One of the traditionally styled homes in the Casa Loma area has had a lot of modern features added to it - some work but other don't. This railing is one of the successful additions - the rusted industrial materials blend nicely with the brick facade and all the greenery. Love the gears!
This shot is taken from the top of the stairs shown in yesterday's pic. It gives an idea of the 3-D aspect of the ceiling and also the different detail in this ceiling section. The gold leaf work is just spectacular - wonderful craftsmanship.
This is the grand staircase up to the Canon Theatre which started life as the Pantages Theatre in 1920 as a combo movie/vaudville house. Designed by architect Thomas W Lamb, it was the largest theatre in Canada and featured beautiful interiors of marble, gold leaf, etc. It eventually became strictly a movie theatre and in the early 1970s was divided into 6 movie houses and all the interior surfaces were drywalled and or painted over. In the late 80s new owners completely restored and refreshed the interior, even having the paint meticulously removed from the original surfaces. In 1989 it reopened with The Phantom of the Opera ( which ran for more than 10 years ) and has remained a live theatre ever since. It is really gorgeous inside!
Sweet is not really my style but this pastoral mural just off Harbord St caught my eye because of its brightness but more so because it is on the side of a women's sex boutique. I love the dichotomy of the 2 things. And it is impressive that no one has tagged it - yet.
This sculpture titled "Michael" is found in the quadrangle at St Michael's College at U of Toronto. By Canadian artist Anne Allardyce, it was commissioned by St Mike's to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the college in 1978. The stainless steel is welded in a way that makes it look like it was folded into shape - it works quite well.
This rather strange building is the sales or presentation centre for a condo to be constructed on Queen St in the West Queen West area which has been another big area for artist studios. There is now a lot of pressure from condos and the artists are losing the old warehouses that were there. This condo company hired British architect Will Alsop ( he designed the Ontario College of Art and Design floating addition ) to design their sales centre and has tried to trade on the bohemian flavour of this part of Queen St in their sales pitch.
This sculpture titled "Neighbours" by Canadian artist Joe Rosenthal was installed in 2001. Installed near the walkway into St Michael's College at U of Toronto, it has a really friendly, welcoming feeling to it. He has another sculpture in the same area which I will try to get a shot of before winter hits us.
