planning | property alignments , toronto by paul whelan
conflict concessions collisions consequences grace under pressure
crossing the grid
dundas Street meanders across Toronto’s orthogonal street grid leaving odd-shape lots and angles. Throughout its length the built response to its diagonal cut has created a variety of compromises as buildings twist to face the street while remaining aligned with the side property lines. This particular example is in the Junction area of Toronto, a prosperous industrial town from the late 1880’s through to its absorption into the City of Toronto in 1909. The earliest surveys of the Junction show the strain of builders trying to decide which property line should establish a building’s orientation. Over time the Dundas Street alignment has become dominant, but 2867 Dundas retains a vestigial memory of this alignment conundrum. The resulting convoluted shop entry optimises this site geometry to provide street frontage for three entries – apartment, bar and basement office. The incredibly demur bar occupies the most recessed and street-distant portion of this pocket of space. The decorative floor treatment, wood framed doors, glass displays and the brass and iron handrail are a necessary embellishment to entice passersby. The resulting space has become a semi-public extension of the sidewalk snaking into the heart of the building. p
above: Keele and Dundas in 1892, and today. right: plan of 2867 Dundas’s various entries. In The confusion created by Dundas Street for settlement and lot division is still evident. On the south side of Dundas properties align with the main Toronto grid except for this remaining building at 2867. The north side properties align with the idiosyncratic Dundas Street, connecting the physicality of the street-level world to the abstract world of surveying and city-making.
onsite 19: street, streets and lanes, the straight and narrow, wide and busy
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