By Chris Bateman
The rise and fall and rise of St. Lawrence Hall
In 1966, Toronto’s St. Lawrence Hall was in terrible shape. The venerable old neoclassical building at the southwest corner of... Read More
The story behind the first computer in Canada
In 1949, a team of professors and graduate students at the University of Toronto began building a machine no-one in Canada, and few in... Read More
When will Toronto love its Modern architecture?
What do you picture when you read the words “heritage building.”? It probably isn’t the Carlton Tower at Yonge and... Read More
The space age Parkway Plaza, Toronto’s first heritage supermarket
It was only a shopping mall, but when the Parkway Plaza opened at Ellesmere Road and Victoria Park Avenue in 1958, it signalled the... Read More
The life and death of Peter Dickinson and The Inn on the Park
Peter Dickinson was dying when he designed the Inn on the Park. From a bed in Mount Sinai hospital, his body weakened from cancer... Read More
Toronto’s Summerville pool is a slice of the Mediterranean
It’s easy to overlook the Donald D. Summerville Olympic Pools. Despite its sturdy presence on Lake Shore Boulevard East, the... Read More
The Toronto Park Pavilion needs your love
It’s hard not to love the Park Pavilion. Designed in 1958 by British-born architect Alan Crossley and consulting engineer... Read More
40 in the shade: Toronto’s worst heatwave
For an excruciating week in July, 1936, Toronto, the province, and much of Canada burned. An unprecedented and deadly continent-wide... Read More
How Toronto built the CN Tower
The CN Tower is one of the most important buildings ever constructed in Canada. Like it or loathe it, the absurd, 553-metre concrete... Read More
How City Hall ended up on St. Clair Avenue
In the late 1940s, Toronto City Hall was bursting at the seams. Now known as Old City Hall, the building on the northeast corner of... Read More