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rfmcdonaldThe news that architect Frank Gehry has been recruited by Toronto theatre magnate David Mirvish to rebuild the heart of the Entertainment District along King Street West into a very striking condo/art complex has gone international.
The results--shown in the street-level model immediately below, and from a distance--would be striking.
This is going to be a very big project. There's already a measure of controversy around the plan, as it would require the demolition not only of various heritage buildings on the block but the but the Princess of Wales Theatre, just two decades old. (Apparently the theatre is a very good venue, but there's a reluctant consensus that with the long-term decline of theatre in Toronto, with hit shows lasting only months not years and low rates of attendance, the theatre isn't independently viable.) So far, the consensus seems to be broadly in support of the plan, as an architecturally striking approach to increasing density in downtown Toronto. The comments in posts at blogTO and Torontoist are indicative.
Me, I quite like Frank Gehry's 8 Spruce Street tower in lower Manhattan at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Getting one tower like that in Toronto would be an achievement. Getting three towers is a practical necessity. Toronto needs it.
Toronto's theater district and the skyline of Canada's biggest city will be transformed by star architect Frank Gehry as a tribute to the city in which he spent his childhood under an ambitious plan unveiled on Monday.
The project, the brainchild of Canadian theater impresario and arts patron David Mirvish, involves erecting three condominium towers 80 to 85 stories tall.
"These towers can become a symbol of what Toronto can be," Mirvish told a news conference. "I'm not building condominiums. I'm building sculptures for people to live in."
At the base of the buildings will be two six-story podiums that will provide retail space, seminar rooms and lecture halls. Two new museums will be constructed, including one to house a contemporary art collection owned by the Mirvish family.
"We hope to deliver a streetscape that is evocative of old Toronto," said Gehry, 83, who was born in the city and is known for his iconic designs, such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Mirvish said he sees the project, which may take many years to complete, continuing the work of his late father, Ed Mirvish, who was a driving force in Toronto's arts and theater community.
"This area was transformed 50 years ago after my father purchased the Royal Alexandra Theatre, and this project will continue the theater's future and transform the neighborhood again for the next 50 years," Mirvish said.
The results--shown in the street-level model immediately below, and from a distance--would be striking.
This is going to be a very big project. There's already a measure of controversy around the plan, as it would require the demolition not only of various heritage buildings on the block but the but the Princess of Wales Theatre, just two decades old. (Apparently the theatre is a very good venue, but there's a reluctant consensus that with the long-term decline of theatre in Toronto, with hit shows lasting only months not years and low rates of attendance, the theatre isn't independently viable.) So far, the consensus seems to be broadly in support of the plan, as an architecturally striking approach to increasing density in downtown Toronto. The comments in posts at blogTO and Torontoist are indicative.
Me, I quite like Frank Gehry's 8 Spruce Street tower in lower Manhattan at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Getting one tower like that in Toronto would be an achievement. Getting three towers is a practical necessity. Toronto needs it.
