Bay Street Is Awash In Banality
Every generation looks back and sees evidence of a time when everything was better. It may not be true, but in this regard we are no exception.
Still, it’s hard to wander around this city and not become convinced that the quality of architecture has deteriorated badly in recent decades. That’s not to say there aren’t spectacular things being built; it’s more that the level of design of the non-landmarks Landscaping Contractor, the background buildings, of the urban fabric has never been worse.
Perhaps it’s that only the best of the past survives, but by contrast the bulk of work done by architects today is appalling. Let’s be honest: Most people dislike contemporary architecture passionately and often for good reason.
Bay St. is as good a place as any to see firsthand how this profession has lapsed into banality. Starting at Bay and Queen St., of course, we have two of the most distinguished buildings in Toronto – New and Old City Hall – but by the time we reach Dundas St. a couple of blocks north, the landscape has devolved into one of architectural mediocrity and civic indifference. By the time Bay meets Gerrard St., it has become a contemporary wasteland, the kind of downtown neighbourhood desirable for everything but what it has become.
The template here is the tower sitting on a base with a canopy at grade. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s surprising how something so simple and straightforward can be messed up in so many different ways. For the most part, the architecture here is artless and devoid of any spark of imagination. Landscaping Contractor It is clumsy, dull and apparently built by architects and developers who couldn’t care less. The materials are cheap, the fa?ades monotonous and the results deadly.
Interestingly, this same culture of indifference applies to corporate, institutional and residential buildings. The last remnant of architectural self-respect comes in the form of a row of two-storey houses that extend west from Bay on the north side of Gerrard. These aren’t fancy structures, but they were clearly conceived with something larger in mind, namely the city and the idea it represents, civilization itself.
To a great many contemporary architects, Landscaping Contractor this must seem precious and all rather beside the point. Their job is to deliver their client’s bidding as cheaply and painlessly as possible, and to hell with the rest.
Tags: andscaping Contractor, developers, landscape, Landscaping, Landscaping Contractor, old city hall0
