Architectural Drawings Toronto

[jaborandi]

The art of the pen and ink drawing:

What a delicious thread! I'm pretty sure that I saw the original rendering of the Post Office about 25 years ago in the Special Collections section of the Reference Library. What struck me at the time was the use of a pale yellow sandstone (not unlike the Don Jail) topped with a mauve Mansard roof. It just seemed so unToronto or what I thought was un. I hope it wasn't wishful thinking on my part or some pesky acid flashback! I daresay the rendering is still there

 

[wwwebster]

 

[thecharioteer]

What a delicious thread! I'm pretty sure that I saw the original rendering of the Post Office about 25 years ago in the Special Collections section of the Reference Library. What struck me at the time was the use of a pale yellow sandstone (not unlike the Don Jail) topped with a mauve Mansard roof. It just seemed so unToronto or what I thought was un. I hope it wasn't wishful thinking on my part or some pesky acid flashback! I daresay the rendering is still there

Is this the one? (the prolific Owen Staples again, 1888):

There are also a plethora of hand-coloured postcards, each with slight variations of colour (almost like a series of Warhol Marilyns.......):

Whereas the oldest photos show a building seemingly pure white:

 

[jaborandi]

None of those. It was a realistic rendering in either watercolour or guache.

 

[thecharioteer]

None of those. It was a realistic rendering in either watercolour or guache.

I'll keep looking, jaborandi. Don't like the idea of "pesky acid flashbacks"....

 

[jaborandi]

I'll keep looking, jaborandi. Don't like the idea of "pesky acid flashbacks"....

You might have to go to the Reference Library. I have no idea how much of their collection has been scanned. I can't really recall how I found it. It might have been through the card catalogue (remember those) or it might have been referenced in their picture collection. I was working on my own pen and ink drawing of it and was thus nosing about looking for material. It would be an amazing find if you could free it from obscurity.

 

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

WITH what I have given reference to below, one may view a cousin of the above:

1) internetarchive.org
2) Chats on Old Prints

Enjoy!


Regards,
J T

 

[AlexCorey]

What strikes me the most about these plans is their emphasis on fresh air - be it "fresh air passages" in the basement, the ventilation shafts that lead up through the building, or the verandahs onto which patients could be placed on each floor. It emphasizes a feature of the building that directly relates to the medical theories of the time, even if 'fresh air' in this case was the sooty air of Toronto circa 1890. *Also to note on this point is the opening of their 'fresh air sanitarium' on the Toronto Island a decade prior to the College Street building.

 

[thecharioteer]

What strikes me the most about these plans is their emphasis on fresh air - be it "fresh air passages" in the basement, the ventilation shafts that lead up through the building, or the verandahs onto which patients could be placed on each floor. It emphasizes a feature of the building that directly relates to the medical theories of the time, even if 'fresh air' in this case was the sooty air of Toronto circa 1890. *Also to note on this point is the opening of their 'fresh air sanitarium' on the Toronto Island a decade prior to the College Street building.

Good observation, Alex. The belief in the therapeutic benefits of fresh air was also the rationale for the exterior sleeping porches at the end of each wing of the TGH Building:

 

[wwwebster]

All images from the December 1914 issue of “Construction.â€

http://archive.org/stream/constructionjour07macduoft#page/426/mode/2up

 

[wwwebster]

The Registry Office:

Images from the October 1917 issue of “Construction.â€

http://archive.org/stream/constructionjour10macduoft#page/334/mode/2up

 

[thecharioteer]

Stunning drawings, wwwebster, particularly p. 340 of the Registry Building which combines plans, elevations, sections and details (the glory of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts!).

Quick side-trip to Paris (http://library.brown.edu/cds/catalog/catalog.php?verb=render&id=1223581467578125&colid=6):

I never realized how beautiful the Registry Building was on the inside. Makes one re-look at the Marani & Morris submission in the 1956 New City Hall competition in a different light:

 

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

"Makes one re-look at the Marani & Morris submission in the 1956 New City Hall competition in a different light:"
QUOTE: Thecharioteer.

+ 1.


Regards,
J T

 

[junctionist]

The Registry Building would have looked great fronting onto Nathan Phillips Square as well.

 

[k10ery]

The Registry Building would have looked great fronting onto Nathan Phillips Square as well.

If these comments don't stir Urban Shocker back into posting again, then I'm afraid nothing will.