A Gothic Style

At its founding, the University chose the gothic style for its campus buildings’ architecture. Ryerson was designed with many of the style’s traditional features such as a tower with window slits, recessions, and balconies. Stonework on the building included gargoyles, crocketed gables and ornate carvings at its entrance. Acclaimed by President Harper at its opening as the most beautiful building in the world, its elaborate design was exceptionally costly. The biological laboratories that followed were consequently built in a simpler, more economical style.