If they didn't paint it, I would honestly love the exterior. The entire complex - City Hall and Market Square - had architecture reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's Johnson Wax building (here's a great documentary on it...well worth a watch: https://youtu.be/z1MXuBAxcdM). They slapped John E. Lingwood's legacy in the face with that aesthetic choice just because painting everything grey is in fashion for some reason. As much as I use that colour in my own architectural work, sculptures and paintings it's just sooooo over done. The brick was fine. It just needed some cleaning and maybe masonry repair.
Sadly, modernist architecture - internationalism, brutalism, functionalism and heck even post-modernism - is unfortunately not held to the same prestige and lacks the heritage protection that other movements have been awarded. Which is odd, because such styles have defined modern architecture, art and design and our entire contemporary world. Lingwood was one of this regions most prolific architects we had who made an impact on this region. Nobody is going to care about Edge, SRM, WalterFedy and so on in a century since it's so generic. AI could probably do equivalent work. But people like him who had such impact on the urban fabric and architectural design of this part of Canada and we ought to preserve these creations of human ingenuity for as long as we can. It makes little sense that we will protect a fairly forgettable post-war home just because it's old, but then slather the City Hall of Kitchener in ugly paint. Then again it isn't that surprising...we demolished our original city hall in the name of "progress".
Sadly, modernist architecture - internationalism, brutalism, functionalism and heck even post-modernism - is unfortunately not held to the same prestige and lacks the heritage protection that other movements have been awarded. Which is odd, because such styles have defined modern architecture, art and design and our entire contemporary world. Lingwood was one of this regions most prolific architects we had who made an impact on this region. Nobody is going to care about Edge, SRM, WalterFedy and so on in a century since it's so generic. AI could probably do equivalent work. But people like him who had such impact on the urban fabric and architectural design of this part of Canada and we ought to preserve these creations of human ingenuity for as long as we can. It makes little sense that we will protect a fairly forgettable post-war home just because it's old, but then slather the City Hall of Kitchener in ugly paint. Then again it isn't that surprising...we demolished our original city hall in the name of "progress".