Quote:
Originally Posted by Bunk
Such as?
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Well it’s been mentioned a few times already, but:
• Event Centre - I just find it underwhelming. I understand the reason for not going for an architectural statement like the Dome or Rogers Place, in lieu of something more human-focused, but honestly I’m not seeing that being maximized either. The building itself is architectural forgettable with its large monolithic surfaces, many of which will probably be further degraded with value engineering. With CMLC involved, I was hoping they would really push the public realm elements and pedestrian experience, but none of it looks particularly interesting or inviting as a gathering place (especially in the middle of February). Maybe it’s CSEC dragging it down, but overall it feels like a missed opportunity.
• Parkade - Every day I bike by this imposing monstrosity and it’s cheap metal siding and unfinished concrete. The whole projects feels like something we’d have done in the 70s. In a couple of decades, we’ll be calling for this thing to be demolished in favour of a real building.
• BMO - It’s fine. There’s only so much you can do with a huge-ass conference centre, but I was hoping for it to be less of a monolith from a pedestrian perspective. Renderings from high above look great, but at street level, I expect this to be another cold and imposing monster of a building. As it’s coming together, you can also see the surfacing has been VE’d down quite a lot (
https://skyrisecities.com/forum/thre...2#post-1862405).
• Inglewood bridge - Again, it’s fine. Functional, yet bland…but I think a bit of a missed opportunity to be an architectural gateway to Inglewood.
• Stampede trail bike trail fiasco, where they seem to have forgotten everything they learned about bike infrastructure.
Apart from the Parkade, which I hate, there’s just a lot of “fine” here. I guess for me, CMLC set such a high standard out of the gate, I just expect better now. Riverwalk is personally my favourite piece of city infrastructure in the last few decades. The Library is stunning. Studio Bell is unique in shape and material. The first push of getting EV off the ground was massive and done really well.
I know there are a lot of factors involved (and I imagine having the Stampede in the mix complicates things), and CMLC has been great for the city at pushing things forward design wise…but the last few things just don’t hit the standard for me. I hope it’s an anomaly, not a trend.