Hume: Looking up on Queen East
June 18, 2010
Comments on this story
(0)
Christopher Hume
STAR COLUMNIST
By any measure, Queen is one of the great streets of Toronto, if not the greatest. It has it rough patches, no doubt, and there’s nothing fancy about it, but therein lies its enormous appeal.
Indeed, the stretches that cause us most alarm are those where the very popularity of the street has attracted the retail franchises and their homogenizing influence. Perhaps that’s inevitable, but it’s interesting to compare, say, a McDonald’s in Venice, where they are considerably less offensive than Toronto. The truth is that North American cities give free reign to the chains and pay the price of urban sameness.
Generally speaking, what saves Queen is what remains of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Even modest structures like the three-storey buildings that line the street have a dignity that can be damaged but not destroyed, no matter what we have done to them.
Consider the case of the pizza joint on the northeast corner of Queen and Church; it occupies a remarkable building, one that even boasts a turret. Though this unfortunate heap has been painted a vile yellow, it’s still beautiful. That’s no means feat.
On the other hand, the additions from the 1960s, ’70s and later suck the life from the street like so many midrise vacuum cleaners. Happily, architecture has improved greatly since then and the advent of residential projects has changed the flavour of Queen St. E., bringing a more domestic feel to things.
chume@thestar.ca
Condo Critic
The Glasshouse Lofts, 127 Queen St. E.: There’s something abrupt, almost unfinished, about this lowrise condo. It is one of those single-facade structures that faces the street and needs to be part of a row of similar structures. Presumably something will eventually appear to the east where the exterior wall looks temporary.
The west is more problematic; unless the stately masonry piles from the late 1800s disappear, which would be criminal, 127 will appear forever in need of completion. At the same time, the set-backs above the fifth floor make sense; the building is taller than it looks.
Though it pays little attention to its neighbours, the fact that it’s all glass saves it from being obnoxious. Interestingly, though the building feels too big for the site, that has nothing to do with height; rather it’s because the lower five storeys look over the surrounding structures, If the podium top had lined up with the building directly west, all else would have been forgiven.
GRADE: B
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Email us at condos@thestar.ca
Read more Condo Critic
- 5
Condos that tower above the rest
- Carlton St. Project affordable but not cheap
- Revamped hydro building still has power
- Streetcar
line may become St. Clair's saving grace
- History
gets a makeover
- Everything
you want in a condo and less
- Yet
another condo tower
- King
Street condo an architectural pauper
- Broadway
Ave. represents city's changing face
- Maple
Leaf Square isn't just for fans
- Davenport
a bit of a mess - but it works
- Cityplace
proving its critics wrong
- Yorkville
rich with everything but substance
- Aging
neighbourhood rediscovered
- Eglinton
a victim of good intentions
- Wellesley
struggles for an identity
- Charles
sustains its charm
- Change
is good at Yonge/Eglinton
- Tower
fits into scenic location
- 'Series
of boxes' still fits into Ave and Dav
- Despite
change, King St. E. keeps identity
- What's
not to like about Riverdale?
- Queensway
has lack of connection
- Future
of Ellesmere could heal 'Scarberia's' wounds
- West is
best, as Wallace Ave. shows
- Jane/Finch
rehab faces uncertain future
- When the car becomes
king we all lose
- Past and present can
co-exist
- New
projects pay little respect to past
- Diversity
at heart of
Richmond experience
- Esplanade appeal easy
to understand
- Development
anticipates future
- King
St. E. has it all, let's not ruin it now
- Quiet,
domestic and lowrise Roncesvalles
- Roncesvalles
retains its village flavour
- Industrial
architecture improves with age
- Offices,
condos complete transformation
- Sum
not greater than the parts
- New
Regent Park revitalizing neighbourhood
- East end evolution
more interesting than ever
- Aging
area shows signs of new urbanism
- Industrial Carlaw
evolving into residential neighbourhood
- Neglected
district shows great potential
- Bloor certainly one
of the best streets
- Complex has the right
height and heft for location
- Residential
revival has mixed results
- 'A ghastly mix of
confused intentions'
- Well
situated street is a hodge podge
- Mt. Pleasant bridges
mythical divide
- Boom adds housing to
urban byways
- Throughfare
thoroughly suburban
- Jarvis St. ready for
its second closeup
- Pedestrians take back
seat to cars here
- Re-imagining
Scarborough
- Corner represents
past and future
- River cries for
development
- An exercise in built
chaos
- Treating
the past with respect
- New and old clash on
Richmond