Category Archives: photos

20150308. The unique 1971 modernist Building T pumping station in Toronto’s Pump House Park.

20150308_6615_1600x1100The attributes that make this building unique include the circular plan, the engaged inverted engaged catenary arches on the lower wall and the taller engaged catenary arches on the upper wall with fins that extend beyond the original roofline. Unfortunately, the recently added metal penthouse (or cap on top) obscures these fins from view and diminishes the brilliant original design that you can see at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pumping_station_in_Ashbridges_Bay_Toronto.jpg. This pumping station is officially known as the Mid-Toronto Interceptor Pumping Station but being a part of the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant, it goes by the name Building T.

20150228. An aerial sunset view of the towers of Toronto’s Bloor East Village.

20150228_6390_2015_1043x1200There is quite a concentration of tall buildings on Bloor Street starting at Yonge and going east. Note the sun streaming between buildings down Bloor street which stretches off into the sunset. If you look carefully you can identify Yonge and Bloor by the tall building under construction (1 Bloor East currently at 46/75 storeys) and the CIBC and Hudson’s Bay buildings.

20150227. In an aerial photo of Toronto, The CN Tower stand sentinel over the downtown west.

20150227. In an aerial photo of Toronto. The CN Tower stand sentSpadina Street stretches out to the north and if you look carefully you can see its intersections with King and Queen. Most of the King-Spadina Heritage Conservation District is also visible of which a study is being conducted. Queen West, Kensington Market, Chinatown and the Entertainment District are all visible.

To the right are the unmistakeable forms of the blue Art Gallery of Ontario and the checkered pattern of the Ontario College of Art’s Sharp Centre for Design. North of that in the top right corner is the massive brutalist Robarts Library and the University of Toronto Campus. In the foreground the Ritz Carlton dominates the skyline apart from the very tall CN Tower.

20150225. The Toronto skyline and Canadian National Exhibition Grounds from 2000 feet.

20150225_6373_2015_1800x1145From this point of view you can see how many more tall buildings we have – evidence that Toronto has more towers going up than any other city in North America. In the foreground, notice how large the Canadian National Exhibition grounds are and particularly how massive the Direct Energy conference centre is. It is the biggest squat square building in between the expressway and the lakeshore boulevard. And to the far right is the permanently sleepy Ontario Place. And finally I love how you can see the 32-year-deceased Hearn power plant on the other side of town in the barren port lands (reddish building with huge smokestack near water).

20150216. York University’s award-winning Seymour Schulich Building and Executive Learning Centre in Toronto. Hariri Pontarini Architects, 2004.

20150216. The award winning Seymour Schulich Building and ExecutHariri Pontarini Architects in joint venture with Robbie/Young + Wright Architects designed this building, a 2006 Governor General Medal in Architecture winner.