Condo towers sprout in pairs in the urban jungle

I did a bit of wandering the streets of downtown-ish Toronto earlier this week, after paying a visit to the Chrysanthemum show at Allan Gardens Conservatory. I noticed that condominium developers seem to have a penchant for buying bits of property, tearing down whatever old buildings may have been there, and constructing not just one, but two condo towers in their place. I started to snap some pictures with the thought of sharing them via this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge: Seeing Double. No pretty flowers, but a few interesting designs. A few pretty ugly designs as well, in my opinion.

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These towers, on Bay Street north of College, occupy what used to be a Cadillac car lot. When I think back to the lot, with its rows of gleaming paint and chrome, it didn’t seem that big. With the condos on it, it appears huge!

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A few blocks north on Bay, there’s a church and manse. There used to be a playing field alongside, but now there’s a pair of luxury condo towers instead.

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A block east, on Yonge at Gloucester, it looks like two towers going up connected by an imposing and, thus far, singularily unimpressive, podium. But wait – these two buildings, although appearing different, are actually connected at the back.

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Further south on Yonge, another really, really ugly podium (again – it’s still under construction so I shouldn’t judge prematurely…) and two towers. At least the first one has an interesting, curving profile. But it’s just so massive looking, especially as it sits next to a row of still-standing century buildings. (If I had a higher or different vantage point, you’d see that each of the above two sets of buildings also has a set of construction cranes…seeing double, double!)

I’ve saved my favourite for last. For decades, the northeast corner of Carlton and Church streets was home to a parking lot plus a couple of low rise commercial buildings that housed medical offices and a gay bar. Connected again by a common podium and underground parking, the developer, I imagine, wanted to inject some whimsy with a retro vibe into the site. I like the curvy tower, which is right at the corner, but I love the rectangular building with the white accordion waffle-like exterior. It’s even carried down over its side of the podium.

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