Book Launch: Hidden Toronto by Dave LeBlanc

A book launch will be held April 25th from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Swipe Design | Books + Objects, 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto. The event is open to the public and free of charge.

Book Description

Hidden Toronto: Secret Places and Forgotten Gems of Toronto and the GTA is an entertaining guide to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), unveiling its hidden or often-overlooked gems in the forms of buildings, neighborhoods, artworks, building materials and much more -- places, objects and topics that might not be covered in a regular travel guide to Toronto but that have fascinating and important stories that inform the larger story of the city.

Organized by theme, the book includes chapters on signage and logos, buildings, neighborhoods, infrastructure, artworks and objects, and trails and other places. In total the book has 48 stories, often with multiple hidden places or things discussed in each. Accompanying the vibrant text are both recent photos taken in the last year as well as historical images from city archives and collections that illustrate the history and give a modern perspective to each story.

Hidden Toronto will open up your curiosity about the city and the many things we take for granted when we live, work and visit there. By the end, you'll be an enlightened "Architourist," scoping out old signs, romping down forgotten paths and swooning over architectural details that help make Toronto the fascinating place it is.

About the Author

Dave LeBlanc writes weekly as “The Architourist” for the The Globe and Mail. While other kids were trading hockey cards, Dave was charting the progress of the CN Tower, and he’s been an architecture lover and Toronto advocate ever since.

Dave attended Wexford School for the Arts, Toronto Metropolitan University and York University. He worked in radio from 1988 - 2024 and has written for Globe Real Estate since 2003. An authority on Modernist architecture (1945-80), Dave attended “Conserving the Modern” in 2005 and 2007 (Canada), Palm Springs’ Modernism Week (multiple times), and architectural conferences in the Netherlands and Spain. He has served as a juror for the Ontario Association of Architects and the City of Toronto.

Dave’s work has also appeared Spacing, Canadian Architect, Canadian Interiors and Wallpaper. In 2014-15 he hosted Where Cool Came From, a television program on pop culture. His first novel, Falconi’s Tractor, was released 2019.

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