Copper Paneled Lobby

Location: Lobby of 55 Queen St. E.

Date photo taken: 15 February 2017

This elevator lobby on Queen Street East is decorated with hammered copper panels created by Laszlo Buday. Buday was born in Hungary but left following the uprising in 1956, eventually settling in Canada. He is perhaps best known for his work as a graphic designer, particularly his stint as art director for Canadian Architect magazine. He began working with copper in 1969. His process involves raising the designs by hammering on the back of the copper panels. When the initial designs are complete, the panels are reinforced with liquid aluminum and then areas of the display surface are selectively darkened and polished and finally sealed to prevent oxidation of the copper.

These panels were installed when the building was erected in 1973. Just down the street, another set of panels by Buday can be found in the lobby of 27 Queen St. E. 

Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church

Location: Golfview Ave. and Gerrard St. E.

Date photo taken: 20 February 2016

I find Toronto's places of worship fascinating. They range from grand cathedrals to small storefront operations and there are lots of them. Most churches are purpose built and have a pretty unique floor plan and yet they are susceptible to the same shifts in demographics that other buildings face. What happens to a church when the congregation moves on? This church provides an interesting example. 

This building is the second church on this site. The original Glenmount Methodist Church was a small one storey white building built around 1913. It was quickly replaced by this structure, and when the United Church was formed in 1925 from the union of Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches, it became Glenmount United. In 1984 it amalgamated with Rhodes United, also on Gerrard and very similar looking, and this building was sold to the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto. MCC is a welcoming congregation involved in LGBTQ rights and according to their website, this building was the first property owned in Canada by a lesbian and gay organization. In 1991 MCC moved on to another location and this building was sold to its current occupants, the Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church. This congregation first held services in Toronto in 1833 and counted among its members both free men and runaway slaves. It moved several times over the years and when their property near Queen and Soho sold to developers in 1991, they purchased this building where they continue to hold services.

Gordon Sinclair Lane

Location: runs between Sumach Street and Riverdale Park Road in Cabbagetown
Date photo taken: 25 October 2012

Toronto is criss-crossed with over 3000 lanes and just as neighbourhoods have their own identities, so too do their laneways. I love how this one looks in the fall, with the ivy and overhanging leaves turning brilliant colours. Several initiatives over the years have attempted to bring these spaces more into the community eye. The Name Your Lane project in 2006 encouraged people to turn these spaces into places. The Laneway Project takes it a step further, working to help communities activate and improve their lanes.

In 2008 the Cabbagetown Preservation Association sent a request to City Council to name 42 lanes in the area. Each name in some way reflected the history of the area. Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian media icon, was born on nearby Carlton Street. If you're interested in commemorating a person, event or thing through a lane name in your neighbourhood an application is available on the city's website, and the Laneway Project offers a how-to guide.

Hockey Heritage Mural - Summit Series

Location: Rail underpass on Davenport near Caledonia Park Rd.
Date photo taken: 10 September 2015

It was 45 years ago this week that Paul Henderson scored the winning goal in game eight to clinch the first Canada-USSR Summit Series. That moment, with Henderson celebrating and being embraced by teammate Yvan Cournoyer, was captured by Canadian Press photographer Frank Lennon. That image has been recreated on a railway underpass at Davenport and Calendonia Park as part of a hockey heritage mural. At over thirty metres wide it depicts personalities and moments from Canada's golden years of hockey, from 1951 to 1993. Created by the Davenport Arts Community, they endeavour to go beyond the creation of static murals, incorporating augmented reality and interactive animation into their designs, a process they call murography, allowing the viewer to interact through their smartphone. I wish I had known this when I visited the site. If you've interacted with the mural, please leave a comment below and share your experience.

Shoreline Beacon

Location: Lower Church Street

Date photo taken: 8 February 2016

This new art installation is tucked into a nook on Lower Church Street, just north of the Esplanade. Once upon a time, the natural shoreline of Lake Ontario would have been in approximately this location, before the City extended itself about a kilometer through the use of landfill. This piece, by artist Paul Raff, helps passersby rediscover this part of Toronto's history. The limestone base evokes the natural shoreline, and the projection on the wall explains the rest:

"For 10,000 years this was the location of Lake Ontario’s shoreline. This brick wall stands where water and land met, with a vista horizon." 

Little Free Library

Location: 123 Woodfield Road
Date photo taken: 12 April 2015

This is a Little Free Library sitting in the front yard of 123 Woodfield Road. Normally on this blog if I post something that is sitting in a person's yard, I don't publish the address. In this case however the whole point of these boxes is for the community to use them. The idea is simple, and it's spelled out on the little sign on the roof: Take a Book. Return a Book. From the first box built by a man in Wisconsin for his own yard in 2009, the idea has snowballed. As of 2016, there were over 50,000 Little Free Libraries in over 70 countries, including over 100 in Toronto. If you're interested in hosting your own free library, you can buy one pre-made or download plans to build your own from the Little Free Library website. If you just want to browse someone else's collection, they also have a map to help you find the one nearest you.

Note: I think this library may have grown since I took this picture. Can anyone confirm if it's now two-storeys tall?

Zoo Woods

Location: St. George south of Harbord

Date photo taken: 6 May 2016

Walking along St. George Street, thru the heart of the University of Toronto's downtown campus, you pass this small, wild looking patch of green. This is Zoo Woods, a project undertaken in 1994 by the Zoology Landscape Committee to recreate the Beech-Maple forest environment that once predominated in this part of southern Ontario. Many of the plants here were rescued from the Altona Forest, a remnant of the beech-maple forest within the GTA which was cleared in 1994 to build a subdivision. With increased interest in fostering native species and increasing biodiversity within urban areas, learning spaces like this one can play an important role. To see what the space looked like prior to the project, or to download a map of the woods, check out the Zoo Woods webpage.