Toronto has beaten out Yekaterinburg, Pyongyang, Luzon City, and Ordos to claim the title of the World's Best City for Window Wall, Spandrel Panel, and Aluminum Mullions. The prestigious award, handed out every five years by the Glass and Aluminum Panel Manufacturers Association (GAPMA) recognizes the concerted efforts of developers and architects of Canada's largest city to find a new consistent architectural expression for today's world.

Slate grey adorns a Toronto skyscraper, image by Adam Ansells

M. Bernard Lee, President of GAPMA, said when announcing the award "The title is not just for the near ubiquitous material choices you've made, but for the near universally agreed upon palette that is emerging. If you thought Fifty Shades of Grey was exciting, Toronto has chosen a thousand shades of grey, the most colourful of colours, to replace the quotidian red brick of its Victorian Bay-and-Gable past", adding "there's a different grey to match every moody, overcast winter day, and all of November too".

Silt grey honours the mouth of the Don River, image by Adam Ansells

Torontonians have enthusiastically embraced grey, snapping up every suite available in every building. New condo owner Andrea Farbenblind told us "I chose my new condo based on the warmth of the lint grey accents. Every time I open the dryer door and clean out the filter I think, yup, that's where they got that from." Annex resident Avril Poisson intoned "It's important to me that nobody be offended by colour, and white's too hard to keep clean. My building on Spadina is saltspray grey and you wouldn't know in June that we hadn't washed off the winter's buildup yet."

Charcoal gray with a racing stripe of dust grey, image by Adam Ansells

Speaking on behalf of the City of Toronto, Public Realm Coordinator Emin Nancy-Grise stated "Be proud Toronto. We did it! We're number one in all things achromatic! This is our legacy!"