By Shawn Micallef / Photos by Adam Rankin

Jack Diamond has designed buildings throughout the world, but the front parlour of his home in Toronto’s Moore Park neighbourhood isn’t lined with pictures of his opera houses, city halls, or university buildings; instead, there’s a collection of watercolours he has painted over the course of his long career. “These are the better ones,” he says with an offhandedness that does not hint at his status as one of Canada’s most successful architects. Designers like Diamond are often anointed as “starchitects”, and yet, despite his global portfolio and numerous awards, his soft-spoken thoughtfulness on his work and his profession does not match the flamboyance and hubris such a designation often brings with it. 

Some of Diamond’s sketches have been collected in a new book published by Douglas & McIntyre called, appropriately, Sketches: From Here and There. Paging through it is like having a stolen copy of his architectural sketchbook, sneaking glimpses into how he sees the world. In his private study above the parlour are files of watercolours, organized by city, often done on small or even scrap pieces of paper; he has painted a scene of Jerusalem on the back of a King David Hotel menu.

In a drawer, he keeps tiny paint kits that can fit in his pocket. As he goes about the business of architecture, he can pause and capture a place or moment discreetly, fitting into the landscape, a lot like the buildings he designs. 

Diamond’s philosophy is to make buildings that relate to their context and are designed for the people who use them, rather than force the buildings to stand out or make a singular statement. “It’s a very hard sell,” he says. “It’s taken me my career to get there.” That sell involves convincing clients that their buildings don’t have to define the city but can simply be part of it and become the solid tissue that holds it together. His most recent Toronto building, Corus Quay, is not only the headquarters for Corus Entertainment but also the first major development on Toronto’s long-neglected and much-anticipated waterfront. In a city that has been trained for decades to expect nothing to ever come of its post-industrial lakefront, expectations were high for this building. Waterfront Toronto, the arm’s-length government body charged with developing this area, has extensive plans for a series of dense, mixed-use neighbourhoods.

This excerpt is from the Spring 2011 issue of NUVO.

NEW!

Jack Diamond will be featured on Allan Gregg in Conversation this Friday, March 25 on TVOntario.

Here’s the link to the show’s home page with two video excerpts of the interview with Jack just a click away.

http://www.tvo.org/TVOsites/WebObjects/TvoMicrosite.woa?allangregg