Design City Toronto.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Physically, this book is off-putting. A hard-to-hold oversize format, a too-faint type font, an unapproachable writing style, and erratic spelling and punctuation add to the troubles.

The content is better—an introduction to extreme architecture in modern Toronto. This is accomplished by a look at 33 architectural or design projects, some still in progress at the time of publication. These examples are grouped by usage—cultural, educational, restaurants and accommodations—adding up to a travelogue of Toronto’s newest architectural showpieces. These include the high-profile buildings that attract media attention and have become identified with the city, as well as more unassuming designs.

For each project there’s an introduction pinpointing its place in the fabric of the city, contact information, and credits to the architect. For each there are several pages of photos—interiors and exteriors—and architects’ sketches. In total, the book has at least 350 colour photos.

The work presents Toronto as a city in search of a defining style, experiencing “a broad sweeping architectural renaissance.” It acknowledges there is not always agreement on the nature of the extreme architectural designs and asks if what is happening now is indicative of a great future or simply a series of “manic architectural moments.” Do these iconic structures engender excitement or disgust?

The work concludes with a brief note on each of 14 neighbourhoods that have been identified as “cultural enclaves … architectural pockets” that give uniqueness to the architectural character of the city.

The work has some merit as a snapshot of architectural activity in Canada’s largest city in the past decade, but given the pretentious tone of the writing style, and the absence of both glossary and index, the book, overall, is disappointing.