In the early 1980s, a coalition of Peace activists petitioned the then-Mayor Art Eggleton to erect a Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square at City Hall. The two angled, stepped planting planes echo the form of two cupped hands – framing a space focused on the project of peace. It reinstates the original and restored Peace Pavilion and its iconography, with a new flame and water cauldron set within a reflecting pool. The bronze cauldron symbolically contains the water brought from Nagasaki, with an eternal flame – kindled in Hiroshima – supporting the open corner of the Pavilion.
The pavilion is reached via a bridge made with granite from the original garden. The Garden is open to the main Square to the north and east, maintaining the visual connection between the Eternal Flame and the Mayor’s office. Large engraved concrete thresholds with stainless steel letters at the north and south announce the name of the garden, and a bridge crosses between the ginkgos.
The architecture was a joint venture of Plant Architects Inc and Perkins + Will Architects, with the modernist masterwork by Finnish architect Viljo Revell.