New hotel becomes architectural marvel of downtown Toronto

on Monday,February 21,2011 21:02

One doesn't always think of hotels as architectural masterpieces, but Christopher Hume recently wrote in The Toronto Star that the new Ritz-Carlton in downtown Toronto has a "five-star" design.

The style of this 52-floor building is very much neo-modernist, with an ascent that evokes images of a flower as it gracefully rises into the sky. The highrise tower stands over a glass atrium that allows for maximum visibility and sunlight, for both those on the ground and guests at the hotel.

"We wanted to bring the façade out to the street, along with the activities of the hotel. We see it as a piece of urban theater," principal design architect Josh Chaiken told the news source.

There are also beautiful walkways that create outdoor paths so that one doesn't have to circumnavigate the building to get to the other side. Hume speculates that there is also room for outdoor coffee stands in the future.

With its attention to detail and beauty, architecture programs can be an appealing field to many. In 2008, there were approximately 141,200 architects in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.