Toronto City Hall


The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, this example of Neo-Expressionist Modern architecture opened in 1965. Adjacent is the Nathan Phillips Square public square, designed and opened together with the hall.
Toronto City Hall replaced the neighbouring Old City Hall, which had been occupied by the municipal government since 1899 but was no longer adequate in size. Plans for a civic square dated to the 1900s, inspired by the "City Beautiful" movement.
The design of the hall and square was the result of an international design competition in 1958. The design competition sparked a national discussion on the meaning of monumental public buildings, the role of competitions in design and the place of urban public space in society. It was the first architectural competition in Ontario to allow international architects, requiring the local architects' association to change its rules and allow open competition at the instigation of then Toronto Mayor Nathan Phillips, after whom the square is named.

History

The first proposal to build a civic square at Queen Street West and Bay Street was made before World War I in 1905, followed by the Lyle plan of 1911. It included a civic square and monumental government buildings inspired by the "City Beautiful" movement. While the proposal ultimately failed, one part was built: the 1917 Classical-style Land Registry Office. Another proposal in 1927 failed due to the onset of the Great Depression, as there was no longer any civic will to spend the money.
By the end of World War II, the old City Hall was full, and municipal employees were being housed elsewhere. Interest in a new city hall and square was renewed. In 1943, a report to city council had recommended a new city hall and square in the block bounded by Queen Street West, Bay Street, Chestnut Street, and a line north of Albert Street. A referendum to spend on land acquisition was approved by the electorate in a referendum on New Year's Day in 1947. Acquisitions of lands in the proposed block proceeded, but no other activity proceeded. Most buildings in the block were small two-storey buildings housing Toronto's first Chinatown; on Bay was the large 1914 Shea's Hippodrome, a huge theatre for vaudeville and cinema which operated on the site until 1956.
In October 1952, a Civic Advisory Committee panel of citizens appointed by city council proposed a new building facing a civic square. The design proposed an office block with council chamber linking the existing Land Registry Office with a new police headquarters, all in the same style as the Registry Office, and to be designed by local firm Marani and Morris. This proposal was criticized by the University of Toronto Architecture Department staff and students and local architects, and was scrapped.
In 1954, City Council approved a partnership of three of Toronto's largest architectural firms – Marani and Morris, Mathers and Haldenby, and Shore and Moffat – to create a design. Presented in November 1955, their design proposed a conservative, symmetrical limestone-clad building in the Modernist style facing a landscaped square. It retained the Land Registry Office on the western part of the site and also included a landscaped public space in front of it. The podium of the new city hall was to house the council chambers, and was given columns to complement the eight columns of the Registry Building, with which it was aligned across the new public space in front of it. The tower was virtually identical to the Imperial Oil Building which Mathers and Haldenby were constructing on St. Clair Avenue West.
The scheme was panned by leading architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius, and all classes of the University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture co-authored a letter condemning the proposal and calling for an international competition. The whole million proposal was scrapped when voters rejected it in a 1955 municipal election.
Mayor Nathan Phillips proposed an international design competition for the project and put approval for the project to a referendum. In the 1955 municipal election, voters approved in principle a plan to build a new city hall and square at a cost of million, without a specific design.

Design competition

Led by Mayor Nathan Phillips, the Toronto City Council decided in 1956 to hold an international competition to choose the new design under terms created by the International Union of Architects. This caused some controversy as some felt a Canadian should do the work. The Ontario Association of Architects was persuaded successfully to allow an international competition, its first, as long as international architects paired with a local architect. Planning Commissioner Matthew Lawson and advisor Eric Arthur, a University of Toronto architecture professor, selected a five-person panel of judges from international architecture experts. The jury included architects Canadian Charles E. "Ned" Pratt, Italian Ernesto Nathan Rogers, American Eero Saarinen, and British-Canadian Gordon Stephenson, plus Briton planner William Holford. One of the conditions was a $5 entry fee; however, Arthur did not specify Canadian funds. Arthur would receive pesos, pesetas, kroner, marks, and many other currencies, along with books worth more than $5, all of which were returned to failed entrants. One entrant offered a free vacation in Hungary.
The response from architects was enthusiastic. By October 1957, 731 entries were received. This number was pared down to 540 satisfactory entries by the deadline of April 18, 1958, from 42 countries, led by 132 from the United States, 75 from Canada and 65 from Great Britain. Arthur arranged to rent the CNE's Horticulture Building for two weeks to house all models received. An architectural model of the surrounding neighbourhood was created, with a space in the center where each entry's model could be placed, so as to judge it in context. The jury "looked primarily for designs that have architectural quality combined with imagination", and "original solutions to this difficult problem". Many of the entries followed the style of prominent architects like Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier as well as "Neo-Classical designs that would have looked fresh around the time of the First World War and Soviet-style palaces that would have gladdened the heart of any Stalinist". One unique design included a hall with dance floor, bar, and orchestra pit on the ground floor of the public space. The jury was able to reduce the count of possible designs to 200 rather quickly. The initial discards included Viljo Revell's design. Saarinen arrived a day and half late and demanded to see the discards. He chose Revell's design and convinced the other judges to reconsider it. Revell's design was included among the eight finalists, and was the only Finnish entry among one Canadian, one Danish, and five American designs. Two alternate designs, one American and one German, were also chosen if any of the eight finalists would not continue, though all eight did choose to continue.
The finalists were:
The finalists were each paid to expand upon or revise their submissions and given four months to complete a final design. The finalists were instructed about the total square footage needed, that a reasonably economic structure should be proposed, and to consider the severity of Toronto's climate. The council chamber and public space design was left to the finalists.
The finished designs of the finalists arrived in September 1958 and were assembled in the Old City Hall. The jurors worked into the early morning of September 26, in time for Mayor Phillips' announcement of the winning design at 8am. The jury decided on Revell's design. The other finalists were judged lower based on various characteristics of their designs, including the entrances, an impractical set of two squares, a lack of expression of the council chamber to the outside, and putting the library in a separate building. Pratt, Rogers and Saarinen voted for Revell's design, with Holford and Stephenson dissenting. Holford and Stephenson liked the originality of Revell's design, but were skeptical that it could be built within the million budget set by the city. In his opinion, Arthur concluded that Revell had won because he had paid careful attention to the emphasis placed in the conditions of a building that expressed the various functions of City Hall. The conditions pointed to a "sculptural" form and Revell's was the "most representative".
The winner was announced by Mayor Phillips, who actually disliked the winning design, and had made "numerous snide remarks" about it in conversation with Lawson, who felt it would make a "wonderful symbol" for the city. According to Lawson, Phillips was concerned that voters would not take to the exotic proposal and blame Phillips for saddling them with the cost. The announcement was broadcast on CBC television with host architect Jacqueline Tyrwhitt interviewing Revell, Arthur, and the jury members, including dissenting remarks by Holford and Stephenson. The winning model, the finalists, and a selection of other designs were displayed in a public exhibition at Eaton's College Street store.
Reaction to the design was mixed. Frank Lloyd Wright dismissed Revell's design as a "head marker for a grave" and "the spot where Toronto fell". Some critics called it "two sewer pipes standing on end" and a politician said it looked like a "Mexican Hotel". Several architects, including Thomas Creighton and Eberhard Ziedler, publicly expressed admiration for the design. Revell's mentor, Alvar Aalto, wired Revell: "Seldom does a colleague feel so happy over another's victory." Phillips would later admit "while acceptance has not been unanimous, I can say that the preponderance of public opinion favours the design submitted by Mr. Rewell." All of the jurors expressed their enthusiasm for the project to go ahead. In a formal report to the city, they said, "Its monumental qualities are of a high order and it is a composition of great strength. Its shape is distinctive and dramatic, setting it apart from other structures in Toronto and from administrative and office buildings elsewhere."
Revell received a prize plus an estimated million in fees to supervise construction. As part of the OAA conditions, he partnered with John B. Parkin Associates as the local architect. Revell and his family moved to Toronto and resided in Don Mills near the Parkin offices. His design collaborators, whom Revell considered as co-architects, Heikki Castren, Bengt Lundsten, and Seppo Valjus, also came to Toronto in 1959 for extended stays. As a result of him living in both Toronto and Helsinki, the Canadian and Finnish governments both claimed he owed tax on his city hall work, leading him to conclude that his tax exposure to Canada and Finland exceeded his actual revenue. For this reason, Revell moved to Boston in October 1962 and taught at MIT, while commuting to Toronto for just three days per week, eliminating the Canadian taxation. Revell suffered a stroke in the autumn of 1963 while in Mexico. After this, Revell returned to Helsinki. After October 1963, Revell only visited Toronto once to view the project. Only a week after his visit in October 1964, Revell died of a heart attack at the age of 54.
The design competition, its emphasis on modernity, and its openness to international design opened many eyes to the meaning and role of public monumental buildings and spaces in Canada. As well, simply having a design competition was a new idea for Toronto and had been previously little used in Canada. Design competitions for new public buildings became the norm.
Architectural historian Claude Bergeron describes Toronto's civic square as being "Canada's first modern civic square". Canadian cities started including public squares in their plans for new city halls, such as Windsor, Ontario, West Vancouver, British Columbia and Whitby, Ontario.
The announcement was broadcast live nationally on television, and the CBC produced a documentary on the project for the program Explorations. The project marked a cultural turning point. Now architectural competitions and public buildings would become matters of national public interest and discussion. City hall design competitions in Winnipeg, Red Deer, Alberta, Chomedey, Quebec and Brantford, Ontario were all affected by the experience of the Toronto competition. Revell himself participated in the Red Deer competition, Arthur helped in the Winnipeg and Brantford competitions, and Toronto finalist John Andrews participated in the judging of the Brantford competition. Jury panels for these competitions were also drawn up like Toronto's jury, including jurors from outside their local sphere. Also, like Toronto, the projects received national attention in the professional press.