BlogTO Feature: Toronto's Glittering Frank Gehry Condo Skyscrapers Are Now One Step Closer To Reality
Two of Canada's tallest buildings are coming to 266-284 King Street West, the long-awaited Toronto legacy project from locally-born, world-renowned architect Frank Gehry brewing since at least 2012 now moving a step closer to realization.
The project's developers, Great Gulf, Dream, and Westdale Properties, announced on Thursday the branding of the enormous two-tower complex that will soon enter sales. The condo towers, dubbed Forma, will soar 73 and 84 storeys into the Toronto skyline.
Not only will they be among Toronto's highest skyline points, but the pair of towers will also become the tallest in the 93-year-old Canadian-born American architect's illustrious portfolio.
Forma would stand as Gehry's first new build in the country, a homecoming project for the internationally-recognized celebrity architect.
It may be the first new build, but Forma is actually the second major Gehry commission in the city. The legendary designer is also behind the 2008-completed AGO expansion.
Outside of Toronto, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect's works include globally-recognized landmarks including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
The project's newly-revealed branding takes on the "Latin and Italian meaning for form, shape and appearance," a press release stating that the name was inspired by " the towers' dancing movement."
Initially known under the working title of Mirvish+Gehry Toronto, the project branding was later simplified to "Gehry Towers" after David Mirvish sold off the site to the current team of developers.
The branding reveal comes accompanied by a pair of new renderings that show off what the developers describe as an "iridescent facade and twisting shape [that] will reflect the colours of the sun and the form of the surrounding buildings to change Toronto's skyline." Others think the towers look more like cheese graters.
Upon completion, the sky-scraping towers will bring 2,034 condominium units as well as commercial and retail spaces and a new space for OCAD University to the city.
The news release claims that "sales for Forma are coming soon," but for a project that has been known for almost a decade now, has changed owners, and has been advertising the imminent start of sales for a few years now, this claim should be taken with a grain of salt.