CN Tower architect dies in Toronto cycling accident

A man who contributed profoundly to Toronto’s skyline died last weekend, weeks after being struck by an SUV in the city’s Rosedale district.

On May 19 at 8:23 a.m., Roger du Toit, 75, was cycling near the intersection of Roxborough Street East and Wrentham Place, not far from Mount Pleasant Road in an upscale residential area of the city. Heading north, du Toit was halfway into the T-intersection when he was hit by a Toyoto 4Runner traveling eastbound. Sustaining serious, life-threatening injuries in the crash, du Toit spent the next two weeks in the hospital, where he died peacefully on Sunday, May 31.

While his name might not be immediately recognizable nationwide, his life’s work as an architect certainly is, with one of his projects very notably — even iconcially — defining the Toronto skyline. Du Toit’s firm, DTAH, was a founding partner in the design of Toronto’s CN Tower, once the tallest freestanding structure in the world.

One can imagine du Toit’s cycling informing a good deal of his work in architecture, in terms of what experiencing a city in the saddle can offer. “Roger’s leadership in the realms of community and campus master planning, urban intensification, and innovative transportation planning is second to none,” a release from DTAH read, announcing du Toit’s passing.

Toronto Police, meanwhile, continue to investigate the incident.