The only conclusion to draw from the special TTC meeting is that City Council needs to change the membership of the Toronto Transit Commission. When the Commission voted to terminate Chief General Manager Gary Webster without just cause for not supporting the mayor’s position on transit expansion it undermined Council’s earlier decision to endorse the LRT plan proposed by Councillor Stintz, chair of the Commission. Council should have prevented the termination, but having failed to do so, their responsibility now must be to reconstitute a commission that will honour its decision. The TTC cannot be run at various times by two competing boards – the Commission and City Council. City Council is superior to the Commission and must bring it in line with its decision.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Over Development in East Bayfront
I never really wanted Waterfront Toronto to build anything south of Queens Quay. And now that the George Brown building has topped out, I'm even more worried that we're losing public views of the water.
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| From Waterfront Toronto's Webcam |
Sunday, May 15, 2011
EdgeWalk
Last week’s announcement of a new ride at the CN Tower caught most people by surprise. I did notice the metal struts appear recently but I attributed them to temporary maintenance work. As it turns out, they’ll support the new EdgeWalk experience where groups of people can circle the central pod, suspended by straps and harnesses.
I’m very skeptical that this addition to the tower will benefit its architectural program. The supplied rendering shows that the support structure will alter the tower’s profile, which has remained unchanged for 35 years. I don’t yet know how the patrons will exit from the tower but I fear it will break the symmetry of the pod. This might not seem like a heritage issue to some, but not all heritage buildings have Greek columns. The distinctive look of the CN Tower is a critical piece of Toronto’s skyline. The power to alter it should not belong only to the owners.
I’ve spent the last few days trying to find out what, if any, heritage review took place. The CN Tower is designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage ACT which recognizes it as part of the Union Station Heritage District. This is different than ‘designating’ the tower itself under Part IV of the ACT. The City of Toronto’s website is not completely clear if this gives the city the legal right to refuse a building permit on heritage grounds. However, since the Tower itself was ‘listed’ as a heritage property in 1992, Heritage Preservation Services would have had the opportunity to review the application. I’m trying to get that review from them.
Since I went down there to get the building permit number I took some photos of the ticketing counter and dressing room which seem to be finished. They’re located on the southwest side of the concourse (gift shop level). It looks like thrill-seekers will have to wear full bodysuits and special footwear in order to do the walk. But, as it’s been questioned by others, I wonder how the engineers plan to secure the vomit radius.
I’m very skeptical that this addition to the tower will benefit its architectural program. The supplied rendering shows that the support structure will alter the tower’s profile, which has remained unchanged for 35 years. I don’t yet know how the patrons will exit from the tower but I fear it will break the symmetry of the pod. This might not seem like a heritage issue to some, but not all heritage buildings have Greek columns. The distinctive look of the CN Tower is a critical piece of Toronto’s skyline. The power to alter it should not belong only to the owners.
I’ve spent the last few days trying to find out what, if any, heritage review took place. The CN Tower is designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage ACT which recognizes it as part of the Union Station Heritage District. This is different than ‘designating’ the tower itself under Part IV of the ACT. The City of Toronto’s website is not completely clear if this gives the city the legal right to refuse a building permit on heritage grounds. However, since the Tower itself was ‘listed’ as a heritage property in 1992, Heritage Preservation Services would have had the opportunity to review the application. I’m trying to get that review from them.
Since I went down there to get the building permit number I took some photos of the ticketing counter and dressing room which seem to be finished. They’re located on the southwest side of the concourse (gift shop level). It looks like thrill-seekers will have to wear full bodysuits and special footwear in order to do the walk. But, as it’s been questioned by others, I wonder how the engineers plan to secure the vomit radius.
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| EdgeWalk |
Friday, February 25, 2011
Cityplace is a downtown suburb
Cityplace is a downtown suburb. The density of its highrise condominiums is commendably urban, but its landscaping is distinctly suburban. I walked through the development a handful of times this past summer to get from my office to the softball diamonds on Lake Shore. Each time, I was infuriated by the poor design decisions that have contributed to the suburbanness.
They start at the intersection of Bremner and Spadina. The intersection is a gargantuan, multistage crossing that handles the entry and exit of traffic for the Gardiner Expressway. Pedestrians are afforded barely enough time to cross Spadina and they have to do it on the north side. They’re forbidden to cross at the south end.
The shape of Bremner is another problem. Between Spadina and Bathurst it winds. I don’t know if there were any technical reasons for winding it but I doubt it. The likely reason was to discourage through-traffic – a suburban strategy to isolate residential areas from the bustle of the city. We’ll see the effects on car traffic once Bremner is opened all the way to Bathurst, but for pedestrians, the windy road makes walking less efficient.
The wide median and sidewalk planters exacerbate the inefficiency of the street. The sidewalk width is half-consumed by planters which run nearly unbroken along the length of the road. The planters are made with raised concrete edges and open soil that limit the ability of pedestrians to cross the road or enter parked cars. Probably meant to keep traffic moving, they disconnect pedestrians from the other side of the street. The planted median is yet another barricade. Pedestrians are forced to cross at the intersections, meaning people in the condo directly opposite Canoe Landing Park must take a circuitous route just to enter the park.
Still another borrowed feature of the suburban realm is the dead-end street. Because Cityplace borders the train corridor, it has dead-ends on the streets north of Bremner. This isn’t so much the developer’s fault, as a constraint of the geography. But one could have asked for more bridges over the train tracks to connect Cityplace to the rest of downtown. As it happened, it was difficult to get agreement for one pedestrian bridge.
Concrete is not a popular landscaping material to begin with. But there certainly ought to be a visual difference between construction-grade concrete and landscape-grade concrete. Cityplace decided to go cheap on the concrete they used for landscaping. It is monotone and peppered with air holes.
Even their attempts to cover it are awful failures.
Finally, Cityplace developers have put commercial uses in the ground level of their buildings so their projects can be truthfully labeled ‘mixed-use.’ But a bank branch that takes up an entire city block does not constitute vibrant street life.
The patio chairs outside Sobey’s have the right idea but they can’t overcome all the failures of the streetscape.
The façade of the Parade building is veritably prison-like.
They start at the intersection of Bremner and Spadina. The intersection is a gargantuan, multistage crossing that handles the entry and exit of traffic for the Gardiner Expressway. Pedestrians are afforded barely enough time to cross Spadina and they have to do it on the north side. They’re forbidden to cross at the south end.
The shape of Bremner is another problem. Between Spadina and Bathurst it winds. I don’t know if there were any technical reasons for winding it but I doubt it. The likely reason was to discourage through-traffic – a suburban strategy to isolate residential areas from the bustle of the city. We’ll see the effects on car traffic once Bremner is opened all the way to Bathurst, but for pedestrians, the windy road makes walking less efficient.
The wide median and sidewalk planters exacerbate the inefficiency of the street. The sidewalk width is half-consumed by planters which run nearly unbroken along the length of the road. The planters are made with raised concrete edges and open soil that limit the ability of pedestrians to cross the road or enter parked cars. Probably meant to keep traffic moving, they disconnect pedestrians from the other side of the street. The planted median is yet another barricade. Pedestrians are forced to cross at the intersections, meaning people in the condo directly opposite Canoe Landing Park must take a circuitous route just to enter the park.
Still another borrowed feature of the suburban realm is the dead-end street. Because Cityplace borders the train corridor, it has dead-ends on the streets north of Bremner. This isn’t so much the developer’s fault, as a constraint of the geography. But one could have asked for more bridges over the train tracks to connect Cityplace to the rest of downtown. As it happened, it was difficult to get agreement for one pedestrian bridge.
Concrete is not a popular landscaping material to begin with. But there certainly ought to be a visual difference between construction-grade concrete and landscape-grade concrete. Cityplace decided to go cheap on the concrete they used for landscaping. It is monotone and peppered with air holes.
Even their attempts to cover it are awful failures.
Finally, Cityplace developers have put commercial uses in the ground level of their buildings so their projects can be truthfully labeled ‘mixed-use.’ But a bank branch that takes up an entire city block does not constitute vibrant street life.
The patio chairs outside Sobey’s have the right idea but they can’t overcome all the failures of the streetscape.
The façade of the Parade building is veritably prison-like.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Sherbourne Common
I went to Sherbourne Common (south) last month on a rainy day. Though it’s been officially opened, not everything is complete.
The unprogrammed field is welcome, though hopefully the geese problem will go away as development fills in around the park.
The splash pad/ice rink is unoriginal but the water channel is something new for Toronto.
The experience should be much better next summer when the waterfront promenade and the northern section are finished.
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| Sherbourne Common |
The splash pad/ice rink is unoriginal but the water channel is something new for Toronto.
The experience should be much better next summer when the waterfront promenade and the northern section are finished.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Competition Jury Gets It Right
The jury for the St. Lawrence Market North design competition has picked the right winner with the Red design by Adamson Associates Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
The jury did well to avoid the blue, green and orange bunker designs as well as the non-descript, yellow also-ran. Special derision goes to NORR Limited for their green design, which I'd expect from a first-year architecture student -- "let's do St. Lawrence South with glass!"
The red design's exposed steel frame most closely resembles the Centre Pompidou. Now, let's hope the render bears some resemblance to the realized building.
The jury did well to avoid the blue, green and orange bunker designs as well as the non-descript, yellow also-ran. Special derision goes to NORR Limited for their green design, which I'd expect from a first-year architecture student -- "let's do St. Lawrence South with glass!"
The red design's exposed steel frame most closely resembles the Centre Pompidou. Now, let's hope the render bears some resemblance to the realized building.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Democracy in name only
Waterfront Toronto has revealed the short list of submissions to rename Sherbourne Park which can be voted on by the public.
Some are painfully generic: Bayfront Village Green, Blue Edge Park, Merchant's Wharf Park, Waterside Park.
Others are simply unmarketable: Kanadario Park, Ridout Park, Tkaronto Park.
The best is probably Sherbourne Commons, which begs the question: why rename Sherbourne Park?
Some are painfully generic: Bayfront Village Green, Blue Edge Park, Merchant's Wharf Park, Waterside Park.
Others are simply unmarketable: Kanadario Park, Ridout Park, Tkaronto Park.
The best is probably Sherbourne Commons, which begs the question: why rename Sherbourne Park?
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