Monday, July 20, 2015

York Region Administrative Centre


 Looking northerly at the York Regional Administrative Centre, Newmarket

My town, East Gwillimbury, is situated just north of Newmarket, the centre of York Region (formerly York County), which is just north of Toronto. (Did you get that?)

 Moving counter-clockwise

Geographically, Newmarket is situated in the centre of York Region so the logical choice for the region's headquarters. Local politicians wanted a knockout building so chose a design by superstar Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal, known for designing buildings with flowing lines, a reflection of his heritage as a descendent of the Blackfoot First Nation in southern Alberta. It truly is a stunning building showing Cardinal's respect for nature and love for natural rhythms.

 Clock towers on the south side of the main entrance

Truth be told, I had originally taken photos of this building to capture the incredibly neat reflections in the windows (more about that next Friday), but a day after I took these photos I saw a TV documentary on the building's architect. (Serendipity) Yep, I need to go back and take a longer view of the entire building.

Main entrance

Although this is the main entrance, the parking lot is on the north side of the building so it looked to me like the north entrance was actually the "main" entrance.

Clock towers and flags on the north side of the entrance

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

53 comments:

Blogoratti said...

What a unique design and the photos do capture it well. Greetings!

Anonymous said...

What a unique design, I like it!

Mersad said...

It's a very impressive and stunning building. Interesting architecture as well.

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

DeniseinVA said...

I like your photos of this impressive building. Quite a place.

ADRIAN said...

Those clock towers make the ordinary extraordinary. The building would be nothing in my eyes without them.

Stewart M said...

Nice architecture - who says that concrete is dull!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Amy at love made my home said...

What an amazing building! xx

Revrunner said...

I see a lot of similarities to our Native American Museum in Washington, D.C.

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

Love the design of this building. Looks very 1970's! Did I miss, when was it built?

Janis
GDP

Anvilcloud said...

Looks great. Architecture is not dead -- just very expensive. :)

eileeninmd said...

It is a cool building, I like this design! Great shots! Happy Monday!

Andy said...

Fantastic looking build. I am glad you went back for more photos.

Rose said...

I think I need to look at Google Earth to fully get it...and will try to think and do that when Tootie goes home. I will say this..I love the clock tower. And I wonder if the building having these flowing lines makes people feel more at ease.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

wild shaped building ... very circle-yyy!! ( ;

Kathy said...

What a contrast the old county courthouses here in Texas that I'm so fond of. The clock towers are amazing. What a transition from Victorian to modern!

Penelope Notes said...

I am fond of these rounded rather than sharp edges. The building flows and the clock towers are magnificent … like giant flutes ready to capture the wind when it blows through town.

RedPat said...

As soon as I saw your first pic I thought it was a Cardinal design. He is so talented and as Revrunner implied he was the architect for the Native American Museum in Washington too. Nice post, EG!

carol l mckenna said...

Great angle and composition in your wonderful photos!

Happy Week to you,
artmusedog and carol

William Kendall said...

It is beautiful. The first shot, I was already thinking Douglas Cardinal. I love his work.

Judy said...

The lines of it are so graceful, I like it.

Sylvia K said...

What a terrific and different building, EG!! And your captures are superb as always!! A great tour and thank you -- again, as always! Hope you have a great new week!! Enjoy!!

Stephanie said...

A beautiful and unique building.I really liked the last shot of the clocks.

VP said...

A very interesting architecture for an unusual and beautiful building!

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

a fascinating building.

cieldequimper said...

Very round and you really can't miss the time, can you?

Gail Dixon said...

That is a remarkable design for a building. Those clock towers are magnificent! The turquoise glass in the windows remind me of ocean water. Truly lovely!!

Linda W. said...

What an unusual building.

Halcyon said...

I like this building! Nice architecture.

Debbie said...

it's so unique, or would be for this area anyway....i love the clocks!!

Janie said...

That is some interesting architecture. I love the clock towers.

Adam Jones said...

Fascinating buildings.

Ruth Hiebert said...

That is a beautiful and unique building.

Photo Cache said...

I like all the curves.

Gill - That British Woman said...

My friend had a job interview there this past week. Should know this week if she got it. Never seen that building before.

Diane said...

Wow fabulous pictures.

Hugs Diane

GreenComotion said...

Beautiful clock tower and building, Tina!
My cousin worked in York U for a while and I have seen pictures of York/area, from the 60s, but nothing recent like yours.
Have a Great Week!!
Peace :)

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

the circles remind me of our NZ Beehive, our parliament building.

There is something wrong with posting comments. before i couldn't post to you. Today, I can.

Cloudia said...

LOVE your compositions!

TexWisGirl said...

a neat building.

Randy said...

Nice design.

Pietro Brosio said...

An impressive structure with a unique design. Nice images!

Kate said...

It truly is a remarkable building. Despite its size it feels light and airy with the stonework, windows and curved lines.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

I think nice architecture really adds to building.

Cheryl said...

Amazing photos of a beautiful building.. well done :-)

Kay said...

It's a knockout. I was immediately taken with it's texture -- limestone? And the more I looked at it the more it reminded me of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian (thank you, Red Pat for the confirmation!). Great shots of a really wonderful building!

orvokki said...

I like this arkkitectur, the clocks are nice.

Anonymous said...

Amazing architecture. Very nice building

Indrani said...

Whoa! These architectural designs are stunning! I would love to take pics myself. :)

Ohmydearests said...

very interesting building!

Jeevan said...

Beautifully architecture and impressive with curves and clock towers! You got great photos

Fun60 said...

What an interesting building. I like the clock towers.

Jenny said...

Lots of great curves.

Jack said...

The curving horizontal surfaces are quite beautiful. I am less enamored of the vertical columns.

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.