Downtown, the new EDC building has a planter on the O’Connor side. It’s pretty dismal, if that isn’t too much of an oxymoron. Part of the problem may be that much of the planter is under the overhang of the building, so lacks water and maybe even enough light. The predicted problems were correctly identified by Urbsite last year: http://urbsite.blogspot.ca/2011/08/edcs-trees.html. It comes as no satisfaction to see the prediction come to non-fruition. Such careless architecture and finishing.
In contrast, they put a planter by the front door that looks pretty good; maybe you are supposed to forget about the rest of the exterior or the “roof garden”.
And over at the new Convention Centre, the same story. The curving glass facade directs water away from the base of the building, and guess where they put the pretty yellow plants?
Why do architects treat plants with such contempt?
I recall that the new government building replacing the Lorne Building between Slater-Albert at Elgin looks suspiciously like a remake of the EDC building. More dead plants on the way?
I agree; why DO architects treat plants with such contempt? Because it’s an ongoing maintenance cost, that’s why. And they hate plants. Just a theory.
I’m going to guess that it’s a function of too much concern for and self-adulation of their own building design, and not enough respect for the context in which it is built.