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Led by Mayor Nathan Phillips, Toronto city council decided in 1956 to have an international competition to choose the new design under terms drawn up by the International Union of Architects. This caused some controversy as some felt the work should be done by a Canadian. A five-person panel of judges was drawn up with some of the world’s greatest architecture experts. Eric Arthur served as advisor. Over 500 designs were submitted, from which eight semi-finalists were selected. In September 1958, Revell’s design was selected by three of the judges, including Eero Saarinen. One of the two dissenting judges was William Graham Holford, who was skeptical that the design could be built within the $18 million budget set by the city. Revell received a $25,000 prize plus what was estimated to be $1 million in fees to supervise construction. He complained that not enough credit was given to his design collaborators, Heikki Castren, Bengt Lundsten, and Seppo Valjus, and asked that all names be listed as the architects. Construction began in 1961 and the building was completed four years later. Revell died in 1964 before the project was finished. (Wikipedia)