Architecture helping put Calgary on the map as a tourist destination

Architecture and art on display in Calgary Architecture and art are playing a key role in helping Calgary develop a new reputation. Kevin Green explains.

Calgary’s changing skyline is becoming a tourist attraction of its own, as more cutting-edge architecture is on display – and it’s getting noticed around the world.

“You think about the Bow building, the Telus Sky, the Calgary Public Library, the new BMO Centre, the new eventually arena, the Arts Commons renovation,” said Alkarim Devani, CEO of RNDSQR and a doctoral candidate in urban design.

“We’re a city that's recognized that culture and arts are very indicative of who we are.”

Devani says while the Central Library may seem like it kicked off the transformation when it opened five years ago, most of the now highrises were on the books well before that.

Now, those buildings are catching the eye of architecture buffs around the world, sparking a boom in tourists coming here not to head to the mountains, but to check out the skyline.

Speaking outside the new BMO Convention Centre site, where a $2.25 million piece of public art was announced Wednesday, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said years of work by successive city councils is finally paying off.

“We have made waves at an international level and that's because people love our city,” said Gondek.

“We have been touted as being the most livable city, we've been called the most friendly city all of those things translate to interest in Calgary.”

Many of the changes to Calgary’s skyline have been the result of work done by the Calgary Municipal Lands Corporation (CMLC).

Its CEO Kate Thompson says that work is making Calgary a “sticky” city, meaning tourists who once came here as a stop-over on a trip to the mountains are now staying in the city as a primary destination.

“(Both) Calgarians and people from outside of Calgary are saying ‘you're really investing in yourself,’” said Thompson. “I think for a city to do that, to show their investment in their city, it gives other people a reason to stay and come and visit.”

Another reason that tourists may be flocking for a photo of Calgary’s iconic skyline is due to a four-decade-old structure.

The iconic Saddledome is scheduled to be demolished when the new events centre is complete. That is tentatively scheduled for the start of the 2026-27 hockey season.