What) Edmonton's City Hall was designed by Dub Architects and completed in 1992. It features two steel and glass pyramids, one 43 meters high (ground to peak), on top of a three-story concrete structure. One pyramid provides natural light for the main atrium, the other for the council chambers. The building also features a 200-foot clock tower topped with a 25-bell carillon.

    Edmonton's City Hall met with some controversy when it was first announced. The original designs called for the building to be topped with five cones. The cones were meant to pay tribute to the tipis that the First Nations peoples once lived in on the site. The design met with much negative feedback from the public and was dubbed "the Cone Dome" by the press. Dub Architects then revised their design to replace the cones with pyramids designed to be evocative of the Rocky Mountains. The design was received much more warmly by the public and was dubbed "Pyramid Power" by the press. (1)

    Where) 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square     Mon - Fri: 7:00am - 10:00pm    Sat: 9:00am - 5:00pm   Sun: 11:00am - 5:00pm

    Why) I once spent a very peaceful hour sitting in the public space of the B.C. Provincial Courthouse in Vancouver.  The picture I saw of the ceiling and interior of the Edmonton City Hall reminded me of that experience so I put it on the list in the small hope that it would be as good.  Little did I know that this Buckys would turn out to be an all time favourite of both Pam and myself.

























There are 19 pictures that made the cut for this section.  I liked everything from the building to the art to the small design touches but ...








... I didn't really like the exterior of the building much.  This picture is of the nearby clock tower.
I am only including it because I like how it is framed by the leaves and branches.








You get this view of the entrance to the council chambers when you walk in the front door.







This is the crest that hangs above that entrance.








If you spin around 180 degress from there then this is what you will see.  If you look up a bit then ...







... you can start to take in the feature of the building that impressed me the most.







I spent a fair bit of time sitting on the steps and marvelling at the structural complexity of the ceiling.







Of course, I spent five years working in a structural engineering office so I developed an appreciation for this sort of thing.







Anyway, let me show you some of the small design details that I enjoyed.







The ceiling was boxed out just to showcase this strange light fixture.







Here is another type of light fixture that gave this strange effect if you lay down on the floor and looked up at it.







The displays honoring Edmonton's founding fathers were also very well done.







There were many art pieces that I liked.  This picture is called "Douglas Fir, Fog, Bow River" by Craig Richards in 1982.







This just looked like a temporary poster.







This painting "Farm Auction 1" by Richard Rogers in 1990 would have looked nicer if I had more photographic skill.







This is what happens when you realize you forgot to turn your flash off and you don't want to "bother" the artwork.







Paul Coffey and Wayne Gretzky. I have fond memories of watching this happen on TV as a child.















"Ultima Thule (Farthest North)" by Glenn Guillet in 1992 is my favourite piece of artwork in the building.
If you like it then click here for larger and alternate versions of the same picture.










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Ok, that's all of the art.  Let's move on to some more statues.