So you may have heard the news that Toronto has passed Chicago in terms of population, and that we are outbuilding our Great Lakes Counterpart in Skyscrapers as well. Something that not too long ago might have seemed impossible. Toronto is doing it in all ways it seems, and there is much self congratulations, however there should also be some caution in regards to the type of development we see in Toronto.
The developers in Toronto have a habbit of using window-wall cladding with excessive spandrel, and for sure it upsets the design critics in this city to no end, however when looking at the building development in Chicago no matter how sparse it may appear, during the construction boom here, it should be noted that most projects there seem to use high quality skins, in particular the use of curtainwall glass is prevelant. Now you can say that is because more of the skyscraper development in Chicago is related to commercial space, in which it is far more suitable.
Lately though there has been some catch-up in Toronto with new towers, in particular the Hotel-Condo towers and some of the higher end condos in Yorkville using Curtainwall glass. This is a welcome change. In fact one of my favorite buildings during the construction boom has to be the Shangri-La Hotel and Residences, with it's awesome angles and sharpe glass making a deep impact on the skyline when viewed from the west. 
Totally agree! They build like there's no tomorrow here, but ugly is still ugly! I hate to say, but 99% of our new achritecture is as blah as can be, where as Chicago has style, we have only higher numbers, which doesn't necessarily mean better. I'd take one elegant building over a dozen ugly supertalls!
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