Sundial Folly

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  25 Queens Quay West
Date: July 2015

  Sundial Folly is a large concrete ball which sits on the edge of Lake Ontario. It was created by John Fung and Paul Figueiredo and was installed at Toronto's Harbourfront in 1995.  A folly in architecture is a building built for decoration so maybe it has no higher function.  It is supposed to work as a sundial, but we couldn't figure it out.  These photos were taken at 3 PM if you wish to try.  Even if you don't know how to use it as a sundial, it is an interesting piece of art and you can actually go inside of it.  That is exactly what we did.

  We approached from the Ferry Docks and could see the small waterfall that flows into the lake.  The sundial was hidden behind the trees.

  From the front you can see the ball appears to be split into two pieces.  There is rusted metal in the trees behind it.  This is where you have to go if you want to get isnide.

  We walked around the ball and on the other side you can see it is sitting in a pool of water.

  A red-winged blackbird chirped at us from the branches hanging above the water.  Red-winged blackbirds have a chirp that sounds like "Hey what are you doing here?"

  We ignored the bird (after taking its photo) and we found ourselves on the metal structure attached to the ball.

  We went along the walkway towards the sphere.

   Inside the ball there was light coming through the crack in one direction.  This light would change as the sun moved across the sky.  The crack in the ball faces south so perhaps it does work as a sundial after all?  The crack curves up towards the sky.

  We had to exit the same way we came in.  Afterwards we went  around and peered through the crack at the back of the ball.

  We then went around the front to see if there were any other creatures in the water or plants around the sundial.  Thankfully when we went inside the sundial we were all alone.

  From the Sundial Folly you can see the Toronto Islands ferries as they bring passengers back and forth.

  If you take a ferry ride over to the islands, you can get a good view of the sundial.  This photo above was taken from the ferry.

  When you look at your photos of Toronto's waterfront again you will notice the sundial.  In our photo above it is tucked down beneath the condos in the bottom right corner.  We suggest you find the time to visit Sundial Folly.  We had a ball.

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This location is near Queens Quay. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World:
Sundial Folly

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Post # 220