Jaimoe Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 You can build a sensibly priced classic styled building, but if you leave it totally in the hands of a developer without parametres and rules, then something cheap will be built. I hope the city really does try to make something good out of a bad situation. The whole reasaon why I see any hope in all of this was because of Adam Vaughan's comments regarding the area being listed and protected as a heritage block. I don't trust the motives and reasons behind constructing cheap and unimaginative buildings in dense and significant sections of any urban centre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol'Hickster Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 If its been listed as a heritage location then I belive it would be provincal cost wouldnt it, im not too sure how the heritage act works in ontario, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Look, anything they build in the destroyed area won't be as good as what it replaces - few new buildings can compare to old ones. But you can make the new buildings fit the design and vibe of an area without using too much imagination. This is not too much to ask is it. Not a question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Look, anything they build in the destroyed area won't be as good as what it replaces - few new buildings can compare to old ones. are you talking purely aesthetically? building standards are much better now than they were in the 1800s, buildings are more efficient, safer, better suited to modern lifestyles, etc...An interesting bit related to heritage - archaeologists are pumped about the fire (while still recognizing that it was terrible), because now they can hopefully excavate that block as there used to be a British army barracks there, from a period that not much is known about, I think the report said the 1830s. So there's some heritage that is now accessible despite the tragic fire. Interesting article here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Look' date=' anything they build in the destroyed area won't be as good as what it replaces - few new buildings can compare to old ones. [/quote']are you talking purely aesthetically? building standards are much better now than they were in the 1800s, buildings are more efficient, safer, better suited to modern lifestyles, etc... Better suited and efficient? Of course they often are. Drab, dull and boring slabs of concrete and steel? You bet, more times than not.Oh, yes old buildings are astethically pleasing (not all of course, but you know what I mean), plus the materials used now are more times than not far cheaper and cheap looking - eg. it's just too expensive to contruct entire blocks filled with limestone buildings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 ... it's just too expensive to contruct entire blocks filled with limestone buildings. exactly, so why force Duke's to do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bokonon Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Won't the insurance companies be paying for this? The companies no doubt knew that they were heritage buildings and therefore would have to follow the regulations regarding reconstruction in an event of this type. Insurance companies are posting record profits, so what's the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 ... it's just too expensive to contruct entire blocks filled with limestone buildings. exactly' date=' so why force Duke's to do that? [/quote']I'm not. I believe those buildings weren't made out of limestone either. They were Victorian brick buildings. It doesn't matter anyway, because the city reinforced just yesterday that whatever goes up has to adhere to the heritage design of the block. I'm assuming red brick buildings in a Victorian style will be built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 i don't like the part of the argument where the heritage proponents rail against drab boring buildings but then it's preferred to simply copy what was there before. i know it's all preference and subjective and all that, but i'm prone to side with creativity rather than same old, same old. it's an interesting topic. and i have nothing against history and heritage - there are just so many sides to it that no wonder people can come to consensus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 I agree with you AD. I like modern buildings. There have been some really nice new buildings being constructed in Toronto recently like two new ones at U of T, one is at the corner of University and College and other is two buildings west on College. Beautiful and imaginative. I also like what Frank Gehry is doing at the AGO. Nice work and it totally suits the area. Old meets the new at the Royal Conservatory works really well as does the retrofit seen with the MARS building on College Street at University. However, too many times buildings are torn down and a cheap eyesore goes up in its place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Won't the insurance companies be paying for this? The companies no doubt knew that they were heritage buildings and therefore would have to follow the regulations regarding reconstruction in an event of this type. Insurance companies are posting record profits, so what's the problem?i read that some businesses did not have fire insurance because they could not get it on such old buildings. i have no idea what they are going to do. i really feel bad for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 National Sound had no insurance, there are probably others in the same boat. What kind of business doesn't have insurance??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LXQ42 Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 I agree with you AD. I like modern buildings. There have been some really nice new buildings being constructed in Toronto recently like two new ones at U of T, one is at the corner of University and College and other is two buildings west on College. Beautiful and imaginative. I also like what Frank Gehry is doing at the AGO. Nice work and it totally suits the area. Old meets the new at the Royal Conservatory works really well as does the retrofit seen with the MARS building on College Street at University. However, too many times buildings are torn down and a cheap eyesore goes up in its place. The new ROM addition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 (edited) I don't care for the new ROM extension. It looks cheap (although that photo does it justice). If it was all glass like it was proposed, then it would look really cool. Edited February 24, 2008 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol'Hickster Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 (edited) The Royal Conservitory of Music is a Wonderful Hertiage building (right next to the Rom) I worked on it for a month or so last year Edited February 24, 2008 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 (edited) I agree with you AD. I like modern buildings. There have been some really nice new buildings being constructed in Toronto recently like two new ones at U of T' date=' one is at the corner of University and College and other is two buildings west on College. Beautiful and imaginative. I also like what Frank Gehry is doing at the AGO. Nice work and it totally suits the area. Old meets the new at the Royal Conservatory works really well as does the retrofit seen with the MARS building on College Street at University. However, too many times buildings are torn down and a cheap eyesore goes up in its place. [/quote']The new ROM addition... I still haven't been inside the "Crystal". My 5-year-old son was in there on the first day and loved it. It is too bad they couldn't have it with more glass as was originally planned. Looks really impressive when you go by at night and can see in and see a bunch of dinos on display. Check out this wild looking mirror-crystal thingy in the middle of the woods. How trippy would it be to stumble upon this? (more a piece of art than a building) http://www.micheldebroin.org/projects/super/index.html Upon invitation to reflect on the notion of transparency, that led me into the forest to envelop the contour of a large stone with fragments of mirror. The large stone, tucked away deep in the woods, became a reflective surface for its surroundings. In this play of splintered radiance, the rock disappears in its reflections. Because it reflects one cannot be mislead by its presence, yet we cannot seize it, rather it is the rock that reflects us. Edited February 25, 2008 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 The Royal Conservitory of Music is a Wonderful Hertiage building (right next to the Rom) I worked on it for a month or so last year I love this building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 I used to live around the corner from that building. Would walk by it almost every day. It's beautiful. In the summer months it's great when you go by and hear music floating out the open windows as students practice inside. I've never been inside the building. Any idea what it's like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 Yep, I grew up playing recitals and attending music camps there. It's very old in a conventional way, small/choppy rooms, a maze-ish feel... but i was young. It is/was in drastic need of restoration. I love it that way though. We had the craziest ghost stories about that place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 Cool. Could totally picture ghost stories from that place. Hearing music coming from a room down the hall and going in to find nobody there?!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 spooooooooooky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol'Hickster Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 I know when I was working on the brick work up top on the gables, on the back side there were names Craved in the masonry Window jambs, Rottin kids It was acctually pretty neat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 Any thoughts on the proposed Ryerson changes in this article? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 Any thoughts on the proposed Ryerson changes in this article? I'm all for the proposed changes: tearing down Kerr Hall and closing off all the streets and making the area student and pedestrian-friendly. Fuck that piece of shit Toronto Life Square, one of the ugliest new buildings Toronto and given where it is located, the most ill-conceived and designed.Ryerson is indeed "a mess". The Rogers Communications Centre on Church is sterile and barely functional, but given the ugliness of the Rogers headquarters on Jarvis and Bloor, it's not surprising that it looks and behaves this way. Ryerson has some nice buildings, but there's no flow to the school or sense of community. Of course, being the most urban university in Canada, it's a daunting task to contain the university vibe with the intersection of Dundas & Yonge just a half-block away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 mmmmmm sense of communtity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now