Dave LeBlanc wears his heart on his sleeve — sort of.

LeBlanc says he's long loved architecture and recalls childhood walks with his mother in the Annex just to look at its Victorian houses. As he grew older, he would take her to where "the new buildings were going up in the '60s and 70s."

"I have always loved architecture since I was a little boy, particularly modernist architecture," said LeBlanc, who writes an architecture column for the Globe and Mail.

So, the tattoo on his right arm is a natural fit. Just under his elbow are two towers with a saucer-like centre — also known as Toronto City Hall.

"In Toronto, one of the most futuristic, exciting buildings to ever be built was Toronto City Hall," said LeBlanc, who got the tattoo in 2013 to mark 10 years of writing for the Globe.

"I was celebrating an architectural anniversary — I thought that's a natural, that's the one to put on my arm."

Dave LeBlanc got a tattoo of Toronto City Hall to celebrate a milestone at work. (Supplied by Dave LeBlanc)

LeBlanc opted for a "comic book-looking sort of interpretation" of the iconic Queen and Bay streets building with a yellow banner below it that says: "Meanwhile in Toronto..."

Behind the towers is an orange burst — not to be mistaken for fire.

"Of course, while Rob Ford was in office, everybody would ask me: 'why is city hall on fire?'"

"And I'm like 'it's not on fire, it's an energy burst; the power of good architecture' and they'd be like 'yeah, right.'"

"People don't ask me that question quite as much anymore."

Building represents 'progressive city'

LeBlanc said city hall, designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell, is his favourite building in Toronto.

"I think people saw it as the building that took us into a modern age."

"Not only is it very futuristic looking — with its curved towers and flying saucer in the middle — I think it also represented Toronto becoming a very progressive city that was embracing the future."

City hall will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Sunday with free entertainment and exhibits.

On its 40th anniversary, LeBlanc "called it the most important building that Toronto put up in the 20th Century."

"I still believe that," he said.