Uno Prii

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Uno Prii (February 28, 1924 – November 27, 2000) was an Estonian-born Canadian architect.

He built about 250 buildings in Toronto, many in Toronto, but also in southern Ontario and the United States. Apartment buildings in Toronto's Annex neighborhood feature outlines that make sweeping curves, and some of his best-known works are apartment buildings.

These include The Vincennes at 35 Walmer Road (built 1966), Prince Arthur Towers at 20 Prince Arthur Avenue (1968), Brazil Towers at 485 Huron Street (1969), and 44 Walmer Road (1969).

Early years

Uno Prii grew up in Estonia, where his father was an engineer and builder. Prii left Finland in 1943 and in 1944, he moved to Stockholm, Sweden. He trained and served as a civil engineer in Stockholm but moved to Canada in 1950. He came to Toronto so he could study architecture, and he graduated from the University of Toronto School of Architecture, where he had studied under Eric Arthur. He worked with Eric Arthur's Fleury & Arthur firm until graduation every summer.

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Career

In 1957, Prii founded his own architectural company. Having his own business enabled him to explore his architectural vision, which differed from the traditional style of Modernism, which was more popular at the time. As thousands of refugees arrived in Toronto in the 1960s, apartment life was quickly increasing in importance. Baby boomers also joined the work force and wanted safe living spaces.

The 1960s marked the start of many buildings in Prii with the sculptural curves and artistic flourishes that he was renowned for. Prii used to new slip-form concrete moulds that slid up buildings as concrete was pouring. With zeal, the architect pushed his sculpture design concepts. Any prospective clients were dissatisfied and walked away. Harry Hiller, a Polish-born carpenter by trade, was one of Prii's most popular apartment buildings, including 35 and 44 Walmer Road and 20 Prince Arthur Avenue.

Uno Prii's Uno Prii's creation for The Vincennes on 35 Walmer Road was one of his bravest creations to date. At the fifth floor, Prii's lightly curving façade has a dramatic yet elegant flare, allowing for wider balconies. The façade is white, a feature that was shared by several of his more prominent towers from the 1960s. Fins fires towards the heavens. Prii fabricated the large apartment tower with a large curved canopy over its entrance, but the edge was punctuated by a string of small holes. In 1966, Harry Hiller completed the tower.

The collaboration of Prii and Hiller on Prince Arthur Avenue resulted in what is perhaps Prii's most expressive design ever to be realized. With a bold, sweeping concrete façade, the single 23-story high-rise apartment tower, which was completed in 1968, emphasizes its vertical form. A massive flared base protruding outwards from the main facade appears to be flying buttresses. These elements did not only make the tower stand out, but they also reduced the need for wind bracing. The 'flyers' blend with the façade, rising above the roofline, crowning the tower.

The walls are white concrete walls with smooth texture and white finish, except for a black vertical stripe running the length of the wall, leading up to a massive arch at ground level. For contrast, a rectangular portion of the façade behind the arch is painted black. On the main façade facing the street and also on the opposite side of the building, the white walls are contrasted with opaque blue balcony railings. The minimalism of the side walls contributes to the tower's sculptural aesthetic.

In 1969, Uno Prii would see the completion of the Jane-Exbury Towers in suburban North York, a series of five towers staggered one after the other. Both The Vincennes and the Prince Arthur Towers are included in this white tower's sculptural style. The roofline and side walls with an arch on the ground level of Prince Arthur Towers recall the Vincennes', and the façade's outward appearance in the lower floors is similar to the Vincennes. The towers' staggered arrangement on a large suburban site surrounded by open green spaces gives them a strong presence, enhancing the towers' more prominent suburban context.

Prii partnered with Hiller again, and his plan for 44 Walmer Road was completed in 1969. The white facade is light and rounded. Circular and linear motifs are used throughout the 12-story apartment building, with a semi-circular canopy over the driveway in front, perforated with large holes around the edges. Two intersecting parabolic arches over a circular pool connect the building, completing the canopy. The water sprays upwards from a large, concrete element shaped like a champagne glass, and spills out into a pond.

As the building's most notable feature, it featured curvilinear, circle-patterned balcony railings made in an artful style. They were ordered to be repaired, but owner Gaetano D'Addario decided not to reinstall them, opting for unremarkable clear glass railings in July 2001 as the replacement, despite protests from homeowners, neighbors, the architect's family, and others in the architecture community, such as Larry Richards of the University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture.

Uno Prii began using more rectilinear forms in the early 1970s. He used ancient images for decorative purposes, making post and lintel allusions with concrete slabs, and stylized faces based on Moai and rectilinear human figures. He went from glazed white brick to more natural hues such as brown and natural terracotta, and from smooth white concrete to textured, grey concrete floors in this period.

Prii retired in the 1980s and shut down his design company.

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