[Natika33]

The first of the bike rings has become detached, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has experience with ... screws.

View attachment 688739

Over time, I've grown to despise the square (I also hate the acronym, "POPs"). It's a miserable space and suffers from some of the same issues that plague Baseball Place, further down the road.

View attachment 688899

Who did it better? The landscape architects or the render artists?

The 'fancy' renders showed a boardwalk and lights strung above the space.

View attachment 688900

The render artist plugged in as much green detail and people into spaces that ended up empty and reserved for cars. There are still tree boxes, but they're not scattered in a haphazard way.

View attachment 688921

View attachment 688917

In this earlier render, the artist imagined something more simple. There's also a boardwalk in this version.

View attachment 688904

This version is the most minimal of all. A stark, white, empty space surfaced with cheap, aluminum panels. A bold proposal and I think it would have been a triumph.

View attachment 688919

Instead. Barf. The design doesn't even acknowledge the view down to the park.

View attachment 688922

One of my top 10 gripes about Toronto is how few places seem to be designed to present a framed view or have seating/windows that would encourage reflection on greenery. Can't fix the old buildings that focused on front & back yards with no side yard, but they could have done something really special with this new building adjacent to a park. Sad.

 

[Amare]

I've heard it from quite a few people who visit the city who describe Toronto (at least the downtown core) as a city of skyscrapers and buildings everywhere, with random plots of green space sprinkled in as "park space".

I think what we see with this development very well epitomizes that description.