Benjamin Brown Commemorative Plaque, 2015
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Resource ID
5165
Access
Open
Address
113 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON M5V 2K2
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2015
Historical Themes
Keywords
Program Category
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Time Period
Caption
Benjamin Brown Commemorative Plaque, 2015
Description
Benjamin Brown, one of Toronto's first Jewish architects, designed more than 200 buildings throughout his career. Born in Lithuania, he came to Toronto as a child. Brown graduated from the University of Toronto's architecture program in 1913. He was partners with architect Robert McConnell until 1921, when he set up an independent practice.
Commissioned largely by members of Toronto's Jewish community, Brown's projects ranged from parking garages and gas stations to apartment houses and factories. His Tower Building (1927) and Balfour Building (1930) on Spadina Avenue at Adelaide Street formed a gateway to Toronto's "garment district." Other well-known buildings by Brown include the Hermant Building Annex (1920) and the Hermant Building Eastern Tower (1929) on Dundas Square, the Primrose Club (1920), and the Beth Jacob Synagogue (1922, the first Toronto synagogue designed by a Jewish architect). Brown retired in 1955.
Marker lat / long: 43.646679, -79.395318 (WGS84)