How does a building improve the life of a whole neighborhood? This was the challenge for the architects of Daniels Spectrum, a 58,000-square-foot cultural center at the heart of the Regent Park district in Toronto. The area, a previously blighted late 1940s public housing complex, is in the middle of a revitalization: Toronto Community Housing and Daniels Corporation, a private developer, are replacing the old apartment buildings for the tenants, and adding market-rate housing and community facilities.

Diamond Schmitt Architects designed the Spectrum, which is run by Artscape, a Toronto-based not-for-profit organization, to house seven local performing and visual arts groups, and the Centre for Social Innovation, an incubator for emerging enterprises. The building has a strong visual presence at the center of the neighborhood. Its facade features rainbow-hued stripes, derived from the flags of the world, that stand out against the otherwise restrained architecture.