Winnipeg Arts and Culture - Architecture

Architecture

See also: List of tallest buildings in Winnipeg

After the railways came to Winnipeg, the Exchange District area was developed with many fine warehouses, offices and banks and became the original site of commerce in Winnipeg. Many of these buildings are still standing and are unrivalled in Canada. The district illustrates the city's key role as a centre of grain and wholesale trade, finance and manufacturing in two historically important periods in western development: between 1880 and 1900 when Winnipeg became the gateway to Canada's West; and between 1900 and 1913, when the city's growth made it the region's metropolis. On 22 September 1997, the Exchange District was declared a National Historic Site of Canada by the federal Minister of Canadian Heritage.

In the Exchange District stands the Union Bank Building, Canada's oldest skyscraper. Begun in 1903 and opened in November 1904, the 10-storey building was Winnipeg's first skyscraper south of City Hall, and was the tallest building in Winnipeg at the time of its construction. The Union Bank Tower is an example of the Chicago Style.

Union Station is the inter-city railway station situated near The Forks. It is a grand beaux-arts structure, and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1976. Union Station was designed by Warren and Wetmore, the architects responsible for Grand Central Station in New York City. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style and constructed from local Tyndall limestone, Union Station was one of Western Canada’s largest railway stations.

The Manitoba Legislative Building is the meeting place of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, in central Winnipeg. It was originally named the Manitoba Parliament Building, not Legislative. The neoclassical building was completed in 1920 and stands seventy-seven meters tall (253 ft). It was designed and built by Frank Worthington Simon (1862–1933) and Henry Boddington III, along with other masons and many skilled craftsmen. The building is famous for the Golden Boy, a gold covered bronze statue based on the style of the Roman god Mercury, or the Greek god Hermes, at the top of the cupola, or domed ceiling.

The Fort Garry Hotel is one of Canada's grand railway hotels. Built in 1913 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, it is located one block from the railway's Union Station, and was the tallest structure in the city when it was completed. Like other Canadian railway hotels, it was constructed in the "château style" (also termed the "neo-château" or "châteauesque" style), which as a result the hotels became known as a distinctly Canadian form of architecture. The design reflects the François I style of hotel which became prevalent in the eastern United States at the turn-of-the-20th-century. Henry Janeway Hardenbergh initiated the architectural trend, with New York City's Plaza Hotel (1906–07) as his most well known structure. The Fort Garry Hotel has more than a passing similarity to The Plaza, related features include: the classic base, shaft, and capital divisions of the skyscraper; flat facades with slightly projecting, four-bay end pavilions; an arcade of large, segmented windows below a prominent cornice; and, the composition of the steeply sloped roofs. Architects Ross and MacFarlane of Montreal modeled their original plans for the hotel after Ottawa's Château Laurier; plans originally called for a 10-storey structure, but two floors were added during construction.

The commercial main street of Winnipeg's famous North End, Selkirk Avenue, first saw development in the 1870s and its importance grew with a wave of immigration from Eastern Europe. The old country flavour of the neighbourhood still exists with a variety of boutiques, bakeries and butcher shops. This vibrant area also boasts 49 painted murals, each depicting a different multicultural and historical scene.