Architecture
A unique blend of historical and contemporary design defines Toronto.
From the Victorian grandeur of the Industrial Age to the sleek, minimalist designs of the twentieth
century, Toronto’s skyline tells an eloquent tale of its colourful history and modern cultural Renaissance.
Heritage
Remnants of the classical architecture of Old Toronto are well preserved in many of the city’s historic
neighbourhoods. Cabbagetown, a Heritage District known for its collection of Victorian structures, holds
a number of architecturally significant homes from a variety of periods including the Georgian period,
Queen Anne and the Second Empire.
The industrial, red brick Distillery Historic District was once the largest whisky producer in the world.
Carefully refurbished, it’s now home to a charming combination of art galleries, shops, restaurants and
performance venues.
In the heart of the city, Old Town Toronto is a popular tourist destination. Purchased for the first mayor
of Toronto, William Lyon Mackenzie, Mackenzie House is a Greek Revival row-house and museum that
includes a recreated print shop, gallery and many changing exhibitions. Also in Old Town and open to
the public since 1803, is the St. Lawrence Market. As one of Canada’s oldest continuously operating
markets, it’s home over one hundred and twenty vendors offering everything from fresh fruit and
vegetables to antiques and artisanal crafts.
With its distinctive, wedge or “flat-iron” shape, the iconic Gooderham Flatiron Building exhibits a
combination of the modern Gothic Revival and the Romanesque Revival styles. Just down the street lies
an iconic piece of Toronto’s skyline, the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. In 1929, when the hotel officially
opened as The Royal York, the twenty-eight-story structure was the tallest building in the British Empire.
The Move to Modern
The sixties introduced modern facades to the cityscape, including the new Toronto City Hall - a much
talked about structure with an unusual spaceship-like exterior, designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell.
The structure’s distinctive curving and asymmetrical towers that surround the saucer-like council
chambers, gave rise to the building's original nickname "The Eye of Government" - from the air, the
building looks like an enormous, unblinking eye.
In the seventies, Toronto’s skyline began to change dramatically. Designed by German-born architect
Eberhard H. Zeidler, Ontario Place added the futuristic, golfball-shaped Cinesphere (the world’s first
permanent IMAX theatre) to the city’s waterfront. The CN Tower welcomed its first visitors in 1976 and
remains the tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere at 553.33 metres high. Classified
as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the
tower’s 360 degree views offer visitors breathtaking vistas of the city, Lake Ontario and the surrounding
area.
Featuring the world’s first retractable roof, making it the ideal sports venue in rain or shine,
Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome, opened in 1989. It houses two of Toronto’s professional
sports franchises: the Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Argonauts.
Toronto’s Financial District is home to the works of world-renowned architects like Edward Durell Stone
who designed the First Canadian Place. The Toronto Dominion Bank Centre, a cluster of gleaming black
steel and tinted glass skyscrapers, a Mies van der Rohe signature, is highly coveted for its minimalism.
Santiago Calatrava’s herring bone glass structure of the Allen Lambert Galleria elegantly stands next to
the heritage buildings surrounding it. The RBC Plaza’s two towers refract and reflect light differently
than other buildings in the city because of its unusual exterior: 24-carat gold leaf.
New-Century Renaissance
Other internationally celebrated architects have left an indelible mark on Toronto. Designed by Daniel
Libeskind, the annex to the Royal Ontario Museum, an enormous glass addition called the Michael LeeChin Crystal, was the talk of the town when completed. The geological artifacts in the museum's
collection were the inspiration behind the angular extension, which serves as a dynamic meeting spot
for locals and visitors alike.
Toronto-born Frank Gehry’s renovation of the Art Gallery of Ontario includes a billowing façade of glass
and wood, as well as the dramatic sculptural staircase and 40-foot glass ceilings of historic Walker Court.
It’s the first building the prominent architect has designed in Canada.
Architect Bruce Kuwabara, the visionary behind high profile local architectural firm KPMB, continues to
lead the collection of Cultural Renaissance projects in the city. His work includes the new home of the
Toronto International Film Festival, the TIFF Bell Lightbox, the National Ballet School (with Goldsmith
Borgal & Company), the Gardiner Museum, and the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall.
The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is home to the Canadian Opera Company and the
National Ballet of Canada. Architect Jack Diamond, of the Toronto firm Diamond and Schmitt Architects,
envisioned the project as a way to tie together music and dance in an ensemble of glass and steel
balanced with light woods against a minimalist backdrop. The structure is Canada’s first purpose-built
opera house.
A focal point for art and creativity in Toronto is the Ontario College of Art and Design. Nicknamed by
locals as the “floating table top” or “checkerboard on stilts”, the campus’s latest addition is the Sharp
Centre for Design. Created by British architect Will Alsop, the Sharp Centre’s striking design was
honoured with a Royal Institute of British Architects Worldwide Award. Another iconic British architect,
Norman Foster, designed the University of Toronto’s Leslie Dan School of Pharmacy building, known for
its luminescent “pill” floating in the main atrium and visible at night from the surrounding streets.
About Tourism Toronto
Tourism Toronto, Toronto’s Convention and Visitors Association, is an industry association of more than
1,100 members established to sell and market the greater Toronto region as a remarkable destination
for tourists, convention delegates and business travelers around the globe. Tourism Toronto operates in
partnership with the Greater Toronto Hotel Association and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and
Culture. For more information please visit www.seetorontonow.com.
Contact:
Media Relations
Tourism Toronto
416-987-1736
[email protected]