The Bata Shoe Museum is a footwear museum established by the Bata Shoe Museum Foundation. It is part of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor, a section of Bloor St. between Bay and Bathurst streets which features a number of arts and culture institutions. The building was designed by Moriyama and Teshima Architects and opened on May 6, 1995.

The museum houses over 10 000 items in the 39 450 square foot space. It takes on a deconstructivist form; the building is designed with the proportions of shoe box, a nod to the museum’s contents. The roof acts as a slightly ajar “lid” for the shoebox design.

The street-facing exterior is designed to accommodate foot traffic on Bloor Street, with the walls canting inward at an angle of 83.2 degrees. These walls are formed by French ochre limestone and have the texture and sheen of raw leather, a nod to the material commonly used in shoemaking. The entrance is a two-story glass wedge protruding from the limestone walls. The exterior was designed to play with natural light; the shadow cast by the roof aligns with the apex of the lobby’s glass wedge. Sections of the exterior walls also contain glass display cases.

In the interior, glass balustrades and see-through gaps in stairs draw attention downward to feet and footwear. The central hall features a 13m high art-glass installation by Lutz Haufschild.

• Architect - Moriyama and Teshima Architects  <-- More buildings by this architect.