About CN Tower
The CN Tower rises 553.3 metres over Toronto’s waterfront. Canadian National, the railway company, built it between 1973 and 1976 as a communications tower: the city’s new skyscrapers were degrading broadcast signals, and a mast taller than all of them solved the problem. It opened to the public on 26 June 1976, and from 1975 until Burj Khalifa passed it in 2007 it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world.
The tower is a hexagonal concrete core braced by three legs, Y-shaped in plan, that taper as they rise. Glass-fronted elevators climb the shaft to the main pod in 58 seconds. The pod holds the Glass Floor at 342 metres, the LookOut at 346 metres and the 360 Restaurant at 351 metres, which turns a full circle every 72 minutes. Higher up, the SkyPod sits at about 447 metres.
The last stretch is the steel broadcast antenna, about 102 metres long. It was lifted into place piece by piece by a Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter nicknamed Olga, a job that took about three and a half weeks. Lightning strikes the antenna many times a year; the tower’s own figure is about 75. Since 2011, visitors can also do the EdgeWalk, a hands-free walk round the outside of the main pod at 356 metres.
In 1995 the American Society of Civil Engineers named the CN Tower one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Today it is owned by the federal Crown corporation Canada Lands Company. Since 2007 an LED system has lit the shaft and pods at night in changing colours, often to mark holidays, causes and big sporting moments.
The diorama
The diorama puts the tower on a floating island of downtown Toronto, built in Three.js and rendered as pixel art: the scene is drawn at a low resolution, every edge gets a dark outline, the colours are reduced to a small palette, and the result is scaled up without smoothing. The height is compressed to fit the frame, but the parts keep their order and rough proportions: three fluted legs that flare at the foot and merge into the hexagonal shaft, the glass elevator strip, the main pod with its white radome ring and two glass levels, the slim upper shaft, the SkyPod and the long antenna.
Around it are the Rogers Centre with its white segmented roof, Ripley’s Aquarium with a shark on the roof, the railway lands where green-and-white GO trains run in and out of the tunnels, Bremner Boulevard, the Harbourfront boardwalk, autumn maples and a strip of Lake Ontario with an island ferry. At night the LED lights run through rainbow, Canada red, blue and green shows, and the red aircraft warning lights blink.
Things to spot
- Two GO trains passing in opposite directions
- The island ferry shuttling along the lake
- A shark on the roof of Ripley’s Aquarium
- Red and orange maples along the boardwalk
- Blinking red warning lights on the antenna
- The tower’s colour reflected in the lake at night
What we simplified
- The tower is shortened and the pods and legs are fattened so the whole thing fits a 9:16 frame and still reads at pixel scale.
- The Rogers Centre is drawn much smaller than it is, and the neighbourhood is squeezed: the lake, the road and the railway are all closer to the tower than in real life.
- The condo towers are generic, not specific buildings.
Questions
How tall is the CN Tower?
The CN Tower is 553.3 metres tall to the tip of its antenna. The main pod sits between about 342 and 351 metres, the SkyPod at about 447 metres, and the steel antenna on top is about 102 metres long.
Is the CN Tower still the tallest in the world?
No. The CN Tower was the world’s tallest free-standing structure from 1975 until 2007, when Burj Khalifa in Dubai passed it. It remains the defining feature of Toronto’s skyline.
What does CN stand for?
CN stands for Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower between 1973 and 1976. The tower is now owned by Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation.
Why does the CN Tower change colour at night?
Since 2007 the CN Tower has had an LED lighting system on its shaft and pods. It runs colour shows and is lit in special colours for holidays, causes and big sporting moments.
How was this pixel-art diorama of the CN Tower made?
It is a real-time Three.js scene running on this page, drawn at 360 × 640 pixels with dark outlines and a small palette, then scaled up without smoothing. The tower is shortened to fit, but keeps its three flared legs, main pod, SkyPod and antenna. Press “Explore in 3D” to drag it round and switch between day, dusk and night.
Isometric maps of Toronto
Toronto also has 3 isometric pixel-art maps made by the community: the whole city drawn tile by tile in the same SimCity-like style. See the maps of Toronto →
