Lower Kitchener (534 Charles St E) | 32, 27, 15 fl | Proposed

[dtkvictim]

Why would they consider slapping a multi-storey grey box onto the top of the tower.  It's so unsightly.

Almost looks like a parking garage dropped on top of the tower in the first render.

Now I want to see a tower wrapped in a giant spiral ramp with a parking garage on top. Or off ramps on each floor and replace the hallways with roads so people can park outside of their apartments and not have to stress about using their poor legs. Solves the need for elevators too, win-win.

[Lens]

Somehow, it's even worse...

[Bjays93]

Wow this is exceptionally bad. I thought as the city grew we’d get better designs but it really does just seem to get worse and worse.

[myfaceisonfire]

This sort of design should be illegal. I'm devastated for the city of Kitchener.

[bravado]

Architects should be forced to live in the places they design. For some reason I feel like developers + architects wouldn’t live here if they had the choice. Beauty isn’t for the masses.

[cherrypark]

Someone got really inspired by the AT&T Long Lines Building in New York.

[timc]

It could just be my love of brutalism, but I think the Long Lines building looks a lot nicer than this.

[ac3r]

Yeah. Well that building and the majority of other brutalist structures had an elegance of style, a philosophy informing why they were the way they were, links to specific fields in modernist visual arts. It had purpose and goals which is what elevated it to where it ultimately sits, both for people who dislike the school and those who did. It is something that will forever be part of the legacy of human culture.

This, on the other hand, is just garbage. Not the slightest iota of design effort has been put into it. In fact, it doesn't even make any sense. You cannot even describe it in a logical way, because there is no apparent reason why anything looks the way it does. What purpose do the randomized placement of the balconies serve? Are some yellow for any particular reason? The yellow looks very out of place against an otherwise monochromatic, monolithic structure. Why has a large section of the upper floors been turned into an even more of a featureless grey box? What is the rationale behind having the corners of the building be completely blank walls, rather than including more windows so residents have more light? Why are the windows so small, as well? The living spaces in this building are going to be incredibly dark. You want morel light...this is Canada. We don't get a whole lot of sun. It looks like a prison, since at least 50% of the facade is just solid wall panels with vertical grey stripes and I am sure it will feel like one on the inside and outside as well.

Ugh. I know the NEO Architecture guys lurk this forum. Please...do better. It's shameful work haha.

[mastermind]

Yeah. Well that building and the majority of other brutalist structures had an elegance of style, a philosophy informing why they were the way they were, links to specific fields in modernist visual arts. It had purpose and goals which is what elevated it to where it ultimately sits, both for people who dislike the school and those who did. It is something that will forever be part of the legacy of human culture.

This, on the other hand, is just garbage. Not the slightest iota of design effort has been put into it. In fact, it doesn't even make any sense. You cannot even describe it in a logical way, because there is no apparent reason why anything looks the way it does. What purpose do the randomized placement of the balconies serve? Are some yellow for any particular reason? The yellow looks very out of place against an otherwise monochromatic, monolithic structure. Why has a large section of the upper floors been turned into an even more of a featureless grey box? What is the rationale behind having the corners of the building be completely blank walls, rather than including more windows so residents have more light? Why are the windows so small, as well? The living spaces in this building are going to be incredibly dark. You want morel light...this is Canada. We don't get a whole lot of sun. It looks like a prison, since at least 50% of the facade is just solid wall panels with vertical grey stripes and I am sure it will feel like one on the inside and outside as well.

Ugh. I know the NEO Architecture guys lurk this forum. Please...do better. It's shameful work haha.

I don't think this is a NEO project anymore.  The style of the renderings and their backgrounds are pretty different this time around.

[ac3r]

I don't think this is a NEO project anymore.  The style of the renderings and their backgrounds are pretty different this time around.

It's still NEO. They're credited in the documents.

Those renderings only look different and more bare bones because they're preliminary. If they were being used for marketing material then they would have more post-processing and detail applied to them but these were just made to include in the planning submission documents.

Renderings will look different depending on which software they were created in and why they were created. Most CAD software has some ability to make renderings, albeit with less detail and the results tend to look like these...just enough detail to offer a visual perspective of the project. For marketing relating renders, it is more common to use a software like V-Ray or Maxwell that can integrate into most CAD software (ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, Rhinoceros 3D and so on) since you have much greater control over things. Then of course they tend to get extra post-processing in something like Photoshop.

I have no idea what NEO uses, but you can tell this is their work based on the stylistic choices. Or...lack thereof, I suppose. It's odd because NEO Architecture may not be winning anything like the Aga Khan or Pritzker Awards but they are at least capable of making something that looks at least coherent. The 459 Mill project is an example, which at least appears as if it'll look alright, drawing influence from English and Dutch architecture. This project is just completely wack, sadly. How anyone in that office looked at this and said yeah this is perfect is mind boggling haha.

[2tall]

I don't think this is a NEO project anymore.  The style of the renderings and their backgrounds are pretty different this time around.

It's still NEO. They're credited in the documents.

Those renderings only look different and more bare bones because they're preliminary. If they were being used for marketing material then they would have more post-processing and detail applied to them but these were just made to include in the planning submission documents.

Renderings will look different depending on which software they were created in and why they were created. Most CAD software has some ability to make renderings, albeit with less detail and the results tend to look like these...just enough detail to offer a visual perspective of the project. For marketing relating renders, it is more common to use a software like V-Ray or Maxwell that can integrate into most CAD software (ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, Rhinoceros 3D and so on) since you have much greater control over things. Then of course they tend to get extra post-processing in something like Photoshop.

I have no idea what NEO uses, but you can tell this is their work based on the stylistic choices. Or...lack thereof, I suppose. It's odd because NEO Architecture may not be winning anything like the Aga Khan or Pritzker Awards but they are at least capable of making something that looks at least coherent. The 459 Mill project is an example, which at least appears as if it'll look alright, drawing influence from English and Dutch architecture. This project is just completely wack, sadly. How anyone in that office looked at this and said yeah this is perfect is mind boggling haha.

I only spent two minutes looking through the docs...but found this...mastermind might be right???     ...scandal....

[panamaniac]

It would take a heck of a software to make the grey box on the tower look anything other than unsightly.

[tomh009]

I only spent two minutes looking through the docs...but found this...mastermind might be right???...scandal....

Maybe Reinders really didn't like NEO and desperately wanted to be different ...

[westwardloo]

It would take a heck of a software to make the grey box on the tower look anything other than unsightly.

Honestly all it will take is getting rid of the grey box on the top of the tower. Run the white panels with staggered balconies all the way to the top floor. Will it be a masterpiece no, but it will be an ok looking building.

[panamaniac]

Agree.