When I began my streetscape
project in 2007, construction of
the 79-storey Aura condominium
at Yonge and Gerrard Streets – the
first, and arguably least objection-
able, of the current waveof high-
density developments, had not
yet begun. I was amused to discov-
er that a few buildings on this strip
had been built at the lowest pos-
sible density. The monumental
signage above the entrance to the
Little House of Kebabs (now Ali
Baba) was one of several instances
of false fronts hiding single storey
structures of concrete block.
When I returned to lower
Yonge Street in March, 2019, to
add an update to my earlier pro-
ject, I was faced with the problem
of showing the extreme dispari-
ties of scale and architectural
form between the older two- and
three-storey commercial blocks
and the towers of 60 to 90 storeys
that had just been completed or
were still under construction.
Huge, clumsy podiums resem-
bling faceless science-fiction
monsters were pushing neigh-
bouring blocks aside.
While century-old retail build-
ings were being demolished,
some façades were being careful-
ly preserved, later to be attached
to the fronts of new glass boxes.
Perhaps we should applaud
any attempt to preserve the his-torical integrity of the street-
scape, but these once-dignified
storefronts are being cheapened
by their association with rampant
commercialism.
As an architectural photogra-
pher, what I found most oppres-
sive about several of the new tow-
ers was the blank appearance they
maintained throughout the day,
even under the most dramatic
lighting conditions. These pro-
jects could be said to have failed
the transition from a CAD pro-
gram on the architect’s computer
screen into three dimensions.
When compared with Toronto’s
better skyscrapers, dating back to
the early 1900s, they appear as life-less duds cluttering the skyline.
The idea of having two sky-
scrapers at Bloor Street forming a
gateway to lower Yonge Street is
worth considering in principle,
but in order for it to be expressed
as architectural form, the two
buildings would have to be vi-
sually compatible. That is not the
case with the recently completed
76-storey glass-clad tower by Har-
iri Pontarini Architects at the
southeast corner of Bloor and
Yonge, and the 85-storey exoske-
leton structure by Foster and Part-
ners currently under construc-
tion at the southwest corner. The
two towers have been named
“One Bloor” and “The One” bytheir respective developers. Each
wants the public to see its own
building as a singular architectu-
ral achievement and ignore the
fact that it is too big for its site and
doesn’t have any visual relation-
ship with its neighbour. In reality,
I expect these buildings are going
to loom over pedestrians like
Scylla and Charybdis.
When the gateway is complet-
ed, it will be my job as a docu-
mentary photographer to makea
visual record of the resulting
streetscape. I will try to maintain
a rigorously objective approach
to the subject, but I fear that the
images I manage to produce
won’t make a pretty picture.Top left: Dilapidated 19th-
century façades stand on
the west side of Yonge
Street, south of Wellesley
Street. Behind them, the
11 Wellesley St.
condominium tower
is seen under construction.Above: The neoclassical
Bank of Toronto, left, and
Canadian Bank of Commerce
buildings both date from- They are dwarfed by
the 60-storey Massey Tower
by MOD Developments, now
nearing completion. Between
the two banks is the former
site of the Colonial Tavern, a
storied Toronto jazz club.
It will become the entrance
to a luxury retail mall.
Far left: The podium of
the 76-storey One Bloor
condominium tower has
become the eastern side
of an unco-ordinated,
monumental gateway
to lower Yonge Street.Left: The Halo condominium
site, looking south from
Grosvenor Street. The
surviving tower of Firehall
No. 3, dating from 1872,
marks the site of the St.
Charles Tavern – a landmark
of Toronto’s LGBTQ history –
which opened in 1950 and
closed in 1987.PHOTOSBYPETERMACCALLUMSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O OPINION | O 7