The recently opened Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, a 2,000-seat opera house, is remarkable for what it isn't: It isn't flashy (it's built primarily out of brick), it isn't designed by an itinerant starchitect (Diamond & Schmitt is a local firm), and at $135 million, it isn't expensive (Disney Hall in Los Angeles is reputed to have cost twice as much). The Four Seasons Centre is determinedly un-iconic, which is a very Canadian attitude—half the year it's just too cold to stand around gaping at architecture. Like Venturi, architect Jack Diamond opted for a glass-fronted lobby visible from the street, although he eschewed postmodern decoration; like Rawn, he allocated the bulk of his budget to the interior, and in the process produced a hall that has exceptionally good sightlines and acoustics. Silber is right; those in the position to commission public or institutional buildings should pay less attention to architectural form and more to architectural function.