Toronto - An eclectic melting pot of architecture

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http://www.heygo.com 20th February - Old Town and the Future City Toronto



As one of the perfect examples of a modern city, Toronto has some incredible buildings and structures that appeal to not only Canadians but also people all over the world.



We started our virtual tour at St.Lawrence Market, located in Toronto's historic Old Town, the St. Lawrence Market has seen many faces since its construction in the 17th century. Along with being a marketplace, the St. Lawrence Market has served as the city's social center, as well as its City Hall. Today, the market sells goodies galore, from gourmet cured meats on one end to handcrafted jewelry in the other.

The St. Lawrence Market is divided into three buildings: the South Market, the North Market and St. Lawrence Hall.



We continued our walk always looking up into the sky at the new city landscape & at the same time admiring the old.

Perhaps one of the most iconic structures in Toronto, the Gooderham Building, known as the Flatiron Building or “Toronto’s Flat Iron.” David Roberts Jr. designed this triangle-shaped building in 1882.



We could easily have missed a small piece of modern art tucked away, placed to remind Torontonians about the history of the location of Toronto's waterfront for more than 10,000 years before the shoreline gradually moved south as the port was extended.

Shoreline Commemorative is a scaled map of the North shore of Lake Ontario, coming up from below the water level. The colouration of the limestone used for this work is the same as what the shoreline would have been before the area was heavily transformed over the past century.

The bronze tripod here represents the surveyor's instrument used for city building since the Roman times.

The sphere on top of it is made of glass, tinted in two different tones to represent the sky above and the lake below.

The brick wall stands where water and land met.



BCE Place is comprised of shops, restaurants, the old Bank of Montreal building which houses the Hockey Hall of Fame. In order to meet the city public art requirements, an invited competition was held for the design of the Gallery and Heritage Square in 1987.

The Galleria is five stories high, the structure is comprised of eight freestanding steel supports on either side of the Galleria. These supports branch out into shapes that are reminiscent of a forest canopy.

For me it was more reminiscent of a Cathedral!



The L Tower is a 208-meter tall residential skyscraper consisting of 58 floors. The L stands for Libeskind, as Daniel Libeskind designed it. It was made for luxurious living and features top-notch amenities like a library, lounge, private cinema, spa facilities, a 24-hour concierge, and catering kitchens.



After all those modern buildings it was fun to find a quirky fountain in a small park area which for years was a parking lot.



The fountain honors the four-legged visitors who frequent this neighborhood spot, the dogs all have their eyes glued to the giant bone that crowns the fountain. Meanwhile, the cat stares off into the distance, its gazed fixed on the two bird sculptures perched on a lampost.



A few of the 27 dog breeds featured at the fountain are:

Fox Terrier, St.Bernard, Dalmatian, West Highland Terrier, Great Dane, Jack Russell Terrier, St.Bernard, Giant Schnauzer, Golden Retriever, Beagle, Pug.



Today the fountain wasn’t working before it is winter time so I found an image online which show just how fun it must be to see the fountain working.

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