Architecture. The architect behind Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre and Union Station, John M. Lyle (1872-1945) was an anomaly among architects: a Beaux-Arts classicist who nevertheless found much inspiration in modernism, allowing his own traditionalist practice to be affected in form and detail by a brave new emphasis on minimalism and indigenous influence. A PROGRESSIVE TRADITIONALIST traces this aesthetic trajectory, documenting Lyle's training at Yale and in Paris, his early career in New York and his later success in attempting to develop a uniquely Canadian architectural style in Toronto. Part biography and part architectural history, and extensively illustrated with colour photographs and drawings throughout, this book is the first to examine in depth the important contributions of one of the early twentieth century's foremost architects.

Author Hometown: TORONTO, ON CAN