Neglected Toronto Suburbs? Modernist Massey Medal buildings say otherwise
A plaqueless warehouse in Etobicoke at 30 Queen Elizabeth Blvd, now home to the Great Lakes Brewery, won a silver medal in the inaugural year of the Massey Medal for Architecture.
There’s a myth perpetuated by some Toronto councillors that former suburban boroughs “get crumbs” while downtown gets gold. It’s completely untrue now, and it has been untrue for decades. The vast majority of Massey Medals for Architecture in Toronto, Canada’s highest honour from 1950-1970 and precursor to the Governor General’s Medal, are located in the inner suburbs. Some are massive industrial headquarters, while others are intimate libraries or infill residential. We have lost many and will continue to lose more unless we wake up and realize the value of our relatively recent historic heritage.
In Memoriam: Geoffrey Massey
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We are saddened to mark the passing of Geoffrey Massey, age 96, on December 1, 2020.
Massey worked in partnership with architect Arthur Erickson from 1963 to 1972. The duo created projects including the Simon Fraser University campus, the MacMillan Bloedel Building, and the University of Lethbridge’s University Hall, along with an initial plan for Robson Square.
Erickson Family Collection. Arthur Erickson (left) & Geoffrey Massey (right) at Simon Fraser University, 1965
Geoffrey Massey’s father, Raymond, was an academy award-nominated actor. His uncle, Vincent, was Governor General of Canada, and headed a royal commission on the arts that resulted in the influential Massey Report. Geoffrey was a fourth-generation member of the family that founded farm equipment manufacturing company Massey-Harris, later Massey-Ferguson.