John Plumpton and I recently discussed the future of the ill-fated Rail Deck Park in a previous podcast.
Safdie Architects' alternative scheme takes the idea further by including a number of mixed-use towers, which as Plumpton explained in the podcast, makes more sense, as a big chunk of the included public space can now be financed by the developer.
I think it's smart and while we would lose a bit of the public space in favour of towers, the design seems to integrate both really well with one another and if the right blend of functions is achieved, could end up becoming a highly successful project without succumbing to crass commercialism.
While I'm always skeptical of unbuilt architecture, this one seems a little more promising than your usual pie-in-the-sky scheme.
What do you think?