Toronto Architecture Tours

May to October 2013

Toronto boasts a world class mix of both heritage and modern architecture designed by local and internationally acclaimed architects like Mies Van der Rohe, Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, Will Alsop, Diamond & Schmitt and KPMB to name a few. Join the Toronto Society of Architects’ guided outdoor walking tours for a 2 hour journey past some of Toronto’s most iconic architecture. Our professionally trained volunteer guides will share the design context, details, and unusual features that make these buildings notable and demonstrate why architecture is such a powerful communications tool for businesses, organizations, and the city.

"Wonderful collection of buildings... Good architectural explanations given. Thanks!"

"Very interesting. As a visitor to Toronto it was fun to see all the downtown buildings and learn about them."

"Excellent tour... The guide was exceptional!"

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OCAD University, photo from alsoparchitects.com
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, photo by Tom Arban

ART & PERFORMANCE TOUR | Some of Toronto's most exciting contemporary buildings are related to art, theatre, and cinema. Our outdoor walking tour features dynamic and controversial structures designed by top international and Canadian architects. You'll see some of the results of Toronto's Cultural Renaissance, an exciting program of buildings that solidified our city's reputation as an arts centre. Highlights of the tour include the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Bell Lightbox, Sharp Centre at Ontario College of Art & Design University, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Featured Buildings

Roy Thomson Hall, 1978-82 Arthur Erickson with Mathers & Haldenby; interior transformed 2000-02 KPMB
Princess of Wales Theatre, 1991-93 Peter Smith of Lett/Smith Architects
TIFF Bell Lightbox, 2007-10 KPMB
proposed John Street Arts & Culture Promenade
former Festival Hall, 1999 Kirkland Partnership
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 2006 A. J. (Jack) Diamond
Umbra Concept Store, 2007 Kohn Shnier Architects
Pachter Hall / Moose Factory Gallery, 2005 Stephen Teeple
Sharp Centre, Ontario College of Art and Design University, 2004 Will Alsop with Robbie/Young + Wright Architects
Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), 2003–08 Gehry International Architects with Adamson Associates Architects

Details:

WHEN | Weekly on Saturday mornings from 10 am to 12 noon from May 12th to October 6th, 2012
DURATION | 2 hours
DISTANCE | Approx 2.3 km with some stairs to and from buildings
MEETING PLACE | Near St. Andrew subway station (exact location provided with your e-Ticket)
FINISH: St. Patrick subway station

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Royal Ontario Museum, photo courtesy of B+H Architects
Terrence Donnelly Centre, photo by Ben Rahn/A-Frame Studio
Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building, photo by Benson Kua

CULTURE & CAMPUS TOUR | View some of the jewels of Toronto's Cultural Renaissance, a program through which several museums and cultural centres were developed or transformed, along with a selection of the dramatic new buildings on the University of Toronto campus. Highlights of the tour includes the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research.

Featured Buildings:

Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, 2003-06 KPMB (original building 1984 Keith Wagland)
Michael Lee-Chin Crystal addition, Royal Ontario Museum 2003-08 Daniel Libeskind with B+H Architects
Telus Centre for Performance and Learning, Royal Conservatory of Music, 2005-08 KPMB
Bata Shoe Museum, 1995 Moriyama & Teshima
Woodsworth College Residence, 2004 architectsAlliance
Max Gluskin House, 2008 Hariri Pontarini Architects
John P. Robarts Reference Library, 1968-73 Warner Burns Toan & Lunde with Mathers & Haldenby
Rotman Expansion, 2010-2012 KPMB
St. George Street Revitalization, 1996-97 Brown and Storey Architects in joint venture with van Nostrand DiCastri Architects
Willcox Street Pedestrian Way, 2010
Bahen Centre for Information Technology, 2002 Donald Schmitt of Diamond Schmitt
Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, 2005 Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner with architectsAlliance
Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building, 2002-2006 Foster + Partners with Moffatt Kinoshita Architects

Details:

WHEN | Weekly on Sunday afternoons from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm from May 13th to October 7th, 2012
DURATION | 2 hours
DISTANCE | Approx 2 km with some stairs to and from buildings
MEETING PLACE | Near Avenue Road & Bloor St W. (exact location provided with your e-Ticket)
FINISH | Near Queen's Park subway station

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Toronto Dominion Centre, photo by David Michael Lamb
Brookfield Place Galleria, photographer unknown
City Hall, photographer unknown

TOWERS TOUR | Toronto’s downtown skyline began a dramatic transformation in the mid-1960s that continues in the 21st century. The extraordinary design of City Hall launched Toronto as a modern metropolis with the major banks competing to erect the city's tallest and most iconic buildings. More recently, condominiums and hotels compete with the corporate towers. The tour includes City Hall, the major bank headquarters, the dynamic Brookfield Place, and startling condo-hotel towers.

Featured Buildings:

City Hall,1958-65 Viljo Revell with John B. Parkin Associates
Bay Adelaide Centre, 2007-09 WZMH
Trump Tower, 2007-11 Zeidler Partnership Architects
Toronto Dominion Centre, 1963-69 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with John B. Parkin Associates, Bregman & Hamann Architects
First Canadian Place, 1972-77 Edward Durell Stone Associates with Bregman & Hamann Architects
former Toronto Stock Exchange, 1936-37 George & Moorhouse with S.H. Maw; renovated as Design Exchange, 1994 KPMB
Scotia Plaza, 1985-88 WZMH
Commerce Court, 1968-72 I. M. Pei & Partners with Page & Steele; 1994 renovation Zeidler Roberts Partnership
former Montreal Trust Head Office, 1965 Page & Steele
One King West, 2006 Stanford Downey Architects
Prudential Building, 1958 Peter Dickinson
Brookfield Place, 1989-91 Bregman & Hamann Architects with Skidmore Owings & Merrill; galleria 1987-92 Santiago Calatrava
Royal Bank Plaza, 1972-76 WZMH

Details:

WHEN | Weekly on Saturday afternoons at 1:30pm to 3:30 pm from May 12th to October 6th, 2012

DURATION | 2 hours

DISTANCE | Approx 1.2 km with some stairs to and from buildings

MEETING PLACE | Near Queen St. W. & Bay St. (exact location provided with your e-Ticket)

FINISH | Near Union subway station

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TICKET INFORMATION & REGISTRATION |
Adults - $20, Students/Seniors - $15, Groups of 10 or more – 15% off adult price

2013 Registration now open!

Click for Press Release | May 2013

If you would like to book a group tour at another time, please contact us at: walk@torontosocietyofarchitects.ca

For general or press related inquiries, please contact us at info@torontoarchitecturetours.com

Toronto Architecture Tours are generously supported by: