Frank Gehry’s biggest-ever contribution to the city in which he was born is now underway after construction began on the two-tower Forma condominium scheme in downtown Toronto.
A total of 2,087 residential units will be constructed as part of the process, filling out the pair of 73- and 84-story towers that, once built, will stand as the tallest buildings the 94-year-old Gehry has completed during the course of his illustrious six-decade career in architecture.
Gehry himself was on hand for last week’s groundbreaking ceremony, where he commented on the project’s significance as a new landmark rising from the busy commercial core of the city that has recently become a battleground for developers looking to surmount the fray of tall building proposals proffered there since the beginning of 2021.
"You think about the buildings in other cities like Rockefeller Center, where there’s an ensemble of buildings that create public spaces at the ground, and still exist years later. […] I believe this will have the same impact," Urbanize Toronto quoted him as saying on Wednesday.
Toronto’s Great Gulf is leading the development of the project and says over $1 billion worth of sales have been entered already on the shorter east tower, including the $20 million cantilevered penthouse which occupies its tapering upper floors. Gehry says the design is informed by local history and his childhood memories of the city.
"That Canadian identity that I'm talking about is the history of the buildings that I grew up with. So they're fixed in my head because I haven't lived there in the new world," he told the CBC during a recent interview. "I'm not trying to say we should go backwards. I just say there's a kind of a respect that I wanted to have for that heritage without copying it. So can you do that? Well, we kind of did it in New York, and successfully. And so I'm sort of thinking maybe we can do it here."
The plan evolved from an original 2012 proposal that called for a three-tower scheme led by David Mirvish. Paolo Ferrari has been tapped to lead the interior design for both new buildings.
Construction costs for the east building have been estimated at around $500 million, according to Gehry's firm. The first tower will be completed in 2028, followed later by the second, which has yet to break ground.
Watch this interview with Gehry from the Forma website to learn more about the development's design.
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