Ever wonder what it's like in some of these mythical architectural wonders or what the newest R&D is happening in your city? Doors Open is a city event that literally opens the doors and lets the local see, touch, and learn what really goes on in Toronto. It's only 2 days in a year so plan it well as you can't go to all the spots you probably have on your list.
My understanding that this is an international event and many cities have done this numerous times. I personally found this incredibly eye opening and loved my 2017 adventures. My 2018 ones... not so much.
This year, Doors Open had a theme about Toronto's vibrant movie and tv making industry... turns out, we have TONS of studios and many smaller business that support this industry. Everything from VFX to actual lots where they film to costumes & lighting and sounds F/X. Many of these buildings were open for the first time in addition to some of the annual favourites like the Water Treatment Plant and historical wonders around Toronto.
If you want to go to some of the popular ones or new buildings, PLEASE read their detailed description found on Doors Open Toronto homepage. Because of their popularity and the small group tours that run every hour, they actually do EventBrite tickets to hold your spot. Some of the popular spots this year, like Cinesphere, Ubisoft, and SpinVFX, were booked out nearly 3 weeks in advance. Also, I would say each GOOD spot is at least an hour of your time. There are many spots that you can just walk in, like Canada Life Building, but the wait was at least 20 minutes long.
2018
Deluxe Studios - New to Doors Open, this is a special 'after effect' studio that does lighting and sound editing to a completed show or movie. The worked on some big budget projects and one of their more recent one was the Oscar Winning Shape of Water. What was very cool was showing us the amount of effort and layers of sound to even create one scene. They shared one scene where the Fish person (monster?) was being tortured and they layered at least 9 different sounds on top of the post voice recordings to get EVERYTHING. The one part of the tour I liked was showing how light and colours can be completely redone seamlessly. It was like photoshop on steroids.... they could make a day scene turn into night and look real.
Canada Life Building - This one has been on the Open Doors list for quite some time and it's a favourite. It's one of the most recognized building in Toronto. It's observation deck is closed to the public and occupants 363 days a year... its during Doors Open that they allow the public to go up 17 stories and see out the observation windows. It has a clear view of the Supreme Court buildings and Toronto City hall. One hilariously funny thing... it has a single bathroom in there with the toilet facing the floor to ceiling window. That's probably the most interesting bathroom I've seen in Toronto. You're not allowed to use it. The line up to this was REALLY long. It took us 20 minutes of waiting to get to the elevators. Once you're up there, it's a 20 ft x 20 ft space you can walk about... not much to do up there other than admire the views.
UHN Michner Institute - This was a complete disappointment and I'm surprised Doors Open allowed this. The space that was open was only the front lobby area where it had an introductory video that played occasionally, a selfie area (really?), a person to put on pretend bruises on you, and some free swag. That's it. I would have expected to learn great things about modern day medicine and what UHN Michner was up to recently on their R&D. Waste of time.
2017
Native Child and Family Services - This was just incredible... the tour, the building, the history, and the atmosphere. The tour is done by Native Canadians who truly have a history and wealth of knowledge about their past and vision of their future. I learned the richness of what each intricate symbolism that was built into this incredible building. Everything from the words etched into the walls, to their lore and how its represented on the paintings, and to the beautiful wooden Longhouse made indoors. I've never seen a more beautiful room in Toronto... you can smell the wood still and the herbs they use for their ceremonies. The golden hue of the wood almost look like a honeycomb after all the bees have filled each crevice with honey. Another wonderful thing to this building is the rooftop garden... it's not your normal one either. Each plant is important to the Indigenous people of Canada and has it's own space to grow. I still remember this tour. The people are so warm and want to share their culture. Just unbelievable.
MaRS discovery district - I didnt see this on the 2018 list sadly because this was another building that blew my mind. MaRS is one of Toronto's Innovation site... We saw the new DNA research facility, new VR applications, and a few other amazing new inventions. read more