!
Well said. Now if we could just get some more discussion going on in the press. Journalists need to educate Torontonians more and should strive to elevate our thinking on these issues.
Torontonians don't strive for greatness. Our small town mentality embraces the average and mediocre.
The reaction to this proposed tower from our politicians seems to be one of relief that something -- ANYTHING -- will be built here. It is depressing that our aspirations are so low.
I have returned to live in Toronto after 7 years in New York and 4 years in Paris and am just appalled by how ugly this city is. Yes, there are some new buildings that are great (ie U of T's Pharmacy building, ROM) but the Opera House and the AGO's facelift are both disappointing. Frank Ghery was born in Toronto and grew up in the AGO neighbourhood. He should have designed something mind-blowing. The AGO redesign looks like something he sketched on the back of a scrap piece of paper.
Will Alsop is absolutely right. Toronto is UGLY. We need to accept this reality and make some radical changes if we are to build a great city for the future.
I have to wonder if Torontonians are aware of how beautiful European cities are? Or even other Canadian cities like Vancouver and Montreal or American cities like New York or Boston? We too could have a great city. But we have to educate ourselves and raise our standards.
It's depressing to walk around this city and view street after street of incredibly ugly buildings, ugly streets, neglected gardens and concrete everywhere.
I agree with the others above that we cannot waste any more opportunities. We are running out of prime real estate in the city. This is our city. We should demand excellence.
Our politicians have to be responsible and if they aren't, we need to vote them out of power and elect people who care about making Toronto really impressive city.
Below are some excerpts from Chris Hume's article in the Star...
Some causes for concern in condo design
April 21, 2007
Christopher Hume
If condo design were as strong as condo sales, Toronto would be one of the most amazing architectural cities in North America.
The bad news is that it isn't. The good news is that it continues to get better.
Unlike Mississauga, Toronto still doesn't have a Marilyn Monroe, a spectacular and iconic building chosen from entries to an international design competition. On the other hand, unlike Mississauga, the situation in Toronto is more urban and, therefore, more contextual.
One of the tiny handful of occasions in the city is the site on the southeast corner of Bloor and Yonge Sts., one of the most important intersections in Toronto.
Several proposals have come forward in the last few years, but now Bazis International, a development company based – are you ready? – in Kazakhstan, has announced it will proceed with an 80-storey hotel/condo atop a low-rise retail podium.
So far so good; the site remains ridiculously underused and if any property in the city calls out for densification, this is it.
Problem is that architecture isn't up to the location... More work is needed on the project, so let's hope that what finally gets built will be better than the drawings we've seen.
Interesting, too, that when city council approved the project four years ago, it was a completely different scheme. Only the height remains the same, but that seems to be only thing city planners and politicians care about. This is hardly the way to build a great city.
But then, that's something we gave up on a long time ago. Even our beauty-minded mayor, David Miller, has done nothing but talk about the possibilities. His inaction on, among other places, the waterfront, reveals Miller to be just another bottom-line vote-getter, not a civic leader.
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And here is what John Bentley Mays has to say in the Globe and Mail on Friday April 20, 2007
John Bentley Mays
The city's central junction deserves a building that defies the standard grid.
From Friday's Globe and Mail
For more than 200 years, the junction of Bloor and Yonge streets has been a key orientation point for those of us who live in this part of the world. But despite its historical importance, the intersection has gotten precious little architectural respect over the years. It's today little more than a smudgy comma in the street grid, marked by low, mean buildings of no architectural merit, the ugly hulk of the Hudson's Bay store, and a couple of dismal high-rise office towers.
The outstanding mediocrity of Bloor and Yonge has been under attack for a few years now. In early 2005, a sleek 60-storey proposal was floated for 1 Bloor St. East — currently the site of a shabby building that is home to a botox clinic and other little enterprises — by the Toronto firm, Young + Wright Architects.
Then, ownership of the place changed. Its new developer, Bazis International, a company with origins in Kazakhstan, has recently come forward with its own vision of what should happen at 1 Bloor East: a shopping, hotel and residential complex topping out at nearly 80 storeys, designed by Toronto artist and architect Roy Varacalli. (Mr. Varacalli recently became design chief at Bazis.)
The size of the $450-million tower is right, if what Toronto wants for Yonge Street is the kind of strong, urbane identity that tall buildings can confer. I, for one, will miss the tacky souvenir and gadget shops that have long flourished along Yonge south of Bloor, and that may well disappear as the strip becomes classier — though I also think it's probably time for them to go elsewhere.
The architect's scheme features a four-level base for retail shopping, which anchors the building firmly in the high-end commercial culture of Bloor Street West. Around this bright platform will sweep a double strip of loosely looping fabric embedded with light-emitting diodes, sparkling with advertising messages. This lively, chic treatment of the building at street level will be a welcome change from Bloor West's more usual store fronts, which tend to be just the homely first floors of dowdy buildings.
Having established a firm relationship with the street and street life in its first four levels, the tower then soars up to a tall crest of sharp fins. There are three vertical elements in Mr. Varacalli's tower composition (which includes a luxury hotel and some 500 condominium residences). One of these volumes, wholly enclosed by translucent glass balconies, and concave in curvature, faces west. Another, also wrapped in balconies, but uncurved, faces east along Bloor. Both these volumes rise alongside a central blade of glass and tile that finally culminates in the building's crown.
But this façade is not quite as simple as I'm making it sound. As it rises from the base, the mass of the west-facing element slides away from the central blade, leaning toward downtown, while the east-facing volume performs a similar slight bow in the direction of suburbia. These very large slides and bends in space should make the tower sprightly, dynamic — an exclamation point in the urban grid of streets and blockish buildings, a beacon marking the significance of Bloor and Yonge, and of the key subway intersection below the streets.
In making these unusual façade gestures, Mr. Varacalli is allying himself with a new generation of architectural designers weary of the modernist box and all its variations. They have come out of school armed with powerful design and production software that allows — and definitely encourages — architects to dream of buildings that twist and bend, bow and slide. New engineering techniques and technologies have opened the way to make these dreams real and concrete — meaning that, over the next few years, we can expect to see more and more buildings that defy the standard grid.
My lingering problem with Mr. Varacalli's design lies in its caution with regard to this prevailing avant-gardism in skyscraper aesthetics. If the architect wants to give us glitz and swing, let's have glitz and swing with a vengeance. Prudence is surely not appropriate for the corner of Bloor and Yonge, which cries out for a highly unusual, striking design that will throw down a dare to future developers at the intersection.
The good news here is that the picture of 1 Bloor East recently released by Bazis International is not the absolute last word about this project. In an interview last week, Mr. Varacalli said the design process will go on for a few more months. We can hope that this promising scheme gains in daring and ambition, and that the crossing of Bloor and Yonge gets the landmark tower it badly needs.
I agree. Toronto needs to crawl out of it's shell and start demanding excellence. Torontonians need to raise the bar on what they allow to be built in the city. The city is one of the ugliest cities of its size that I have seen anywhere in the world.
The design of this building in Toronto's core is DULL and CONVENTIONAL. Ho hum. Boring. What a wasted opportunity!!
I've lived in Manhattan, London and currently live in Tokyo. These cities aspire to greatness and their architecture and artistic endeavors reflect that.
Toronto is content with mediocrity. Mediocrity is safe. Mediocrity is easy. Mediocrity doesn't require too much effort. Torontonians are not even aware of how far they lag behind other cities.
I hope this isn't the final design for this building. The people of Toronto shouldn't compromise or settle for sub-standard things any longer.
Wake up Toronto and look at what other cities in the world are doing. You are far, far behind and you will never become a world class city with this outlook and with these ill-conceived, half-hearted, small-minded projects.
No, I don't like. I mean look at it. There is nothing special or appealing about this building, except for the fact that it is really tall.
I agree with the people above who said that this corner deserves a mind-blowing, gorgeous building -- something that tourists will seek out and residents will be proud of.
This is mediocre design. And I am tired of seeing mediocre design EVERYWHERE in this city.
We are aspiring to be a world class city aren't we? Well, if we are, then let's raise our standards and start thinking like a world class city.
It will look strange to have only one 80-storey tower on the south east corner on Yonge & Bloor, and low buildings on all the other corners.
There will be no symmetry at this intersection. It will look lopsided. You'll look up and -- wow -- suddenly there will be a really tall building sprouting out of this intersection without any context.
It would be great to get rid of the Stollery's on the south west side and have a well thought-out design with two buildings interplaying at the intersection.
There are two luxury condo buildings currently going up in New York's Upper West Side (100 and Broadway) that are a fantastic example of how very tall buildings can fit into a street with low level buildings and really work.
Since they are right across the street from each other, they provide balance, symmetry and incredible design and are really awesome to behold.
Or look at the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in Manhattan for an idea of a perfectly well thought out design for a luxury shopping center and skyscrapers. It is absolutely stunning.
But hey, I know, most buildings and neighborhoods in Toronto are built without thinking too much about context or the surrounding neighborhood.
"As a City we must learn to despise mediocrity. We can't accept what we've accepted in the past. 'Good enough' is no longer good enough."
Mayor David Miller
Architecture and Urban Design Awards, May 16, 2005
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This is what David Miller said in 2005.
In June 2006 City Council directed City Planning to establish the Design Review Panel Pilot Project for a test period in pilot areas in each District of the City.
The purpose of this new initiative is to improve the design quality of the public realm which is an expressed goal of the Official Plan and City Council's Beautiful City Initiative. The Pilot Project is tailored to Toronto and builds on the successes of other Canadian and international cities with Design Review Panels.
SO........WHERE IS THIS DESIGN REVIEW PANEL WITH RESPECT TO 1 BLOOR STREET EAST????
WE SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE ANOTHER BORING MONSTROSITY BUILT -- ESPECIALLY AT THIS VERY IMPORTANT INTERSECTION!!!!!!!
PLEASE EMAIL KYLE RAE AND DAVID MILLER ABOUT THIS MATTER. NOTHING WILL CHANGE IN THIS CITY IF THE CITIZENS OF TORONTO DON'T DEMAND HIGHER STANDARDS.
I hope they vastly improve the design of this building. This design is ridiculously tacky.
Why the hell does this city keep allowing cheap and tacky buildings to be built?? I'm getting really discouraged that Toronto is never going to be a beautiful city with all the mediocre junk being built everywhere. I agree that we simply cannot allow any more third rate buildings to go up. They are destroying our city and our politicians are letting it happen. There needs to be way more public pressure and media attention for higher standards in architecture and urban design in Toronto. Haven't we had enough already?
Does anyone know if there is a new design for this building? The above design is not only mediocre, but tacky and we cannot afford anything short of architectural excellence at this corner.
We are destroying our city and any potential for it to become a beautify city by allowing so many ugly, cheap, crappy buildings to be built everywhere.
We cannot afford to allow another mediocre building to be built. Especially not here!!
This corner demands a building which is extraordinary and breathtaking. We deserve excellence. Let's not settle for anything less again please!
Please make note of the following elected officials and contact them regularly to let them know that the current state of our city is unacceptable and that we demand high standards in urban design and architecture.
They must hear from us regularly!
Ted Tyndorf
Chief Planner and Executive Director of City Planning
email: ttyndorf@toronto.ca
tel: (416) 392-8772
Robert Freedman
Director, Urban Design, Planning Division, City of Toronto
email: rfreedm@toronto.ca
tel: (416)-392-1126
Eric Pedersen, Program Manager Urban Design at email: epederse@toronto.ca
tel:(416) 392 1130
Chris Phibbs Senior Advisor to Mayor David Miller email:cphibbs@toronto.ca
tel:416-338-7106
Mayor David Miller
email: mayor_miller@toronto.ca
tel: 416-397-CITY (2489)
Kyle Rae
City Councillor for Ward 27 Toronto Centre – Rosedale
City Hall
email: councillor_rae@toronto.ca
Tel: 416-392-7903
I can't believe Torontonians on this blog are so upset with this design. I think its great and we don't need anything extravegant, leave that for the cityplace area if they so choose. I think its a perfect height and brings a new kind feel. For example I'm in my early 20's I would like to live in that area where I'm on the subway and close to pretty much everything. I couldn't see myself living in yorkville for two reasons:
1. I'm not accustomed to the high end life style (yuppy)
2. Even if I could get adjusted I'm not comfortable with the $1,000 + a foot its going to cost by 2011
I am curious as to what Bazis International wants per square foot for these condominiums. I've been trying to guess a range, but this building is very unique. If I look South East, the prices are around $400 - 500 ft, North West $800+... I wonder where this is going to come in at any educated guesses?
We are just sick of ugly, unimaginative buildings being allowed to be built. It is ruining our city. We are pathetic when compared architecturally to just about any great city in the world. Let's stop and start building beautiful buildings worthy of our great city.
First thing. What's wrong with the picture? The cars ar driving on the right hand side... I guess the renderer lives in London or Hong Kong.
About the building, it's a nice, I think it would look pretty good on the corner... but I think any more high rise development above 20 storeys in the immediate would really kill off the street life in the area.
High rises have their place but you need an icon (even something like 100-120 storeys) surrounded by low to medium sized buildings just to give it a proper scale.
That's the problem with Toronto right now... everything's going up at 40-60 storeys and pretty soon you'll have a forest of almost identical buildings dotting the landscape.
The other problem is the streets... how boring can you make this city? You've got old crumbling sidewalks and roads, and wherever you look downtown there's some bland looking storefront, coffee shop, or parking lot. barely anything else. Where are the parks? Where are the tree lined streets? Where is the little bit of nature everyone needs? For every development going up the developer should have to put up about 20-40% of public space either as part of the site or adjacent or within 50-100m of the building site.
This city is amazing when you compare it to many large cities in the world, but the guys running it have no sense of urban planning... you don't need a lot money to build a great city, just good planning, high standards and a bit of backbone when it comes to dealing with stingy developers.
First thing. What's wrong with the picture? The cars ar driving on the right hand side... I guess the renderer lives in London or Hong Kong.
About the building, it's a nice, I think it would look pretty good on the corner... but I think any more high rise development above 20 storeys in the immediate would really kill off the street life in the area.
High rises have their place but you need an icon (even something like 100-120 storeys) surrounded by low to medium sized buildings just to give it a proper scale.
That's the problem with Toronto right now... everything's going up at 40-60 storeys and pretty soon you'll have a forest of almost identical buildings dotting the landscape.
The other problem is the streets... how boring can you make this city? You've got old crumbling sidewalks and roads, and wherever you look downtown there's some bland looking storefront, coffee shop, or parking lot. barely anything else. Where are the parks? Where are the tree lined streets? Where is the little bit of nature everyone needs? For every development going up the developer should have to put up about 20-40% of public space either as part of the site or adjacent or within 50-100m of the building site.
This city is amazing when you compare it to many large cities in the world, but the guys running it have no sense of urban planning... you don't need a lot money to build a great city, just good planning, high standards and a bit of backbone when it comes to dealing with stingy developers.
Anybody who is happy with the state of architecture and urban design in Toronto, is either an idiot or just doesn't give a shit. It's about time the public and our politicians demanded more of the developers who become richer, while the city sinks deeper into mediocrity. Toronto is not the same city it was 10 years ago. We are ready for some bold and original architecture. Now, if only our mayor and city councillors would force developers to build quality buildings, we might actually become a decent looking city. So far, all we hear is empty talk from our mayor, about "the beautiful city". The Bay Centre across the street is dreadful! It destroys that whole corner. It has to be totally redesigned, along with the Royal Bank, to make this intersection the important place it should be. We need to make our mayor realize that Torontonians care about architecture and urban design. It's time to act.
I just saw the latest renderings for this building and am furious!! They are dull. Another boxy-looking, mediocre building. This is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH for this very Why do we have to put up with this? This is unacceptable! We should not put up with this. We deserve a truly gorgeous, breathtaking landmark building here. This city's standards are too low. It is incredibly disappointing.
There are no pelecan crossing markings at that intersection as far as I know. It's been 6 years since I lived there, but I dont remember a single pelecan crossing in all of Toronto.
Also the buildings in the background.
By the way, the design is typical of the simplist and cheapest attempts at being elegant in Dubai. I shwoosh here, and a curve there. Nothing well crafted to be honest.
I have worked in British firm cranking out that sort of stuff for the mid-East and believe me they put very little thought into the design.
Kazakhstan and for that matter pan-turkic developers are in a boom at the moment and model themselves on the tacky slap happy gulf style as they are searching for a rapid economical explosion.
Why can't any local Toronto firms better this design? Sad how Toronto feels it needs foreign architects to lend it credibility, while local architects crank out boring safe designs.
Other than that....it's pretty I guess, just not my taste.
Hey Marc, i dont know where you came from but thank god some is telling the truth about varacalli....
Would you happen to know Varacalli to make such a strong statement what is the truth? That he did not design the Marilyn Monroe tower? That was never a secret merely an omission from the author. Tx.
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