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Above is a panel in the Concourse Building
lobby, describing the architecture and history
of the building. I have re-written the
panel's words below
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In my previous post: "Art Deco: Toronto Concourse Building" I posted photos of an Art Deco building in the downtown core of Toronto. Many of the historical buildings in Toronto are below Queen and King Street, and between Young and Bay, which leaves a concentrated four blocks of impressive early 20th century sky scrapers. The Concourse building was built in 1928.
The Concourse Building, located at 100 Adelaide Street West, was designed in 1928 by Baldwin and Green, with decoration and detail by J.E.H. MacDonald (1873-1932). The building is designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act and is considered to be of architectural, historic and artistic value.
J.E.H. MacDonald is best known as a painter and was a moving spirit in the Group of Seven.
The front entrance of the Concourse Building is decorated with a large panel in mosaic, representing in symbolic form the elements of air, fire, earth and water. The theme is, explained MacDonald, suggested “by the name Concourse, a gathering together”. This general symbolism is extended in small panels on the soffit of the entrance arch, where emblems of various industries or phases of Canada associated with these elements are used (the steam shovel, the plough and wheat sheaf, the airplane, electric power and the wild life of Canada). All of these designs are in bright colours with gold backgrounds in the rich variegations of mosaic
Clydemons Developments Ltd.
December 1997