John Bentley Mays
The city's central junction deserves a building that defies the standard grid.
From Friday's Globe and Mail

April 20, 2007 at 12:00 AM EDT

For more than 200 years, the junction of Bloor and Yonge streets has been a key orientation point for those of us who live in this part of the world. But despite its historical importance, the intersection has gotten precious little architectural respect over the years. It's today little more than a smudgy comma in the street grid, marked by low, mean buildings of no architectural merit, the ugly hulk of the Hudson's Bay store, and a couple of dismal high-rise office towers.

The outstanding mediocrity of Bloor and Yonge has been under attack for a few years now. In early 2005, a sleek 60-storey proposal was floated for 1 Bloor St. East — currently the site of a shabby building that is home to a botox clinic and other little enterprises — by the Toronto firm, Young + Wright Architects....

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