^^is demo'ing Jackson Sq making the same mistake as demoing what came before it?
I'm curious how we will think about preservation in another 25 or 50 years. How we will relate to the decisions we make now. I can't imagine anyone discovering images of a vanished Jackson Square Mall and feeling the sense of loss so often expressed in this forum. That being said, I think it's important to use what we have, and to leave nods to what came before - ie. leave some artifacts if you are going to demolish Jackson Square, such as the steps.
I think we have a special relationship to architecture and urbanism which comes out of an informal, organic process - adapting over time, ideally, to it's surroundings - producing beautiful situations like the old market square, the way old city hall sat on the street - the way that York fell off the city grid as it was originally a native Canadian trail, producing that wedge shaped block.
The appeal those “ filthy back lanes, the grubby roof tops and the decrepit faces,” have for us today are as missing charm, irregularity, changes of pace and space in the downtown. a human touch. We respond to these not out of nostalgia, but because what we were given in it's place, did not offer us successful qualities.
A better question:
If we could restore the original buildings, the streetwalls, the alleys, old city hall
, market square, the old market, everything to it's pre-1960s condition - should we?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce
^Cool image. Depressing but cool. I hesitate to delve too deeply into the old 'what if...?' scenario again. So much was lost.
I will say though that I have played with my own designs of that 'super block.' Essentially just demo'ing Jackson Sq; reviving market square; connecting some of the old streets again - Market, MacNab, etc. - creating some interesting spaces, etc. It's the dream that will never die...
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