Bloor Street Transformation = Sidewalk Repairs
The City of Toronto provided a press release today to announce the groundbreaking for the first phase of the Bloor Street Transformation on Wednesday. The project, initially the work of Brown + Storey Architects, is now being designed by architectsAlliance. Suffice to say, I am fairly disappointed of the outcome. aA is typically one of my favoured firms in the city for producing good results, but what they have proposed for this project is bland and boring - pretty much replicating the halls of Yorkdale.
Compare these three renderings:
FIRST PROPOSAL: Brown + Storey Architects, c. 2006
SECOND PROPOSAL: architectsAlliance c. 2007
FINAL PROPOSAL: architectsAlliance, July 2008
So pretty much we’ve gone from a somewhat playful “waves” concept in Brown + Storey’s proposal, to aA’s first attempt featuring wavy benches and planters, water features, and public art, to the current (and to be constructed) proposal featuring what pretty much amounts to a sidewalk reconstruction. If you have been to Bloor Street lately, you can vouch for how sorely the street needs a good sidewalk repair. And despite all the promises over the past three years, it appears a sidewalk repair is all we’re going to get for our “great shopping street”.
A couple more renders of the snooze fest after the jump.
Where did the benches go?
This is one exciting gateway into Toronto’s “Great Shopping Street”
