Tag Archives: residential architecture
Thinking outside the condo box
Christopher Hume – Toronto Star
There was a time, not so long ago, when condo architecture was nothing to write home about. Today that’s all changed; now condo architecture leads the way, especially in Toronto, which is fast remaking itself not just as condo city, but as condo tower city.
Indeed, in the hothouse that is Toronto, residential architecture is the main game in town, if not the only one. The results can be seen at every turn.
What makes things interesting is the lengths to which contemporary architects feel they must go to keep things exciting. After all, remaking the box, the standard rectangular cube, has grown tiresome and predictable for architect and audience alike.
There are only so many ways of bringing new life to a form that has defined our cities for more than half a century. The triumph of transparency may have satisfied the primal human desire for a place in the sky, but it doesn’t raise the architectural stakes beyond that.
Thus has architecture entered its period of decadence, not in the sense of immorality or decline, but of self-indulgence and even, perhaps, its attraction to exhibitionism, maybe dandyism. Just take a look at projects such as the Marilyn Monroe towers in Mississauga, Daniel Libeskind’s L-Tower, Pier-27 and Market Wharf.
These architectural dandies play with the basic conventions of vertical orthogonality by introducing curves, circles, bows, horizontality and general irregularity.
The L-Tower (Yonge and The Esplanade) reaches out to the north as it rises. The three other sides are ordinary, but not the fourth. While the building remains under construction and its skeleton is visible, the precariously leaning columns can clearly be seen. They look like a last-minute after-thought, an add-on to an otherwise conventional structure.
Meanwhile, farther south at the foot of Yonge, Peter Clewes’ M-27 is taking shape. So far, its most dramatic feature is the horizontal slab that sits atop two of the midrise towers included in the large complex. Is it a tower that has fallen on its side, or a child’s plaything?
Over on Jarvis St., the balconies are now being put in place on Market Wharf, another Clewes offering under construction. Guess what? In keeping with the fact Lake Ontario’s just down the road, they curve and undulate like waves.
The Marilyns, of course, have put Mississauga and the Chinese firm that designed them, MAD, on the 21st-century architectural map. These unique towers attempt a more organic appearance. These are buildings that change their appearance from every view, and not a right angle in sight.
Whether dressing up the tower alters it in any fundamental way is unlikely. On the other hand, if what you see is what you get, nothing will ever be the same.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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Toronto Real Estate — Riverdale
Riverdale is a large neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly east of the Don River Valley, south of The Danforth (Greektown) and north of Lake Ontario. The neighbourhood is characterized by two large recreational parks, Riverdale Park adjacent to the Don River and Withrow Park to the north east of Riverdale, as well as smaller parks. Riverdale is also home to Bridgepoint Health (formerly Riverdale Hospital), and the Don Jail, both at the corner of Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street East.
Riverdale is known by many Torontonians as a thriving residential neighbourhood represented by a strong arts community that cater to independent galleries on Queen St. to the large corporate film studios along the waterfront.
There remains a strong working class element to the neigbourhood as well. The tree-lined side-streets are complemented by the various styles of Victorian and Georgian residential architecture, primarily built between the 1880s and the Depression.
The Riverdale Zoo was Toronto’s zoological park before the opening of the Toronto Zoo in the early 1970s. Now called Riverdale Farm, it continues as an educational farm for school children and the general public. Ironically Riverdale Farm is not actually in the Riverdale neighbourhood but is located west of the Don River in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood. The two neigbourhoods are closely linked even though separated by the Don River.
While Riverdale itself is usually said to refer to the stretch of Toronto east of the Don Valley Parkway and west of Pape, between Danforth Avenue (North) and Gerrard (South), these boundaries are arbitrary and many people on either side of these borders often claim to live in Riverdale (or not, as the case may be).
The area’s high real estate prices have encouraged many residents to call adjacent areas Riverdale too. Names such as South Riverdale (which stretches north from Lakeshore to Gerrard and east from the Don Valley Parkway to Carlaw) are a construct of real estate agents.
Just east of Riverdale is Leslieville, which encompasses a few quaint blocks of late 19th century storefronts lined with antique shops, galleries and cafes. Toronto’s second largest chinatown, also known as Chinatown East, is found at Broadview & Gerrard.
A few kilometers east, between Greenwood and Coxwell, you’ll find Little India that is a popular meeting place for the Toronto South Asian communities. South of Leslieville, just north of the waterfront, is what’s called the Studio District.
Industrial warehouses along Lakeshore avenue house production studies and many people working in film and television live in the old Victorians found along the area’s side streets. Carlaw and Queen has become an arts hub, with many artists choosing to run their studios from the various work-live lofts.
Some Riverdale residents differentiate between “upper” and “lower” Riverdale. “Upper Riverdale” is characterized is the part of the neighborhood north of Riverdale Ave., and “Lower Riverdale” is the area south of Riverdale Ave.
Generally, real estate prices are reflected in this divide. The closer the house is to Danforth Ave. the higher the sale price. Also, in terms of the quality of the housing supply, homes built in “upper Riverdale” are more likely to have better architectural features, and are more likely to be rennovated. However, there are some exceptions. There are a number of remarkable century-old homes built on Simpson and Langley Avenues, the latter street named after Toronto’s well-known early 20th century architect.
The neighbourhood has seen the rise and fall of prosperity over the past century. The grand homes built on some streets are testimony to prosperous times. Despite this rich housing stock, the area was considered to be down-and-out in the 1970s. These days though it’s ripe with yuppies, young and old. Withrow Park is full of well-dressed babies in Bugaboo strollers and the Baby Boomers who’ve lived in the area for decades often have a Volvo or a Saab parked out front.
The popular teenage drama TV series Degrassi Junior High is named after the Riverdale street of the same name (although the only school on Degrassi street is Eastdale Collegiate Institute at Gerrard street east)
Riverdale Collegiate Institute is the neighbourhood’s local high-school.
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When it’s good, it’s very good
Christopher Hume – Yourhome.ca
It was one of those years: When it was good it was very good, when it was bad…
About the bad there’s nothing new. About the best, there’s much to be said. Toronto has reached a point where developers and planners are willing to build outside the box. That translates into more innovative approaches, an openness to mixed uses and architectural excellence. Here, in no particular order, are five of the best projects of the year:
• The Republic (70 Roehampton Ave. and 25 Broadway Ave.): Putting a high school and two condo towers in one complex would have been unimaginable not so long ago. Not only does that happen now, it does so with aplomb. This North Toronto scheme is a model of urban mixed use.
• Corktown District Lofts (52 Sumach Street, 549 and 569 King Street E.): Three buildings registered as one condo, this innovative project fits in effortlessly with the historic but run-down part of town. Lowrise and modest, it offers a convincing alternative to the tower.
• Arc Condo (2885 Bayview Ave.): A welcome attempt to enliven the monotonous suburban landscape with something entertaining, even whimsical. This nautically-themed building lives up to its name nicely, and even makes the effort to bring activity to these otherwise forbidding sidewalks.
• 60 Richmond St. E.: Okay, so it’s not a condo, but it does happen to be one of the most remarkable pieces of residential architecture to appear in Toronto in ages. This is the new face of community housing in the city. Unlike its predecessors, it’s a brilliant addition to the streetscape.
• Maple Leaf Square (Bremner Blvd. east of York St.): This mammoth development represents a rare instance when corporate and civic agendas overlapped happily. Included are two condo towers, a hotel, an office tower and an array of shops, restaurants and, of course, the inevitable sports bar. Easy to forget that this used to be a parking lot.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
———————————————————————————————————————
Incoming search terms
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