A number of significant Canadian structures serve as evidence of the country’s long-standing position as a global leader in talent, technology, and creativity. This is Canada’s top ten most recognizable buildings.
1. CN Tower
This tower, practically synonymous with Toronto, was built in the 1960s during the city’s significant building boom. Existing communications towers found it challenging to spread their signals around the city when skyscrapers reached previously unheard-of heights. That issue was resolved with the CN Tower, one of the highest structures in the world and Canada’s most iconic building.
2. Parliament Buildings
The first Parliament Buildings in Canada were examples of Gothic architecture. Architects John A. Pearson and Jean-Omer Marchand contributed their services to reconstructing the complex in a way that was reminiscent of the original style after those structures were mainly destroyed by fires in 1916.
The buildings on Parliament Hill are currently among the most recognizable examples of Canadian heritage architecture.
3. Notre-Dame Basilica
The Canadian province of Quebec is home to a large number of well-known structures that reflect its French Catholic heritage. One of the most spectacular of these is the Notre-Dame Basilica, built in the Gothic Revival style.
With its elaborate ceiling and magnificent stained glass windows, it has been recognized as a Canadian heritage site since 1989.
4. St. Joseph’s Oratory
Another example of St. Joseph’s Oratory’s French Catholic heritage is Montreal. This church was built to host a congregation that had outgrown its earlier chapel, which was tucked away on the slopes of Mount Royal, much like the CN Tower was built to address the city’s expanding woes.
The resulting Italian Renaissance building has long since been Canada’s largest church. Dispute settled!
5. Canada Place
Canada Place, which is situated on the waterfront of Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, is frequently referred to as the Canadian equivalent of the Sydney Opera House. The building has a lot of its own architectural history, even though it’s not difficult to see why.
It has five fiberglass “sails” that rise 90 feet in the air and is home to a variety of social and leisure events.
6. Monique Corriveau Library
At first glance, one may assume that the Monique-Corriveau Library is about to launch into space. It’s a strange design, even for a church, which is what the building served as up until 2013.
The building’s transformation into a library involved adding rectangular glass extensions. But the original design was so innovative that you wouldn’t even notice if these were brought in decades later.
7. Chateau Frontenac
At Quebec City, the Chateau Frontenac is another treasure. Its beginnings can be traced back to the 19th century when the Canadian Pacific Railway company was building a number of grand and distinctive hotels.
Grand railway hotels are historical structures in Canada that are influenced by a variety of architectural movements, including Chateauesque and Victorian.
8. Science World
We have two more spectacular structures in Vancouver to complete our list. The impressive Science World in Vancouver, the centerpiece of which is a gigantic dome weighing 15,000 pounds of aluminum, is the first of these.
9. Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario is a few steps from the Sharp Center for Design and is rumored to look like a crystal spacecraft. The structure is a direct reflection of the city around it.
10. Habitat 67
One of the most daring and recognizable apartment buildings in the entire globe, let alone Canada, is Habitat 67. It was built by architect Moshe Safdie while he was a student at McGill. It employs prefabricated concrete “modules” that may be stacked up to 12 high per section.
One of Montreal’s most recognizable structures today, Habitat 67, is unlike anything most people have ever seen.
