A modernist architectural vision set in stone
Job in the concrete business laid foundation for man’s extraordinary family home
Aurelio (“Elio”) Bianchini not only brought his work home, he surrounded himself with it.
The pioneer of architectural concrete built Toronto landmarks, such as the Ontario Science Centre, U of T’s John Robarts Library and the Toronto Star building at One Yonge St. He was so passionate about the construction material that he used it for his own house in York Region.
Built in 1969 in collaboration with Toronto architect Morton Katz, the modernist family residence boasts expanses of exposed concrete both inside and out.
“He absolutely loved the final results,” Magaly Bianchini recalls of her father, who died of cancer in1986 at the age of 61. “He had the guts to build something unique and wonderful and different.”
The unusual-looking building stood out among the Tudor-style estates of the “horsey set” in King Township, says Bianchini, who lived there for many years as a child and later as an adult.
“I used to hear, ‘Oh, you’re the kid who lives in that strange house.’ But it was a very special house for me. I love everything about it.”
Resembling a sun dial in shape, the two-storey home features a long, flat north wall and a series of diagonally shaped rooms on the opposite side with a wing jutting out at the west end to house the indoor pool.
Bianchini remembers her father, one of the largest concrete forming contractors in Toronto, experimenting with different techniques to give a softer, textured look to the architectural concrete — a versatile material that serves both structural and esthetic purposes.
He achieved it using 2 by-12-inch barn boards as forms to pour and set the concrete, leaving behind embedded wood fibres and a blondish hue on the interior walls.
Those features, along with the maple wood that lines some of the floors and ceilings, give the house warmth and richness, Bianchini says.
Her father drew inspiration from industry greats and the result shows aspects of Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Moshe Safdie’s architectural styles.
One detail in particular — a large dormer-type horizontal window on the roof above the living room — is reminiscent of the ribbon windows in Le Corbusier’s designs.
With all the floor-to-ceiling windows, “you feel like you’re part of the outdoors,” says Bianchini, who works in real estate development. “The whole house has a Zen-like quality.”
Set on a hill and surrounded by almost seven hectares of mature trees, a spring-fed pond and open green space, the house was designed to take advantage of the views and movement of the sun. The bedrooms and common areas all have walkouts to decks or patios.
With its seamless integration with the outdoors, the estate becomes a retreat “to relax and rejuvenate one’s physical, psychological and spiritual wellness,” observes listing agent Janice Williams of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.
A “self-made, creative, sensitive man,” Bianchini was an Italian immigrant who epitomized the classic story of a young man arriving in Canada after the Second World War with $20 in his pocket and ambitions for a better life, says his daughter.
Elio Bianchini and his company, Leader Concrete Forming, left his mark on a number of projects in Toronto, including the Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank and Sun Life buildings downtown.
For him, architectural concrete “represented the modern age,” says his daughter. And welcoming walls to come home to.