Posts Tagged ‘ blog ’
Fishbowl on Bay
Posted on May 28th, 2011 – 2 Comments Filed under: Dispatches, Patrick Bay, Pictures
Gloomy day muzac
Posted on May 27th, 2011 – Comments Off on Gloomy day muzac
Here’s what I like to plug my ears with on my way to work. They’re also a great idea for days like, well, all this week — rain, rain, and rainy. They are all Toronto (at least produced here) but, ironically, hardly contain any music at all.
Chris Hume’s Worstest Buildings #2: It would’ve been ugly even in the 70s
Posted on May 24th, 2011 – Comments Off on Chris Hume’s Worstest Buildings #2: It would’ve been ugly even in the 70sI get the impression that Chris had made up his mind about this “Worst Buildings of Toronto” selection a long time ago. The sore-thumb slab that Humie affectionately refers to as “condominiums”, however, doesn’t jump to mind when I think of Bloor and Lansdowne. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I was out in that area; now I don’t care to remember.
“I don’t know what to say in its defense except that, I guess, that it provides housing for a large number of people”, is the only positive comment that the Chris offers. I would only add a voluminous barf sound of some sort to round off that review.
Chris Hume’s Worstest Buildings #3: A Breakfast For Dogs
Posted on May 23rd, 2011 – Comments Off on Chris Hume’s Worstest Buildings #3: A Breakfast For DogsChris doesn’t pull many punches with his third-worst Toronto building, Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management. Among the building’s most admirable traits he includes the facts that it’s on a busy downtown corner, it’s above a Canadian Tire, and has a parking garage. To me, this does not a good building make. In fact, this would barely qualify as a worthy parking lot.
However, Humie’s commentary describing the building as “a dog’s breakfast” is a little unfair, only insomuch as Ryerson is known for acquiring existing locations, usually individual rooms within buildings like Chris’ other favourite, the Toronto Life Square building. What I mean is that Ryerson’s not 100% responsible for the shape of the building, though their lack of follow-up aesthetic is something we can collectively laugh at. Or weep.
My interwebs is developed of tubes
Posted on May 21st, 2011 – Comments Off on My interwebs is developed of tubesYep, you could probably drive a truck through Corus Quay. Occasionally the tubes are filled to capacity (it’s why they have a traffic light at the top).
Chris Hume’s Worstest Buildings #4: Down and Dirty
Posted on May 20th, 2011 – Comments Off on Chris Hume’s Worstest Buildings #4: Down and DirtyContentious is a good word to describe the Toronto Life Square Building, a.k.a. 10 Dundas East. Typical lamentations include descriptions like “ugly”, “awful”, “disappointing”, and “my grandmother wouldn’t take a crap on this thing, and she wears diapers!”
The fact that Chris Hume chose this particular building for the number five slot in his “Worst Buildings of Toronto” list is kinda like saying, “I don’t like Hitler”, or “that Bin Laden guy was a jerk” — most people would tend to agree.
For me, the Toronto Life building isn’t the affront on North American culture that some people insist it is, but its thin, crowded interior with its centerpiece of narrow escalators is a total letdown after walking under that massive facade. I don’t know that this building would’ve made my own top-five-worst list, but Toronto could certainly do a whole lot better.
A Brown fog approacheth
Posted on May 19th, 2011 – Comments Off on A Brown fog approachethA (soon-to-be-built) George Brown College fog, that is.
Chris Hume’s Bestest Buildings #1: Post-Afterthought Presence
Posted on May 19th, 2011 – Comments Off on Chris Hume’s Bestest Buildings #1: Post-Afterthought PresenceYawn!
Seriously, Chris? The RBC Dexia building?
Okay, I admit that at first it was kinda neat to see those irregular angles but, Wellington Street still feels pretty much like a back road (hint: all the other buildings are still facing the same way). And if asymmetry is what yanks your crank then I’m sure we could find nicer examples. Basically, if this is your top pick then I need to severely start doubting my ability to predict the five worst. Or five whatever, for that matter.
Chris Hume’s Worstest Buildings #5: “If it were the back of a warehouse…”
Posted on May 18th, 2011 – Comments Off on Chris Hume’s Worstest Buildings #5: “If it were the back of a warehouse…”Ugh … Humie’s kinda right about this one, his fifth pick for Toronto’s Worst Buildings: the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The fairly new structure (built in 2006), is an unsightly grey box sitting across the street from the relatively ornate and welcoming Osgoode Hall; even the documentary about the building of the Four Seasons Centre (Raising Valhalla, 2007), has more appeal than the structure itself.
While I haven’t actually been inside the thing — I’m told that it’s a bit of an engineering / acoustic marvel with the performance hall being isolated from the outer shell with giant damper supports; a building on stilts within a building — the spectacle inside doesn’t nearly match the drab outside. One day soon I’m planning to take advantage of the $12 standing-room-only admission, but I can assure you it won’t be because I’m drawn in by the architecture.
Did I mention “ugh” already?
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