12-20-2022, 11:04 AM
I'm not sure if this should be tossed into separate architecture thread (is there one?), but I'll toss my oar in anyways.
Waterloo Region does have good architecture, including some buildings that have hit it out of the park, regardless of the decade (or century that they were built in). Much of the good architecture was commissioned as civic or institutional architecture (think of City Halls, post offices, high schools, or university buildings). Yes, there were also some awful civic or institutional buildings too, but in general, things looked okay. Some pieces even came to define was Waterloo Region looked like so that when you saw it, you knew that you were in Waterloo Region and not somewhere else. Some of the large factories and office buildings in the area had good architectural design too.
On the residential side of things, some architecture, built over the last 150 years, is remarkable for its form and style, regardless of the size of building or the market it was designed for. Some of it has since been painted white with black trim, but hopefully that fad will change.
Good landscapes and streetscapes like art, rely on a variety of line, form, colour and texture that are balanced with each other. Simply tossing a fruit salad of line, form, colour and texture at a development does not a good development make. I grew up in neighbourhood where there were a variety of finishes (brick, siding) and colours (name your brick colour, and sidings colours) and sizes. Houses varied in their overall shape even though the interiors were often identically laid out. Add in some boulevard trees and the street looked pleasing.
The worst example of the opposite effect is West Waterloo near the parking lot for the west side trail (Sundew Drive at Mayapple St). Most every house is slate grey as far as the eye can see. There is little room in front of the houses for any kind of greenery or boulevard plantings. Maybe, in time, the streetscape will soften as individual owners add their own changes to the buildings.
The University campuses also have a pleasing feel to them (with a few exceptions). No, there isn't much variety in the shape of the buildings, but when your Board of Governors is made up of factory owners, it is any surprise that many of the early buildings could easily fit on an industrial campus?
I too, look forward to something different in our commercial and residential architecture.
Waterloo Region does have good architecture, including some buildings that have hit it out of the park, regardless of the decade (or century that they were built in). Much of the good architecture was commissioned as civic or institutional architecture (think of City Halls, post offices, high schools, or university buildings). Yes, there were also some awful civic or institutional buildings too, but in general, things looked okay. Some pieces even came to define was Waterloo Region looked like so that when you saw it, you knew that you were in Waterloo Region and not somewhere else. Some of the large factories and office buildings in the area had good architectural design too.
On the residential side of things, some architecture, built over the last 150 years, is remarkable for its form and style, regardless of the size of building or the market it was designed for. Some of it has since been painted white with black trim, but hopefully that fad will change.
Good landscapes and streetscapes like art, rely on a variety of line, form, colour and texture that are balanced with each other. Simply tossing a fruit salad of line, form, colour and texture at a development does not a good development make. I grew up in neighbourhood where there were a variety of finishes (brick, siding) and colours (name your brick colour, and sidings colours) and sizes. Houses varied in their overall shape even though the interiors were often identically laid out. Add in some boulevard trees and the street looked pleasing.
The worst example of the opposite effect is West Waterloo near the parking lot for the west side trail (Sundew Drive at Mayapple St). Most every house is slate grey as far as the eye can see. There is little room in front of the houses for any kind of greenery or boulevard plantings. Maybe, in time, the streetscape will soften as individual owners add their own changes to the buildings.
The University campuses also have a pleasing feel to them (with a few exceptions). No, there isn't much variety in the shape of the buildings, but when your Board of Governors is made up of factory owners, it is any surprise that many of the early buildings could easily fit on an industrial campus?
I too, look forward to something different in our commercial and residential architecture.