How would you answer this question: What's the most internationally recognized symbol of Canada (besides the flag)? In honour of Canada Day next Wednesday (Happy 142nd Birthday, Homeland!), this week's Top 5 Friday showcases a little Yank-style patriotism with my picks for the Top 5 Icons of Canadian Design.
CN Tower
Toronto, 1976
Love it or hate it, the CN Tower is the most recognizable landmark of Toronto's skyline. Did you know the NBA's Toronto Raptors were once rumoured to be called the Toronto Towers? (Which makes more logical sense, really -- I blame Jurassic Park). Construction of the world's largest freestanding structure started in February 1973 and took three and a half years; the CN Tower opened its doors to the public in June 1976. Standing 554.3m tall, it was the brainchild of the Canadian National Railway, who wanted to show off their own industrial power as well as Canada's, and put Toronto in the international spotlight. Designed by NCK Engineering, John Andrews Architects and Webb, Zerafa, Menkes, Housden Architects, it lost its place as the world's largest freestanding structure to the architectural feats of the United Arab Emirates. The Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower) beat out our Tower in 2007 at 555.3m tall, even though it won't be completed until September 2009.
Château-Style Grand Railway Hotels
1888 - early 20th Century
Left, Le Château Frontenac image from Digital Apoptosis; right, Banff Springs Hotel in 1929 image from American Architecture
Researching Canada's Grand Railway Hotels has opened my eyes to our own luxurious and unabashedly glamourous era of train travel. As a history buff, I can't imagine a better road trip than to visit all the grand old dames: The Empress in Victoria, The Banff Springs Hotel, Château Lake Louise, Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City and more. The series of hotels stretching across the country were all built or commissioned by railway companies to serve travellers with style and grandeur. Design was influenced by European and Gothic details from Scottish baronial-style turrets and towers to French châteaux architecture. Le Château Frontenac, opened in 1893, is my personal favourite, maybe because I'm a francophile at heart. The first grand hotel was the Windsor Hotel in Montreal which opened in 1888 (where the NHL was born -- the men who founded it met in a Windsor Hotel restaurant to discuss forming a league).
Hudson's Bay Company Multistripe Point Blanket
Approx. 1800
Canada wasn't even a country when the first HBC point blankets were made in England. The Hudson's Bay Company, incorporated in 1670, is one of the oldest companies in the world and the oldest in North America. The point blanket has existed since the 1770s and the most recognizable version -- cream with green, red , yellow and indigo stripes -- was first introduced around 1800. If you've got one, hang on to it -- some say they'll be worth good money one day.
Image from Canadian Design Resource
The Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia
1896
One of Nova Scotia's top tourist draws, the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove stands almost 50 feet high overlooking the icy Atlantic waters of St. Margaret's Bay. First built in 1868, the current steel and concrete structure was finished in 1914. This past month, the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Oceans confessed that they could not afford the $25,000 needed to repaint the peeling lighthouse. Once Defence Minister and Nova Scotia MP Peter MacKay got wind, he immediately brought the issue to light and made plans to secure the necessary coin. A Canadian icon is saved!
Image from Halifax Late Night
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Dress Uniforms, AKA "Red Serge"
Approx. 1904
Helped by Hollywood's early fascination with the Mountie as tamer of the wild Canadian frontier (and atomic invaders, by the looks of that poster), the man in the red jacket, jodhpurs and Stetston hat became an international symbol. Prime minister John A. Macdonald created the force to police the growing illegal whiskey trade and stake Canada's claim to the West while improving relations with First Nations.
Image from Wikipedia
Have you visited any of these landmarks? Do you agree or disagree with my picks? What did I miss?
Recent Top 5 Fridays:
Top 5 Friday appears every week on Style Sheet.