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 Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto Realtor with Century 21 Regal Realty. He did not
write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who are
interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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