Posts Tagged ‘ construction ’
Psychetecture X
Posted on May 8th, 2019 – Comments Off on Psychetecture XI’ve really been digging on Mister X comics lately and I guess the city’s psychetecture is having an effect.
Smoke break
Posted on May 4th, 2018 – Comments Off on Smoke break
Solidarity (not unity)
Posted on March 7th, 2016 – Comments Off on Solidarity (not unity)
New tracks for Queen Spadina
Posted on July 15th, 2012 – Comments Off on New tracks for Queen Spadina
Queen/Spadina track replacement
View from the top (again)
Posted on December 5th, 2011 – Comments Off on View from the top (again)Shangri-La tower (under construction) at Wellington and University.
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.
Smooth, baby…smooth
Posted on March 7th, 2011 – 2 CommentsGazing out the window while chatting on the phone this afternoon (i.e. trying to look busy), I spotted this guy smoothing out the concrete of the new George Brown College building next door.
I dunno what this contraption is called but the sharp, spinning, metal blades just scream fun and hijinx, don’t you think?
Quality condomes
Posted on August 19th, 2010 – Comments Off on Quality condomesWith much gracious thanks to new income via new clients (one of whom may be reading this very post – Hi, S!), I’ve once again been able to get into the habit of a leisurely Saturday morning breakfast at the local greasy spoon; sunny, bacon, brown with an orange juice starter. The staff had that shit memorized a year ago, that’s how regular I am. And regular I once again am, the grease sees to that. Yeah, you know what that not-so-subtle word play is getting at.
So I’m terribly pleased to be back to be back to my regular Saturday routine, breakfast, coffee, and extracted sections of the voluminous Saturday Star: the news section, Insight, Weekend Living, and the stalwart comics. If someone were to finally remove the creator of the Family Circus blight, I’d be tempted to call it perfection.
Well, that and a few other unsightly blemishes I’ve noted inside the main news section, namely the condo ads.
Now, to be fair, I’m on record as saying that all the new development around Toronto is a good thing, and I stand by that. Even if some of the architecture is a little uninspired, the corollary benefits are great: lots of competition means lower prices, denser population means less destruction of green space, and being closer to where the action is can effectively remove the need for a car. I gave mine up two years ago and haven’t looked back – surprisingly hard to do without a rear-view mirror.
But the ads for these new condos, they’re just a bit on the weak side. Maybe it’s because I’m such an instantly critical jerkhole, but I immediately read between the lines, often without reading the lines themselves.
Take this ad for FIVE Condos, located at 5 Saint Joseph Street, not terribly far from my own groovy pad:
Rooftop garden!
Posted on May 11th, 2010 – 6 CommentsEvery now and again, when people learn about what I do (did), they ask me earnestly why I’d choose to stay in Toronto.
Easy to answer: it’s an awesome city. As soon as the right people are at the helm at City Hall, it’ll be truly world-class. In some ways the city is already busting at the seams in this regard, it’s simply the government that keeps reining it in.
Election day is coming and, regardless of this, the city is blooming with construction, flowers, and lovely ladies. And as I’m sure I’ve mentioned, I’ve seen a good selection of cities; enough to know that I haven’t seen nearly enough. Toronto isn’t the cheapest, or the cleanest, or the busiest, or the biggest, but it’s also not the dirtiest, most boring, barren, or small by any means. Any tourists that complain about deficiencies in these areas are, well, tourists. The city’s way bigger than that (have you see how little I’ve covered in TCLand?), and growing by leaps and bounds. Frickin’ jackhammer outside my window right now, in fact.
With so much growth it’s extremely important to keep a steady vision otherwise it could get real messy. Here’s a great example: the new designs recently unveiled for the new north hall of St. Lawrence Market. The market has been around since basically Toronto’s been here but the north hall, which to me resembles a stripped-down school gymnasium, is much newer. On Saturdays local growers truck in their produce and on Sundays it’s an antique market.
I know I’ve probably mentioned this before but I know that many people don’t get a chance to visit that area, so to help you out I’ve taken photos from approximately the same locations as in the literature. That way you can see the before and proposed-after shots.
The design teams for the north hall project are split up into five colours but obviously the orange team is the best. A rooftop garden? Hells yeah!
Anyhow, here they are, winner to be decided by committee. :(
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