The Globe and Mail

The flamboyant high-rise apartments of architect Uno Prii, dismissed by some in the architectural establishment as sixties kitsch on a par with Cadillacs with tail fins, have found favour with City of Toronto preservationists. Thirteen of Mr. Prii's buildings were recently declared heritage sites by City Council. Anyone who has lived in the Annex area of Toronto or on Jane Street near Highway 401 will know the buildings. They feature widely flared bottoms, hip-like bulges or highly decorative curving balcony railings. The late Estonian-born architect once said of his buildings: "I felt I could treat them as big sculptures, so that the guy who lived there could say, 'I live in this building,' and people would say, 'Oh, I know that building.' "