Condo-fication

Christopher Hume, urban design writer for the Toronto Star, makes the point that:

So far, the transformation has been handled with mixed success; rather than integrate the new projects into the city, we have been content to plunk them down willy-nilly. Architectural issues aside, the more pressing questions are those of planning. We need to create the infrastructure that can support this development, and even enhance it.

That means paying attention to the spaces between buildings, as well as buildings themselves. It also means ensuring connections, adding new blocks and extending the street grid. To be fair, the city has made some effort; Bremner Blvd. now extends west from the Air Canada Centre past the CN Tower and it's not surprising it has already become the site of several condo schemes.

Given the proximity to Union Station and the subway, the advent of these residential projects is very sensible. But surrounded by the Gardiner Expressway, Lake Shore Blvd. and the whole downtown traffic network, the area will have a hard time becoming the kind of urban village we find so appealing.

Then there's the architecture itself, which too often seems to have come out of the box – devoid of originality or basic individuality. This isn't true of everything we've seen, but given the height of some of what's been built and the fact these towers are landmarks whether or not they're worthy of attention, the need for better design is more critical than ever.
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While Tortti Gallas is capable of great work, I think the point of desiring better design could apply equally to their proposal for a mixed use primarily multiunit housing building at 8th and H Streets NE. See this post from Frozen Tropics.