POSTED RESPONSES TO A COLUMN BY CHRIS HUME IN THE TORONTO STAR
Frank Gehry swings between being a decent, but not
great, architect (AGO renovations) and being a silly showman who produces giant
stunts or monumental sculptures having no relationship to their surroundings
and little relationship to their intended use (Bilbao Museum, Disney Concert
Hall).
The model for King Street is a perfect example of
his latter tendencies. It is simply terrible urban design, and I'm surprised
Chris Hume is sucked into paying homage to a concept that does not deserve to
see the light of day. A case of the emperor's new clothes?
__________________
In response to another reader comment:
Well, there is an awfully large range of
possibilities between another glass box and this pile of crinkled strapping
tape. We do have a terrible lot of crappy glass box condos in Toronto, thanks
to a gold rush of development and a government which exercises no genuine
standards on developers.
These places do not make a worthy urban space, and
many have no good environmental aspects or aesthetic appeal. The city has, to a
considerable degree, built a modern urban wasteland on the old rail lands.
___________________
Imagination
in this case is just another word for silly on a monumental scale.
___________________
I have a suggestion for the project. You may be familiar
with the St Hubert Chicken delivery cars in Montreal: they feature large,
lighted plastic chickens on their roofs.
How about a huge lighted turkey on the roof of these
condos? It would serve at least two purposes: recalling the annual giveaway
gesture of Ed Mirvish (thousands of Thanksgiving turkeys) while characterizing
in dramatic fashion the nature of these proposed buildings.
___________________
"Quintessential
Toronto building," Mr Hume? Curls of wide strapping
tape dangling from a cardboard tube?
