“He favored simple structures and adorned them with geometric motifs.”
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One of the best ways to maintain and restore the heritage buildings of Toronto is to preserve the work of the architects who built them.
The Waterworks Building exemplifies the art deco style favoured by J.J. Woolnough, who held the position of City Architect between the years of 1925 and 1932. During this time, Woolnough was responsible for the design of all city-owned municipal buildings in which he favored simple structures and adorned them with geometric motifs.
This can be found in such buildings as the CNE’s Horse Palace, Rosedale Viaduct, Fire Station #324 in Riverdale and what is now the Anne Johnson Health Station on Yonge at Montgomery. Art deco served as a transitional style that bridged the gap between the ornamental architecture of the late 19th century and the minimal modern forms that emerged in the middle of the 20th century.
Though Woolnough was a British-born architect who started his apprenticeship at the age of 14, he came to Toronto in 1889 and began working for the City of Toronto in 1904, where he remained for the rest of his career. His interest in art deco coincided with architecture trends of the 1920s and 1930s whereby today, his designs provide a glimpse into a brief but important moment in Toronto’s architectural history.
By looking closely at the Waterworks building, we can see these characteristics of art deco in simple rectangular structures and geometric decorative motifs including chevrons on the main face of the building and dramatic doorways.
GEOMETRIC DETAILS: Art deco architecture is characterized by simple, rectangular structures decorated with geometric details like the stylized limestone corner quoins shown here.
So really, what is art deco? The elegant style looked to the future and revered technology. It was inspired in part by ancient Egyptian architecture after Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered in 1922. It was also influenced by Oriental art, cubism and the glamour of Hollywood. There are many different versions of art deco ranging from South Beach in Miami to the Chrysler Building in New York. What we have in the Waterworks Building is a very restrained, utilitarian version, reflecting the original use of the building and the Depression-era in which it was built.
While many of the most important examples of art deco have been demolished in Toronto (the old Globe & Mail building on King at York, the Toronto Star building on King and the Odeon Carlton Theatre), other significant art deco buildings from this important era in Toronto remain, including the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, Maple Leaf Gardens, and College Park.