2014  Photos

 Ontario Legislative Building
Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada
Legislative Assembly of Toronto - Official Website

Designed by Richard A. Waite, the Ontario Legislative Building is an asymmetrical, five storey structure built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, with a load-bearing iron frame. This is clad inside and out in Canadian materials where possible; the 10.5 million bricks were made by inmates of the Central Prison, and the Ontario sandstone - with a pink-hue that has earned the building the colloquial name of The Pink Palace - comes from the Credit River valley and Orangeville, Ontario, and was given a rustic finish for most of the exterior, but dressed for trim around windows and other edges. There can also be seen over the edifice a multitude of stone carvings, including gargoyles, grotesques, and friezes. The exterior is punctuated with uncharacteristically large windows, allowed by the nature of the iron structure. -  Legislative Assembly of Toronto - Official Website

February 2014 Facade Photos Richardsonian Romanesque style ... To the south of the Legislative Building is an open area with extensive tree cover, which is often used for public gatherings and demonstrations. The present Ontario Legislative Building is the seventh such structure to serve as Ontario's parliament building. The second building, in York (Toronto), was burned by the Americans during the War of 1812. "... centre of the building, and is lit by the three large and prominent arched windows above the main portico. This block is flanked by two domed towers, the west of which was originally intended to hold a clock, but was fitted with a rose window instead, after funds for the clock were never amassed." - Wikipedia (online April 2014) Torch  ... Slate roof "... three large and prominent arched windows above the main portico." Note center medallion near top (detailed below:) Medallion: Ontario seal  flanked by bas relief allegorical (The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form) figures Portico features three large  Richardsonian Romanesque  arched portals Prominent voussoirs, squat columns, carved figural and foliated ornamentation. 4 details below: #1 of four details #2 of four details: Grotesque - part human, part animal #3 of four details #4 of four details - Gargoyle  ... Scrolling acanthus leaves Gargoyle  ... Scrolling acanthus leaves Billet molding ... Bead-and-reel molding Looking out onto Queen's Park and beyond