TORONTO (Tuesday, September 1, 2015) – In honour of the 50th anniversary of City Hall, on Wednesday, September 23 at 7 pm, Toronto Reference Library hosts Battle of the Architects: Revisiting City Hall’s Architectural Design. The original designs of the finalists from the 1958 international architectural competition will be revisited, reviewed and defended, Dragon's Den-style, by a panel of architects and designers. The event will be moderated by former architecture critic and City Space columnist for The Globe and Mail Lisa Rochon and will include:
- Tania Bortolotto (Bortolotto Design Architects Inc.) defending design finalist Frank Mikutowski with Richard Rafferty and George Rafferty (St. Paul, Minnesota)
- Bill Bradley (Adamson Associates Architects) defending design finalist William B. Hayward of Hayward and Associates (Philadephia, Pennsylvania)
- Don Schmitt (Diamond Schmitt Architects) defending design finalist Halldor Gunnløgsson and Jørn Nielsen (Copenhagen, Denmark)
- Patrick Fejer (B + H Architects) defending design finalist I.M. Pei and Associates (New York, New York)
- Shirley Blumberg (KPMB Architects) defending design finalist John H. Andrews (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
- David Clusiau (NORR Limited) defending design finalist Viljo Revell (Helsinki, Finland)
- Lynne Wilson Orr (Parkin Architects Limited) defending design finalist David Horne (Toronto, Ontario)
- Andrew Frontini (Perkins + Will) defending design finalist Perkins & Will (White Plains, New York)
Hear what they have to say and cast a vote on the best design.
Toronto Public Library will celebrate City Hall's anniversary with a series of programs and a virtual exhibit from our Special Collections of the hundreds of models and drawings submitted for the competition.
Virtual Exhibit
The 1958 international competition attracted over 500 entrants from 42 countries following years of public discussion, debate and, at times, acrimonious political maneuverings. Toronto’s “New City Hall” design put Toronto at the center of a major discussion on modernist architecture.
Toronto Public Library, in collaboration with Christopher Armstrong, Professor Emeritus, Department of History at York University, has created A Grand Design: The Toronto City Hall Design Competition an online curated exhibit of the competition featuring finalists' designs. This exhibit showcases unique Toronto Public Library materials for study and research, celebrates one of the country's most distinct landmarks in Toronto’s history and constitutes a unique catalogue of ideas about design in modern architecture in the mid-twentieth century.
A panel display of the models and drawings of the eight finalists will be available for viewing at the City Hall Rotunda from September 3 to 13.
City Hall 50th Series
A series of co-sponsored Lectures at City Hall’s Council Chambers with noted experts on modern architecture will be held throughout September.
On Sunday, September 13 from noon to 5 pm, the City of Toronto will host a free celebration about this iconic location at Nathan Phillips Square. City Hall Branch will be open during the festivities.
Visit our website for more information about the events and exhibits listed above, as well as a a series of special blog posts and reading list dedicated to this occasion.
Toronto Public Library is one of the world's busiest urban public library systems. Every year, 19 million people visit our branches in neighbourhoods across the city and borrow 32 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit our website at torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answerline at 416-393-7131. To get the most current updates on what's happening at the library, follow us on Twitter @torontolibrary.
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Media Contact:
Karolina Majka, 416-393-7001
Communications Officer
Toronto Public Library
kmajka@torontopubliclibrary.ca