Toronto has a rich history, and its windows certainly have not escaped that. Using the TTC and a few dollars, you can see every window worth seeing in town. These are some of the windows you will not want to miss on your adventures around Toronto.
Osgoode Hall
The Law Society of Upper Canada acquired this building in 1829. Since then it has been a focal point for Torontonians. It has since been declared a heritage site and is protected by the government. The Convocation Hall contains ten beautiful stained glass windows, each of which illustrate 4,000 years of law, making this building one of the most gorgeous set of windows in the city, but not the only one.
Flatiron Building
Costing only $18,000 when it was initially built, this Gothic-Romaesque structure was erected as a testament to the success of the Godenham family. The building has caught much attention over the years, both positive and negative. Its large number of windows fell upon criticism, but they are a distinct and individual part of the heritage building.
Union Station
In 1975,the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada heralded Union Station as one of the finest designs for a station. The building contains fourteen three-story bay windows, with delineated fenestration. The massive windows give the space an even more massive look to it, and were designed with a heavy sense of symmetry in mind. Extensive thought and planning were used to create these massive windows.
St. Michael’s Cathedral
Unlike the jagged and hard lines that make the church seem uninviting from the outside, the inside retains a construction that was very uncommon for cathedrals constructed during the Gothic Revival Period – vibrant, colourful stained glass windows. Every inch of the stained glass within the church is ‘antique,’ which means it has been hand blown in a medieval style. This process gives richer colours. The creator of the largest stained-glass window in the building, Etienne Thevenot, is also credited with creating the stained glass in the fame Notre Dame church in Paris. The picture shown is the window created by Etienne.
Royal Ontario Museum
The sheer design and classical architecture of this building make its windows one of Toronto’s most beautiful. The windows are designed to allow large amounts of light into it, making it an ideal space for some of the museums best kept artifacts. In 2007, The Crystal was built as a main entrance. It is a gorgeous 25% glass, 75% aluminum on a steel frame crystal shape that creates a modern look to the classical architecture of the building. The designer used the glass to create the illusion of having no boundary between the street and the inner museum.
