Raise the Hammer

I won't comment on the design just yet - to me, that reveal didn't show enough to comment either way. I want to see more before I form an opinion. In some ways I like what I see, in some ways I would have hoped for more.

I mean, really - a 3-D fly-around that shows the structure... but is that meant to show the "guts" or the entire look? A series of glamour shots showing the stadium experience? From this I'm meant to envision how this thing will fully appear from the street? The video seems to show complete walls with glass on the west side in one view, the high-angle shot exposes east stands marked by steel girders at street level (and banners?)... what is it going to be? What about some real elevation drawings? Have they done that? Or are the so-called "soft costs" paying for that kind of attention to detail? Press releases note a "masonry base". It's still pretty vague, in my opinion.

I'm a CFL and Tiger-Cats fan, and will continue to be, and I'm glad they've concentrated on the fan experience because it IS important - form should follow function. Roof or no roof is not important to me - I will sit closer to the field so rain is likely to hit me no matter what.

The look from the outside is important in an everyday sense, but to be honest that's very subjective (I'd rather not, for example, see something akin to the BBVA Compass... it's like the Michael Lee Chin Crystal on steroids - does that fit with this neighbourhood? Rio Tinto, however, would fit very nicely even without the roof structures)

I also have to wonder how the combined bid affected things. Nobody here has commented on the fact that this bid was selected to build several facilities (IWS2, the Milton velodrome, York athletics stadium, and one other I believe). Maybe the Ticats had a hand in all the submitted bids, maybe not, but how much did the bundling affect what we may be getting?

My hope is this starts a conversation about final design details. We won't be getting a "bowl", or an architectural dream, for the money. Is there more to share? If so, when? Is there time to consider the subtle details?

Comment edited by ScreamingViking on 2012-10-16 23:00:42