Toronto Edwardian

Beginning his career as an independent architect in the mid-1870s, Frank Darling came to prominence as the principal of Darling & Pearson Architects, designing a plethora of delightful bank buildings in the early twentieth century. Darling's work aligned with the national ambitions of his clients and gave shape to Britain's global imperial project on Canadian soil.

In Toronto Edwardian David Winterton positions Darling as a leading architectural figure of the era. He demonstrates that the Canadian Edwardian Grand Manner was not merely an architectural interlude: it was pivotal to the development of Canada's cultural identity and of the possibility of a national architecture in the early twentieth century. Darling was the first Canadian architect with a truly national presence, with built projects in every province – over 360 known buildings – ranging from elaborate urban designs to prefabricated banks that rose up in many towns and villages west of Lake Superior. Winterton has drawn from institutional archives and consulted with local historians, heritage professionals, and scholars to meticulously reconstruct the story of Frank Darling and his work. First exploring biographical, cultural, and patronage contexts, then focusing on the design and construction of fine houses, academic buildings, banks, and even the country's first skyscrapers, Toronto Edwardian features new and previously unpublished photographs that illuminate the firm's considerable influence and provide a visual record of Darling's approach to style.

Toronto Edwardian richly illustrates the breadth of Darling's architectural creation and compellingly articulates the Edwardian period's importance to Canadian architecture. David E. Winterton is a Toronto-based architect and architectural historian. Frank Darling gained prominence as the principal of Darling & Pearson Architects, designing a plethora of bank buildings in the early twentieth century. Toronto Edwardian positions Darling, whose work aligned with national ambitions and Britain's global imperial project, as a leading figure of the era.
Series Editor: Martha Langford

Recognizing the need for a better understanding of Canada's artistic culture both at home and abroad, the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation, through its generous support, makes possible the publication of innovative books that advance our understanding of Canadian art and Canada's visual and material culture. This series supports and stimulates such scholarship through the publication of original and rigorous peer-reviewed books that make significant contributions to the subject. We welcome submissions from Canadian and international scholars for book-length projects on historical and contemporary Canadian art and visual and material culture, including Native and Inuit art, architecture, photography, craft, design, and museum studies. Studies by Canadian scholars on non-Canadian themes will also be considered. Navigating the architectural history of the Edwardian era and its most accomplished Canadian protagonist. "Toronto Edwardian is a field-defining book. Bringing to light a vast amount of new information on Frank Darling and the firm of Darling & Pearson, Winterton offers a penetrating account of Canadian architecture in its international context, raising its study to a new level of elegance and sophistication." Matthew M. Reeve, co-editor of Casa Loma: Millionaires, Medievalism, and Modernity in Toronto's Gilded Age "David Winterton has opened a window on a period in architecture that has long deserved serious scholarly attention. Beautifully illustrated, with informative and engaging prose, Toronto Edwardian will undoubtedly invigorate debate over Canada's imperial past as seen through the buildings of one of the foremost architects of the age." G.A. Bremner, author of Building Greater Britain: Architecture, Imperialism, and the Edwardian Baroque Revival, c.1885–1920 "Rigorously researche