John M. Lyle was one of Canada's most prolific architects and a champion of the beaux arts style. His hundreds of commissions include the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto and his important contribution to Union Station.
Born in Ireland in 1872, he grew up in Hamilton, Ont., and went on to study architecture at Yale University and Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He began his career in New York but moved to Toronto in 1905, where he lived and practised until his death in 1945.
A Progressive Traditionalist: John M. Lyle, Architect
, by Glenn McArthur, Coach House, 222 pages, $45
In this new image-laden look at Lyle's life and career, author Glenn McArthur traces the architect's work from the very beginning. McArthur has gathered exceptional images, including class projects from Lyle's time in Paris. He also found the perspective drawings Lyle produced in New York for his firm's second-place entry in the 1897 competition to design the now-famous New York Public Library.
Lyle moved to Toronto in 1905 after reading a newspaper report about the competition to design Union Station. He also arrived in the wake of the devastating Toronto fire of 1904, which, McArthur notes, represented "opportunity for ambitious architects." Lyle immediately began doing work for the major banks, a relationship that lasted his entire career. And in 1906 he landed the commission to design the Royal Alexandra, cementing his reputation.
McArthur is careful to note the progression in Lyle's work throughout his career, and each step along the way is well documented. There are a number of perspectives of gorgeous buildings of Lyle's design that sadly never got built, as they would have made the Canadian architectural landscape a lot richer.
Lyle's career survived two world wars and the Great Depression. He was a leading spokesman for his profession, as well as a teacher and curator. Above all, says McArthur, Lyle was an artistic nationalist who should be remembered for "his attempts to give voice to a Canadian and regional conciousness." He was among the first to meld the various styles influencing architecture in Canada and create a new, national visual language. He also made it a practice to include sculptural elements in his major works that celebrated Canadian themes and symbols.
Lyle was, as McArthur says, "an original interpreter of his time."
