old city hall
City Hall Gargoyle - 1921
When Toronto's Old City Hall was designed over a hundred years ago, it was adorned with finely crafted gargoyles that have become among the city's most renowned works. Popularly known as Toronto's third City Hall, this large civic work was designed by Edward James Lennox in the fashionable Richardsonian Romanesque style. When it opened in 1899, Toronto's Old City Hall was among the largest municipal buildings in North America.
As part of the design, Lennox decorated the building with caricatures, grotesques and several gargoyles that were found at various locations on the building exterior. These extraordinary creatures were found sprouting from the north façade, the front entrance turrets, low parts of the structure, and from the clock tower.
Toronto's Third City Hall
Marta O'Brien blogs about her love for Old City Hall
I'm pleased to be one of the bloggers for the new Heritage Toronto web site and I hope you'll enjoy my entries about Toronto's architecture.
As an architectural historian, instructor, and walking tour leader I am often asked to name my favourite building in Toronto. My favourite old building is Toronto's Third City Hall, better known as Old City Hall, which opened in 1899.
Toronto-born architect Edward James (better known as E. J.) Lennox won the competition held to find the best design for a new city hall. It was 1886 and 32-year-old Lennox had been in architectural practice for 10 years.
Lennox's City Hall is a perfect example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style - a variation of Romanesque architecture developed by America's preeminent 19th-century architect, Henry Hobson (H. H.) Richardson. The Romanesque style originated in 11th- and 12th-century Europe and featured heavy stonework, round arches, square towers, asymmetrical massing, and intricate stone carving. This style was revived in Western architecture during the mid-1800s.
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