Canadian Architect May 2019

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04 viewpoint

Adrien Williams

Bent René Synnevåg

Arts and Culture

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May 2019 03

Editor Elsa Lam considers the pitfalls of unpaid internships.

07 News

OAQ award winners announced; B.C. building code to allow 12-storey mass timber buildings.

17 RAIC journal

Advancing integrated climate action; 2019 Festival of Architecture preview.

26 interview

41

35 Illusuak Cultural Centre

Saunders Architecture and Stantec complete a curvilinear building in remote Nain, Labrador. TEXT Susan Nerberg

41 Ottawa ARt Gallery Expansion

30 insites

Ontario Place is up for redevelopment, but it’s already thriving as-is, says Helena Gradadolnik.

Dieter Janssen

35

Lisa Landrum details the progress towards developing a national architecture policy for Canada.

KPMB Architects and Barry Padolsky Architects lead the design of a gallery that is key to the revitalization of a downtown block. TEXT Odile Hénault

48 Xiqu Centre

A new cultural district in Hong Kong is graced with a centre for Chinese opera,

by Vancouver’s Revery Architecture with Ronald Lu and Partners. TEXT Sylvia Chan

57 Books

Reviews of recent volumes on brutalism and conceptualizing architecture.

64 Calendar

Sylvia Chan

International events mark the Bauhaus centenary this year.

66 backpage

Paul Dolick visits the Odeyto Indigenous Centre at Seneca College.

Xiqu Centre by Revery Architecture in joint venture with Ronald Lu and Partners. Photo

by Ema Peters.

COVER

v.64 n.05

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The National Review of Design and Practice / The Official Magazine of the RAIC

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Viewpoint

internal politics Across social media, there’s been an uproar lately over unpaid internships in architecture.

It started in the wake of a job posting for Tokyo firm Junya Ishigami and Associates, designers of the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion in London, England. An applicant revealed that the firm expected interns to work 13-hour days, six days a week, for free—supplying their own computers, software, and work visas—a common arrangement in high-profile Japanese firms. The Serpentine Gallery has since told the firm that it must pay anyone working on its project.

The news has led to revelations of other studios that host unpaid internships. Designer Adam Nathaniel Furman has led the charge by posting screenshots of unpaid job proposals on his #Archislavery Instagram feed.

Firms that have been outed so far include Sou Foujimoto Architects, SANAA , Studio Miralles Tagliabue, Studio Mumbai, LOTEK , and Karim Rashid.

Some of the world’s most prestigious firms are among those offering unpaid internships— notably Pritzker prize winners Shigeru Ban Architects and Alejandro Aravena’s firm Elemental. Elemental was among the first firms named by Furman, and in the wake of the news, the firm ended their internship positions entirely, writing that they “could not afford to pay the interns.” In an email to Dezeen, Elemental defended its internships as a fair exchange of “time for experience,” and said that they had encouraged candidates to apply for scholarships in their country of origin.

In a 2016 op-ed for the website Archinect, Patrik Schumacher of Zaha Hadid Architects also defended the practice, saying that “unpaid or low paid internships have nothing to do with exploitation … they are mutually agreed exchanges.”

The main benefactor of these exchanges, however, appears to be the employer who is receiving discounted labour. If architects truly wish to nurture the next generation, then they should offer fair pay for work, whether through co-op or entry level positions, and teach or participate as guest critics in architecture schools.

In Canada, unpaid internships are illegal, with the exception of hands-on training programs for students. This loophole has been the subject of scrutiny: in 2013, Bell Mobility’s massive internship program came under

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fire as exploiting young graduates for routine jobs, rather than providing useful training, prompting the company to end its internships.

It’s also not been unheard of for Canadian architecture students to offer to work for free to gain experience—a proposal that employers have a legal and ethical duty to resist.

Looking beyond our borders, the world of Canadian architecture is tied up with the international scene. Unpaid internships abroad create a skewed playing field—how can Canadian architects compete internationally, when they are up against firms staffed with free labour?

Unpaid internships can also create another kind of skewed market: for students that can afford to accept them. One of Elemental’s interns, Anastasia Tikhommirova, writes positively of her experience, but also notes that “for a year, I worked two jobs to save up money” and that her parents also supported her financially. University training in architecture already favours the economically privileged, but a measure of equitability is brought in with financial aid such as needs-based grants, scholarships, and interest-free student loans. These structures don’t exist in the working world.

The imperative for firms to pay their employees fairly should be obvious for those specialized in social housing, such as Elemental, or humanitarian aid, such as Shigeru Ban: social equity starts in one’s own practice. Patrik Schumacher took home £5.3 million last year; with such wealth, it is shameful to defend the practice of underpaying one’s staff.

Here in Canada, we still need to meaningfully contend with the norm of unpaid overtime— an unfair practice that puts those with other obligations, such as parents of young children, at a disadvantage. A reliance on excessive unpaid overtime ultimately allows firms to lowball their fees, creating impacts across the board.

The idea of unpaid interns hearkens back to the early Renaissance, when architects learned their craft by apprenticing to a master, and eventually became part of a guild. Surely, the profession has evolved since then. Architecture firms have a responsibility to be viable businesses that can afford to pay for all aspects of their operations—and especially their youngest employees.

Elsa Lam

Editor elsa lam, fRAIC Art Director Roy Gaiot Contributing Editors Annmarie Adams, FRAIC Odile Hénault Douglas MacLeod, ncarb, MRAIC online Editor Christiane Beya Regional Correspondents Montreal David Theodore Calgary Graham Livesey, MRAIC Winnipeg Lisa Landrum, MAA, AIA, MRAIC vancouver adele weder, Hon. MRAIC Sustainability Advisor Anne Lissett, Architect AIBC, LEED BD+C Vice president & Senior Publisher Steve Wilson 416-441-2085 x105 sales MANAGER Faria Ahmed 416-441-2085 x106 Customer Service / production laura moffatt 416-441-2085 x104 Circulation circulation@canadianarchitect.com President of iq business media inc.

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Projects

A $100-million gift to the University of Toronto from Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman—the largest donation in U of T ’s history—will help construct the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre. Located at the northeast corner of College and Queen’s Park, the 70,000-square-metre complex is designed to anchor U of T ’s unique cluster of artificial intelligence scientists and biomedical experts, its entrepreneurship network, and the country’s largest concentration of student- and faculty-led startups.

Designed by Weiss/Manfredi in collaboration with Teeple Architects, the centre will be a showcase for innovation architecture. The centre’s layout will feature vertical gardens, soaring atria and collaborative spaces. Its design will promote intellectual exchange and invite the public to take part in events and interact with scholars and innovators. U of T expects the building’s engaging spaces to host thousands of researchers, investors, industry partners and international visitors annually.

The university plans to begin construction on the first phase of the centre this fall. www.utoronto.ca

Design unveiled for tall timber T3 Bayside

International real estate firm Hines has announced plans for T3 Bayside, the first office building in Toronto’s emerging Bayside community, located on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Designed by the Danish architecture firm 3XN with architect of record WZMH, the 10-storey structure will stand at 42 metres high. If it were built today, it would be the tallest timber office building not only in Toronto but in all of North America.

3XN was selected by Hines to design an office space as part of the 810-hectare revitalization initiative that will transform Toronto’s waterfront. T3 Bayside will join 3XN’s two residential buildings in the area, Aqualuna and Aquabella. The new building and adjoining plaza will serve as a dynamic visual and pedestrian gateway to the entire neighbourhood, connecting residents and visitors to the revitalized waterfront.

The building adds to a growing list of planned mass timber buildings on Toronto’s waterfront, including a George Brown academic building called The Arbour, and a dozen mass timber buildings envisaged as part of the Sidewalk Toronto development. www.t3bayside.com

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Weiss/Manfredi Architects

$100-million gift spurs Weiss/Manfredi and Teeple-designed building at U of T

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ABOVE Construction is slated to begin this fall on the University of Toronto’s Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre. The design is by Weiss/Manfredi in collaboration with Teeple Architects.

Hariri Pontarini reveals design for Panda Markham

Hariri Pontarini has unveiled its designs for Panda Markham, a 5.8-acre mixed-use plan that will encompass five luxury residential towers, adding 2,206 residential units to this growing suburb of Toronto.

The five proposed towers will range from 28 to 48 storeys in height, with terraces of varying lengths and widths adding visual interest and creating a distinctive silhouette.

Panda Markham’s suite mix will range from one-bedroom to three-bedroom family units.

Inviting indoor and outdoor amenities will expand their living space. The plan includes green space between and around the towers, and the site overlooks the Rouge River.

According to David Pontarini, founding partner, Hariri Pontarini Architects, “The Panda Markham team’s shared vision is to offer something outstanding in a location that deserves special treatment. It’s exciting to be working on a community with this enormous scope. The residential towers will set a new

standard for contemporary design in the area.”

Panda Markham’s residents will also benefit from easy access to the recently completed York Region Transit/Viva infrastructure improvements, the new Metrolinx Bus Rapid Transit Line along Highway 7, and Highways 404 and 407. Panda Markham’s site is a 12-minute walk to the heart of downtown Markham, and the Unionville GO Station is 3.2 km away. www.pandamarkhamcondo.ca

Awards OAQ award winners announced

The Ordre des architects du Québec (OAQ ) has announced the winners of its 30th awards of excellence. The jury, presided by Dutch architect Robert-Jan Van Santen, selected the winners from among 104 submissions.

The program’s highest honour, the Grand prix d’excellence, was awarded to the Bibliothèque de Drummondville, by Chevalier Morales architectes and DMA architectes.

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news Nguyen, Jasmine Sykes and Connor Tamborro (Carleton University).

Honourable Mentions were awarded to: Central Parkway Study by Martin Tite, John Cook, Alex Leung, and Sean Fright (GRC Architects Inc.), The Counterpublic of Union Station by Aidan Mitchelmore, Revitalizing Suburbia: Build Integrated Communities by Connie Lei and Stuff Cloud: A Smart Infrastructure for Buying, Selling, Sharing, Swapping and Remaking Things in Cities by J. Alejandro López, Marie-Eve Bélanger, Rodolphe El-Khoury and Matt Ratto (University of Toronto).

Chevalier Morales Architectes

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www.oaa.on.ca

Arata Isozaki receives Pritzker Prize The Drummondville Library, by Chevalier Morales architectes and DMA architectes, has won the OAQ’s Grand prix d’excellence.

ABOVE

The public’s choice award went to Strøm Spa Vieux-Québec, by LEMAYMICHAUD Architecture Design.

The other winners are: Quai 5160—Maison de la culture de Verdun, Montreal, by Les Architectes FABG ; Centre de découverte et de services du parc national des Îles-deBoucherville, Sépaq, by Smith Vigeant architectes; Reconstruction de l’école primaire Baril, Montreal, by Birtz Bastien Beaudoin Laforest (Groupe Provencher Roy); Olympe, Rivièredu-Loup, by BMD Architectes; Hôtel Monville, Montreal, by ACDF Architecture; Multilogement Berri, Montreal, by Architecture Microclimat; Maison J.J. Joubert, Montreal, by la SHED architecture; La Grande Percée, New Brunswick, by Atelier Pierre Thibault; Maison du Parc, Montreal, by la SHED architecture; Manège militaire Voltigeurs de Québec, Quebec City, by A49 / DFS / STGM en consortium; Hôtel William Gray, Montreal, by Béïque, Legault, Thuot Architectes; and Immeubles infinis, Montreal,

by Jean-Maxime Labrecque, architecte.

An honourable mention for innovation was given to Simons Galeries de la Capitale, Quebec City, by LEMAYMICHAUD Architecture Design, and an honourable mention for sustainability was awarded to Pavillon d’accueil du parcours Gouin à énergie nettezéro, Montreal, by Birtz Bastien Beaudoin Laforest (Groupe Provencher Roy). www.oaq.com/pea

SHIFT 2019 Challenge selections announced

The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) has announced the selected projects for the first-ever SHIFT 2019 Architecture

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Challenge. Intended to spur thinking and conversation about the intersection between architecture and societal issues, the SHIFT Challenge called on Ontario architects to demonstrate how architectural thinking can promote social equity, reduce isolation and embody social justice.

Held every second year, SHIFT will alternate with the OAA’s Design Excellence Awards, which focus on recognizing outstanding work in the industry.

The seven selected projects are: GO Bike

by Naama Blonder and Misha Bereznyak (Smart Density), Immigrant Landscapes: Architecture in the Age of Migration by Sophie Mackey, Multi-Tach: Addressing Housing Infrastructure by Jaegap Chung, Sue Jean Chung, Derek McCallum, Sudipto Sengupta, Hesam Rostami, Hamid Imami, Robin McKenna, Matthew Mckenna and David Kotewicz (Studio JCI Inc.) and Nam Hoang (Makeshift Collective), Rail to Trail: Imagining a Future London by Ryan Ollson, Magdaleen Bahour, Richard Hammond, Shannon Hawke, Tyler Hearn, Jerry Kim and Siobhan Latimer (Cornerstone Architecture Incorporated); Re-Engaging the Defunct and Historic Welland Canals by David Donnelly and Martin Bressani (McGill University); Story Pod: Grassroots Transformation of Civic Space by Kelly Buffey, Robert Kastelic and Aaron Finbow (Atelier Kastelic Buffey Inc.), Scott Munro, Bill Mctavish and Ted Kurello (Hollis Wealth), and Mark Agnoletto (Town of Newmarket); and Urban Energy Shift by Zachary Colbert (Zachary Colbert Architects and Carleton University Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism), Antonio Gioventu (Condominium Homeowners Association of British Columbia), and Shelby Hagerman, James

Arata Isozaki, distinguished Japanese architect, city planner and theorist, has been selected as the 2019 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the award that is known internationally as architecture’s highest honour.

Amongst his international contemporaries, Isozaki is lauded for his forward-thinking approach, deep commitment to the “art of space,” and the transnational methodology that has characterized his work since the 1960s. The prolific architect has been credited with facilitating dialogue between East and West, reinterpreting global influences within architecture, and supporting the development of younger generations in the field.

His precision and dexterity are demonstrated through his mastery of an intercontinental range of building techniques, interpretation of site and context, and intentionality of details.

Isozaki’s work has thus far surpassed six decades and over one hundred built works throughout the world. Prominent works include the Kitakyushu City Museum of Art (1972-1974 Fukuoka, Japan), Tsukuba Center Building, (1979-1983 Ibaraki, Japan), The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1981-1986 Los Angeles, United States), Palau Sant Jordi (1983-1990 Barcelona, Spain), Art Tower Mito (1986-1990 Ibaraki, Japan), Nara Centennial Hall (1992-1998 Nara, Japan), Ceramic Park Mino (19962002 Gifu, Japan), Pala Alpitour (2002-2006 Torino, Italy), Himalayas Center (2003-2013 Shanghai, China), Allianz Tower (20032014 Milan, Italy), Qatar National Convention Center (2004-2011 Doha, Qatar), and Shanghai Symphony Hall (2008-2014 Shanghai, China).

Isozaki is the 46th Laureate of the Pritzker Prize, and the eighth to hail from Japan.

The 2019 Pritzker Prize ceremony will take place in France this May, accompanied by a public lecture in Paris. www.pritzkerprize.com

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What’s New Canadians consider Notre Dame Cathedral reconstruction

On April 15, a fire broke out on the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. When it was extinguished, the Cathedral’s spire and medieval ribbed roof had been devastated, although the main structure was saved, along with the art works contained within the building.

“The shocking tragedy of Notre Dame of Paris should never have happened,” writes architect Phyllis Lambert, founding director emeritus of the Canadian Centre for Architecture. “Renovation is the most dangerous time in the life of a great building over hundred years old. Dry wood invites fire and is tinder to the smallest spark. Ironically, this occurred when a sprinkler system was being installed at the vast Frank Lloyd Wright Hotel in Phoenix in 1973, and in Canada, fire ripped through the chancel and roof at Notre Dame du Sacré-Coeur Chapel in Montreal in 1978.

Symbols of civilization cannot be allowed to serve as cautionary tales.”

Domestic and international reaction to the Paris blaze has been swift. On April 16, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that Notre Dame would be rebuilt within five years, in time for France to host the 2024 Olympic Games. The next day, French Prime Minister Éduard Philippe announced an international architectural competition to redesign the roofline of the cathedral. Over $1 billion USD has already been raised for the restoration, with pledges from private companies, institutions, and more than 150,000 individuals worldwide.

But is this flurry of activity happening too quickly? And does it sufficiently account for the monument’s history?

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ABOVE On April 15, a fire claimed the medieval roof and 19th century spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.

Notre Dame was built starting in 1163 and was completed in 1345.

By the 18th century, the Gothic fell out of style, and extensive modifications were made to the building, including the removal of its original weather-worn spire in 1786. During the French Revolution, the cathedral’s contents were looted and statuary vandalized, and the sanctuary was used for food storage. In 1844, 31-year-old architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus won a commission to restore the half-ruined building. The 25-year-long process included the construction of the spire that crumbled during the recent fire.

“The cathedral has been in constant evolution across the centuries,” says Canadian architectural historian Peter Sealy, who lectures at the University of Toronto. “What burnt was partly from the 12th century, partly from the 19th century. Loss and renewal are nothing new for such buildings.”

The visual image of Notre Dame became a national icon for France in the 19th century, with the cathedral’s starring role in lithographic prints and photographic surveys of the era, as well as in Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a polemic that argued for the restoration of the deteriorated cathedral. “This was a moment when mechanically reproduced images became widely available around the world,” says Sealy. “These representations played a key role in driving the urge for restoration, and the ideas of how that restoration should be guided by historical knowledge.”

Fact and fiction worked together to spur Notre Dame’s restoration.

In preparing to compete for the commission, the architect purchased a set of early daguerreotypes of the cathedral—making him a pioneer in turning to the nascent technology of photography as a visual record.

The restoration itself included meticulous historical research into the building. “The architects initiated a new form of ‘scientific’ restoration that was part of romanticism’s incredibly strong investment in the past,” says architectural historian and director of McGill’s Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture, Martin Bressani. “History became a sacred repository of truth about culture.”

In the process of his deep research, Viollet-le-Duc came to identify strongly with the Middle Ages, a conviction that included training architects in medieval ways of making. He felt he had developed a true knowledge that allowed him a certain freedom in the restoration of Notre Dame. “A clear example is in Viollet-le-Duc creating his own

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spire, and feeling that he was authorized because he knew the cathedral so well,” says Bressani. The resulting piece—an elegant, ornate creation—was a transformation from the original shorter, more plain spire. It is widely considered to be Viollet-le-Duc’s masterpiece.

A 21st-century competition opens the question of what form the spire should take: the original medieval structure, the version conceived by Viollet-le-Duc, or a new form entirely. For Bressani, a contemporary spire is out of the question. Conservation architect Julia Gersovitz, founding partner of EVOQ , is also concerned about the appropriateness of a contemporary design for the spire. An intervention that stands out from the historic church, rather than deferring to it, risks marking the fire as a too-significant event in the life of the 850-year-old building, she says.

Gersovitz adds that the announcement of a competition has been made far too quickly. “In Canadian conservation, first you have to understand and analyze—then you plan, then you intervene,” she says. “France seems to be leaping past the first two crucial stages.”

Odile Hénault, a key instigator of Quebec’s current competition system, agrees that the announcement of a competition has come too soon: “A competition is only as good as its brief, its competitors and its jury. It is neither a magic wand nor a panacea.”

“Although the French government is known worldwide for its architectural competitions, it is also known for unfortunate decisions based on political agendas,” writes Hénault.

“The Bastille Opera House in Paris is perhaps the most blatant example of such a situation.

The competition had been hastily launched by newly elected President François Mitterand, who wanted to inaugurate a new opera house in time for the French Revolution’s Bicentennial celebrations in 1989. The anonymous international competition may have attracted 756 proposals, but it led to a decidedly disappointing result (unfortunately involving a Canadian.) Will the 2024 Olympic Games agenda hasten a competition that should be carefully thought through before being launched? Will Macron, in seeking positive publicity, gamble the future of Notre-Dame for his own political agenda?”

The proposed timeline for the restoration is also optimistic, says Gersovitz. “Just sifting through the debris on the ground will take months—it will be complex to reconstruct the jigsaw puzzle of the remnants of the vaults.” She also notes that the stained glass, while apparently intact, will need to be carefully inspected, as the heat of the fire may have compromised the structural integrity of the lead joints and the coloured glass mosaic pieces have gone

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through thermal shock. “Five years is a call to arms—it can’t be a construction schedule.”

Quebec begins work on provincial architecture strategy

Elsa Lam

B.C. Building Code to allow 12-storey wood buildings

The height limit for wood buildings in British Columbia is rising to 12 from six storeys in a move that Premier John Horgan expects to spur development using timber and give the province a head start on other parts of the country. The province is changing its building code to allow the construction of taller mass timber buildings as a safe, economic and environmental alternative to concrete apartments and office buildings. The changes are voluntary, with any local government currently regulated under the B.C. Building Code being eligible. The announcement comes one year ahead of expected federal 2020 National Building code changes to increase the height limit for wood buildings to 12 storeys. www.news.gov.bc.ca

Five International Architects named Honorary Fellows of the RAIC

Five architects—Renzo Piano, Denise Scott Brown, Ivenue Love-Stanley, Elizabeth Chu Richter, and Vishaan Chakrabarti—have been named as Honorary Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC). The 2019 Honorary Fellows exemplify the role that architects play in public life around the world and the evolving diversity of the profession.

“This year’s Honorary Fellows have been rightfully recognized as leaders and creative thinkers,” says Diarmuid Nash, FRAIC, Chancellor of the RAIC College of Fellows.

“We are honoured to have iconic figures such as Denise Scott Brown and Renzo Piano become members of the RAIC, and at the same time to welcome leaders and role models such as Love-Stanley and Richter, and a provocative thinker like Chakrabarti who is challenging our ideas about cities and urban life.”

Piano, Love-Stanley, Richter, and Chakrabarti will be inducted into the RAIC College of Fellows at a ceremony during the RAIC 2019 Festival of Architecture, taking place in Toronto from October 26 to 30.

Piano will deliver the keynote address at the College of Fellows Convocation, and Chakrabarti will be a plenary speaker on the future of architecture. Scott Brown will be honoured at a later date. www.raic.org

The Minister of Culture and Communications, Nathalie Roy, and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, have announced the beginning of work aiming to adopt a Quebec Architecture Strategy.

The OAQ will be collaborating in developing the strategy.

The citizen-centred policy aims to promote best-practices in projects led by the province, and will include incentive measures for provincially sponsored work. It acknowledges the role that architecture plays in the Quebec identity, in making culture a fundamental element in the daily lives of Quebecers, and in contributing to the vitality of the province overall. The strategy will help ensure the quality, sustainability and longevity of projects, and will contribute to the attractiveness of the province, including from the perspectives of economic growth and tourism.

The participative process will draw on a white paper developed by the OAQ , and will involve a large range of experts, partners, and organizations, including municipalities. In particular, the cities of Montreal and Quebec City will be key to developing the policy. The initiative was named in the government’s Culture Action Plan, 2018-2023. www.oaq.com

Canadian study makes financial case for net-zero carbon buildings

The Canada Green Building Council has issued a report that demonstrates that Zero Carbon Buildings offer meaningful greenhouse gas reductions and positive financial returns. Entitled “Making The Case For Building To Zero Carbon,” the report— a first of its kind in Canada—confirms that Zero Carbon Buildings are financially viable today with a positive financial return over a 25-year life-cycle. It also highlights that industry is at a tipping point: the business case for Zero Carbon Buildings is going to get stronger each year due to the rising cost of carbon pollution.

The positive financial return is inclusive of carbon pollution pricing and requires only a modest capital cost premium at the outset.

There are also important financial benefits that were not quantified in the study, such as greater value to tenants, future-proofing against higher costs for utilities and carbon pollution, greater resiliency against future weather events, and avoiding costly future retrofits.

The report applies carbon reduction measures to seven building types in Vancouver,

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www.cagbc.org

Design Exchange to deaccession collection and pivot to programming

Following the success of the inaugural edition of EDIT: Expo for Design, Innovation & Technology in 2017, the focus of Design Exchange (DX) has pivoted. The Board of Directors and Senior Management at DX have unanimously decided to pursue a festival strategy, making EDIT the cornerstone of the organization’s programming, alongside relevant annual education and public programs.

As such, DX will deaccession its collection, a survey of Canada’s industrial design history from 1945 to the present featuring more than 300 works by Canadian designers including furniture, housewares, textiles, electronics, and lighting. The majority of the collection will be gifted to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.

The next edition of EDIT will take place in Toronto in June 2020. www.dx.org

Letters to the Editor Dipping into 24 Sussex

I am impressed by the full coverage with excellent photos of the extensive renovations of Parliament facilities in your March issue.

In this issue, you also advocate for the renovation of the 24 Sussex Drive buildings.

You say “a pool building, added in the 1970s, is rotting and mouldy.” I have a special interest in that indoor pool. While I worked as a senior architect and project manager in the Department of Public Works (DPW) from 1973-80, I designed the pool for then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau with his active involvement.

To maintain his physical fitness, he specially wanted a diving board and a Finnish sauna.

While the pool building maintenance has been neglected over the years, Pierre’s son, Justin, now also Prime Minister, still swims in the pool with his family.

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by restoring significant character-defining elements like the grand staircase and front entrance tympanum, while incorporating compatible, subordinate and distinguishable new components that both interpret elements lost over the years of disturbing renovations and satisfy new needs.

The two wings simultaneously embrace both high levels of sustainability—a demonstration of net-zero carbon and energy—and high-level cultural value in the architectural and intangible heritage they contain.

It’s time to recognize and leverage the innate and indigenous connection of natural and cultural conservation. 24 Sussex would be a good place to start.

POOL—INTERIOR VIEW. PHOTO COURTESY NATIONAL CAPITAL COMMISSION.

TRUDEAU’S POOL ABOVE The interior of the pool building at 24 Sussex, which was designed by architect Stig Harvor. The pool was builtTRUDEAU for WAS Pierre TO SPEND Trudeau with privately donatedRELUCTANT funds.

SCARCE PUBLIC MONEY

BY STIG HARVOR, FRAIC

A SWIMMING POOL WAS BUILT for our athletic Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau at his official residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa in 1975. He used to swim at the Chateau Laurier hotel to keep in good shape. For security reasons and convenience, the idea of a private pool at 24 Sussex came about.

Trudeau was reluctant to spend scarce public money on it. He had just imposed price and wage controls to battle inflation. Senator Keith Davey, a Liberal Party insider and fund raiser, was chosen to find private money for the cost of a pool. His efforts were successful. The private donations

ON IT. HE HAD JUST IMPOSED PRICE AND WAGE CONTROLS TO BATTLE INFLATION.

Emily Guy, Office Manager & Lead Researcher, MTBA

Associates, Architecture Urbanism Conservation, Ottawa

The old official residence appropriately has a heritage designation. The pool just missed by 54a few points the required minimum of 50 while scoring well on design. Canadian heritage legislation, unlike that of other Western countries, sadly omits to call for funding of maintenance of designated buildings.

Memorandum

A hybrid solution for 24 Sussex

Call for nominations for Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts

continued on page 53

OAA PERSPECTIVES | FALL 2016

Stig Harvor, OAA Retired Member

We noted your editorial on 24 Sussex with interest, having taken exception back in 2016/17 to other media championing landfillover-landmarks approaches, to demolish and start over—perhaps reflecting invalid attitudes that Canadians don’t have legitimate history, national myths or stories of value.

In response, our firm undertook a sustainable conservation conceptual project for 24 Sussex (http://bit.ly/2IzPe1z). The design aims to tell stories of: our cultural heritage from pre-contact to recent past; Canada’s leading enviro-tech and cultural preservation industries; the value in the wise use of existing resources and embodied carbon to reduce emissions; and the interconnectivity of natural and cultural conservation.

Like Canada, MTBA’s concept for 24 Sussex is multi-faceted, grounded in rehabilitation and revitalization, with environmental sustainability at the forefront of a more functionally resolved contemporary solution. MTBA proposed a lively new addition—the Dignitary Wing—that provides space for the Prime Minister’s home office suite and a venue for smaller official requirements such as VIP receptions, high-level negotiations and inner-cabinet meetings.

The rehabilitation of the Residential Wing takes an integrated design/conservation approach that demonstrates the building’s evolutionary layers over time. This is achieved

Best of Canada Awards

May 10 is the deadline to submit projects and products to the Best of Canada awards program, led by our sister magazine, Canadian Interiors. www.canadianinteriors.com

The Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts are granted to artists in recognition of remarkable careers in the arts, including in architecture. Up to eight awards of $25,000 are presented annually. The deadline for nominations is June 1. www.canadacouncil.ca

Toronto’s Bentway hosts artist residency

Toronto-based designer and researcher Brady Peters and artist Mitchell Akiyama have been selected to participate in The Bentway’s inaugural Artist Residency. Peters is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and specializes in architectural acoustics, computational design and digital fabrication. www.thebentway.ca

RAIC announces heritage conservation workshops with CIMS and Parks Canada

The RAIC has announced a new series of heritage conservation workshops in partnership with the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) and Parks Canada. The first workshops will be held in Ottawa from July 19 to 21, and in Dawson City, Yukon, from September 11 to 14. Registration opens in May. www.raic.org

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© 2019 Kawneer Company, Inc.

BUILDING LEGACIES.

Building on the past to advance the future. Kawneer solutions draw on a long history of innovation to create next-generation technologies that inspire architects, contractors and glaziers to create buildings with better performance, protection and productivity. At Kawneer we are always building. Build your legacy.

ARCHITECTURAL SYSTEMS ENTRANCES + FRAMING CURTAIN WALLS WINDOWS

kawneer.com

CA May 19.indd 15

2019-04-24 4:37 PM

CAMBRIDGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL Architect: Stantec Architecture Photographer: Olivier GariĂŠpy

Choose the exterior cladding that contributes to a greener future.

Ceramic ventilated facade systems

ceragres.ca

CA May 19.indd 16

2019-04-24 4:37 PM

Registration is open for the 2019 Festival of Architecture, taking place in Toronto, October 26-30.

Learn about speakers, tours and networking events at festival2019.raic.org. Register by June 30 for best rates.

La période d’inscription est en cours pour le Festival d’architecture 2019 qui se déroulera à Toronto, du 26 au 30 octobre. Pour tout savoir sur les conférenciers, les visites guidées et les activités sociales, visitez le festival2019.raic.org.

The RAIC is now accepting trade show applications for Festival 2019. The trade show runs over three days, from October 27 to 29. Space is limited, so reserve your booth today: festival2019.raic.org L’IRAC accepte maintenant les demandes de réservation de kiosques au Festival de 2019.

Le salon professionnel s’étendra sur trois jours, du 27 au 29 octobre. Le nombre de places est limité, alors réservez dès maintenant votre kiosque : festival2019.raic.org Save the date for future RAIC Conferences!

We have confirmed dates and venues up to 2030, in Edmonton, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

Details at raic.org.

Notez les dates des futures conférences de l’IRAC! Nous avons confirmé les dates et les endroits jusqu’en 2030, à Edmonton, Montréal, Calgary et Vancouver. Pour en savoir plus : raic.org Forgot to renew your RAIC membership for 2019?

Call 1-844-856-RAIC extension 200 to renew and ensure access to your valuable benefits.

Vous avez oublié de renouveler votre adhésion à l’IRAC pour 2019? Composez le 1 844 856-7242, poste 200, et faites-le dès maintenant pour continuer d’avoir accès à ses nombreux avantages.

Don’t miss the RAIC’s Webday Wednesdays continuing education webinars. Each month follows a different theme. In May, we explore Advanced Building Envelopes. Register at raic.org/webday.

RAIC Journal Journal de l’IRAC Victoria, British Columbia, is one of several Canadian cities to declare a climate emergency.

Victoria, en Colombie-Britannique, est l’une des nombreuses villes canadiennes à déclarer l’état d’urgence climatique.

Jennifer Barrow

Briefs En bref

A Time of Change Une ère de changement Eva Schacherl Interim editor, RAIC Journal Éditrice par intérim, Journal de l’IRAC

The climate news and prognostications could hardly be more grim. From wildfires to flooding, from unusual tornadoes to the arctic melting, Canadians seem to have a front row seat to the unstable new climate realities.

Not only are we now living with the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, but the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report provides a warning: we have only a few years to act and make unprecedented changes to keep global warming below 1.5°C. In this issue, read about integrated climate action and why architects and allied professionals need to play a leading role in addressing the planet’s health.

Ne ratez pas les webinaires de formation continue des Mercredis en ligne de l’IRAC. Chaque mois, ils portent sur un nouveau thème. En mai, ils traiteront des enveloppes de bâtiments avancées. Inscription à raic.org/webday.

The rapid evolution of sustainable design means that professionals need to keep up to date. Look no further than the RAIC Festival in Toronto from October 26 to 30, 2019. Its sessions will cover integrated hybrid systems, energy modelling, and much more. The RAIC’s Webday Wednesdays—weekly educational webinars—also cover topics like advanced building envelopes and adaptive reuse.

The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built environment in Canada, demonstrating how design enhances the quality of life, while addressing important issues of society through responsible architecture. www.raic.org

Finally, read about the RAIC chapters and how they are engaging members from the ground up. Together, we can have a stronger voice for architects and architecture across Canada.

L’IRAC est le principal porte-parole en faveur de l’excellence du cadre bâti au Canada. Il démontre comment la conception améliore la qualité de vie tout en tenant compte d’importants enjeux sociétaux par la voie d’une architecture responsable. www.raic.org/fr

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Les nouvelles et les pronostics sur le changement climatique pourraient difficilement être plus sombres. Des feux de forêt aux inondations, des tornades inhabituelles à la fonte de l’Arctique, les Canadiens semblent

être aux premières loges de l’instabilité des nouvelles réalités climatiques.

Alors que nous vivons déjà avec les effets néfastes des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, le dernier rapport du Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat (GIEC) nous prévient qu’il ne reste que quelques années pour agir et apporter des changements sans précédent pour maintenir le réchauffement de la planète en deçà de 1,5 °C. Lisez notre article sur l’action climatique intégrée et apprenez pourquoi les architectes et les membres de professions connexes doivent jouer un rôle de chef de file dans les questions relatives à la santé de la planète.

Par ailleurs, l’évolution rapide de la conception durable oblige les professionnels à maintenir leurs connaissances à jour. Ne cherchez pas plus loin : le Festival de l’IRAC à Toronto, du 26 au 30 octobre, vous offre plusieurs séances de formation qui portent notamment sur les systèmes hybrides intégrés, la modélisation énergétique, et une foule d’autres questions d’intérêt. Les Mercredis en ligne de l’IRAC – des webinaires de formation hebdomadaires – portent aussi sur des sujets de pointe, comme les enveloppes de bâtiment avancées et la réutilisation adaptative.

Finalement, ne manquez pas de lire notre article sur les sections régionales de l’IRAC et voyez comment elles mobilisent les membres à toutes les étapes de leur carrière.

Ensemble, nous pouvons plaider plus fort en faveur des architectes et de l’architecture à la grandeur du Canada.

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Five Canadian professional associations sign up to integrate climate action into design and planning Cinq associations professionnelles canadiennes s’engagent à intégrer l’action climatique au design et à l’urbanisme

Tom Arban. Courtesy Perkins+Will

Laurentian University’s Vale Living with Lakes Centre was designed by Perkins+Will to adapt to a 2050 climate and won the OAA’s 2015 Sustainable Design Excellence Award.

By / par Eva Schacherl Last October, five of Canada’s national professional associations—representing thousands of members from coast to coast— signed a joint statement on Advancing Integrated Climate Action.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA), the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability were the signatories of this call for leadership to address climate change.

bers are involved in so many aspects of creating the built environment and managing ecosystems and natural resources.

“Buildings represent close to 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions,” says Mona Lemoine, MRAIC, Chair of the RAIC’s Committee on Regenerative Environments (CORE). “We need a whole-systems design approach. We have to step back, look at our projects holistically, and rethink how we design buildings.

We can’t build glass boxes anymore.”

“Most in our community are aware of the low-carbon resilience approach. A smaller percentage knows how to address it in their work,” she adds.

The Joint Statement focuses on integrating both mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Humanity today has a double-barreled challenge: unprecedented action is needed to keep global warming below 1.5°C, and in addition, we are already experiencing the impacts of a warming planet. That’s why we have to simultaneously reduce emissions (mitigate) and respond to the impacts we can no longer avoid (adapt).

The Joint Statement makes the case that integrated strategies “can save time and resources, increase returns on investment, and generate economic, environmental, social, and health co-benefits.” Its conclusions were based on a report on Low Carbon Resilience: Best Practices For Professionals by the Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT) at Simon Fraser University.

The signatories have a crucial role to play in acting on climate change because their mem-

Jennifer Cutbill, MRAIC, is founding Chair and former RAIC Board liaison with the

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CORE committee. She says the professional associations coming together in this effort is significant because “we are collectively asserting the urgency of climate action. We can model a leadership role for our respective communities of practice, but also […] inform new policies and shift mindsets.”

Le Centre pour la vitalité des lacs Vale de l’Université Laurentienne a été conçu par Perkins+Will pour s’adapter au climat de 2050. Il a remporté le Prix d’excellence en conception durable de l’OAA en 2015.

She points out that others are also taking action. In summer 2018, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) established a Commission on Ethics and Sustainable Development, reflecting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. In fall 2018, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) updated its Code of Ethics to include responsibilities for sustainability, climate action, community and ecological health, and social and ecological justice. Over the past three months, Vancouver, Victoria, Kingston and Halifax have declared states of Climate Emergency; and allied Canadian health professionals issued a call to action to Canada’s political parties, reaffirming the World Health Organization’s assertion that climate change is “the greatest health threat of the 21st century.”

In the past year, the RAIC’s CORE committee has made presentations to two Parliamentary committees, in particular addressing

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Local Practice Architecture + Design is designing affordable student housing to the Passive House standard at Simon Fraser University.

Rendering by Local Practice

La firme Local Practice Architecture + Design est en train de concevoir des logements étudiants abordables selon la norme de la Maison passive, à l’Université Simon Fraser.

Canada’s transition to a low carbon economy, and has endorsed the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building Initiative. The committee also organized workshops on Regenerative Development at the RAIC Festival of Architecture and at the CIP’s conference.

These are first steps, but much more is needed. Lemoine says architects and planners can have a big impact through: • considering the “operational carbon” of buildings—including HVAC systems and lighting—and using smart design to achieve the lowest energy consumption; • s electing “carbon smart” materials. That means using less concrete, steel, aluminum, and foam insulation, and more timber, for example;

• c ontributing to transit-oriented development;

• t hinking about ease of mobility for residents, including access to transit, walking and cycling;

• using specific carbon reduction strategies, such as green roofs.

In addition, the AIA says architects can have an impact by retrofitting existing buildings to meet high-performance standards, and by talking to their clients about renewable energy procurement and green energy contracts.

From her experience in systems ecology and climate policy, Cutbill has additional suggestions for architects and their firms: “Take a whole-systems approach to com-

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plex problem solving. Share information via the Creative Commons to build the capacity of our community of practice. Live your values—as an architect and a citizen. Get involved politically—vote thoughtfully and consider running for office!”

Cutbill also points to the RAIC’s Canadian Handbook of Practice, which says that “in matters of public health and safety, architects are obliged to serve the public interest and respond to the public need.”

“The design, construction and inhibition of the built environment are responsible for the majority of ecological and human health impacts,” says Cutbill. “There is tremendous potential for the profession to assert a leadership role in climate action. As the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report stated, with only a decade before society-altering thresholds are tipped, the time to do so is now.”

British Columbia is one jurisdiction that is introducing a greener building code; it will be phased in between now and 2032. The federal government is looking at this approach with interest.

Lemoine says that the transition to greener design approaches will offer as much oppor­ tunity as constraint, and will contribute to innovation and excellence in architecture.

“There’s a lot of effort now directed at energy and carbon footprint. We also shouldn’t forget the importance of healthy materials, natural environments, connecting to nature, and air quality. The built environment still needs to be beautiful, because it adds to our health and happiness.”

En octobre dernier, cinq associations professionnelles nationales du Canada qui représentent des milliers de membres à la grandeur du pays ont signé une déclaration commune pour une action climatique intégrée.

L’Institut royal d’architecture du Canada (IRAC), l’Association des architectes paysagistes du Canada, l’Institut canadien des urbanistes (ICU), l’Association canadienne des eaux potables et usées et ICLEI Canada – Les gouvernements locaux pour le développement durable ont signé cet appel au leadership pour lutter contre le changement climatique.

La déclaration commune porte sur l’intégration de stratégies d’atténuation et d’adaptation. L’humanité doit aujourd’hui relever un double défi : elle doit prendre des mesures sans précédent pour maintenir le réchauffement planétaire en deçà de 1,5 °C tout en s’adaptant aux impacts du réchauffement planétaire qui se manifestent déjà. C’est pourquoi nous devons réduire les émissions (atténuation) tout en réagissant aux impacts que nous ne pouvons plus éviter (adaptation).

Les signataires ont un rôle crucial à jouer dans la lutte contre les changements climatiques, car leurs membres exercent dans de nombreux aspects de la création du cadre bâti et de la gestion des écosystèmes et des ressources naturelles. « Les bâtiments sont responsables de près de 40 % des émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre », rappelle Mona Lemoine, MRAIC, présidente du Comité sur les environnements régénératifs de l’IRAC (CER). « Nous devons adopter une approche conceptuelle systémique globale. Nous devons prendre du recul, examiner nos projets sous un angle holistique

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DOUBLESPACE PHOTOGRAPHY

• l’utilisation de stratégies de réduction du carbone, comme les toitures vertes.

et repenser nos façons de concevoir les bâtiments. Nous ne pouvons plus construire des boîtes de verre. » « La plupart des membres de notre communauté sont sensibilisés à l’approche de la résilience sobre en carbone, mais peu d’entre eux savent comment l’intégrer dans leur travail », ajoute-t-elle.

La déclaration commune fait valoir que les stratégies intégrées peuvent « permettre de mieux utiliser le temps et les ressources, rendre les investissements plus rentables et entrainer des retombées positives pour l’économie, l’environnement, la société et la santé ». Ses conclusions ont été basées sur un rapport intitulé Low Carbon Resilience: Best Practices For Professionals réalisé par l’Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT) de l’Université Simon Fraser.

Jennifer Cutbill, MRAIC, présidente fondatrice du CER, a agi comme chargée de liaison du conseil d’administration de l’IRAC auprès de ce comité. Selon elle, le regroupement des associations professionnelles dans cet effort revêt une importance particulière, « car nous affirmons collectivement l’urgence d’agir sur le climat. Nous pouvons offrir un modèle de leadership dans nos domaines de pratique respectifs, mais nous pouvons aussi […] orienter l’élaboration de nouvelles politiques et favoriser un changement des mentalités ».

Madame Cutbill souligne que d’autres organisations prennent également des mesures par rapport au changement climatique. Ainsi, à l’été 2018, le Royal Institute of British Architects a créé une commission sur l’éthique et le développement durable qui reprend les Objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies. À l’automne 2018, l’American Institute of Architects (AIA) a mis à jour son code de déontologie pour inclure des responsabilités à l’égard de la durabilité, de l’action climatique, de la santé communautaire et écologique et de la justice sociale et écolo-

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gique. Au cours des trois derniers mois, les villes de Vancouver, Victoria, Kingston et Halifax ont déclaré des états d’urgence climatique; et des professionnels de la santé canadiens ont pour leur part invité les partis politiques du pays à passer à l’action, reprenant l’affirmation de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé disant que « le changement climatique représente la plus grande menace pour la santé dans le monde au XXIe siècle ».

Au cours de la dernière année, le CER de l’IRAC s’est présenté devant deux comités parlementaires auprès desquels il a traité principalement de la transition vers une économie sobre en carbone. Il a également souscrit à l’Initiative du Bâtiment à carbone zéro du Conseil du bâtiment durable du Canada et il a organisé des ateliers sur le développement régénératif lors du Festival d’architecture de l’IRAC et du congrès de l’ICU. Ce ne sont que de premières étapes et il faut faire beaucoup plus. Mona Lemoine affirme que les architectes et les urbanistes peuvent exercer un grand impact s’ils prennent les mesures suivantes : • l a prise en compte du « carbone opérationnel » des bâtiments – y compris des systèmes de CVCA et de l’éclairage – et la conception intelligente pour réduire le plus possible la consommation d’énergie; • l a sélection de matériaux « intelligents sur le plan du carbone », ce qui correspond par exemple à une utilisation moindre de béton, d’acier, d’aluminium et d’isolant en mousse et à une plus grande utilisation de bois d’œuvre; • l a contribution au développement orienté sur le transport collectif; • l e souci de faciliter la mobilité des résidents, notamment par l’accès au transport collectif, à des parcours pédestres et à des pistes cyclables;

De plus, selon l’AIA, les architectes peuvent aussi exercer un impact en rénovant les bâtiments existants selon les normes de haute performance et en sensibilisant leurs clients à l’approvisionnement en énergies renouvelables et aux contrats d’énergie verte.

Son expérience en écologie systémique et en politique climatique amène Jennifer Cutbill à formuler les suggestions suivantes aux architectes et à leurs firmes : « Adoptez une approche intégrée à la résolution des problèmes complexes. Partagez l’information par l’entremise de Creative Commons pour renforcer la capacité de notre communauté de pratique. Agissez selon vos valeurs – comme architecte et comme citoyen. Impliquez-vous politiquement – votez judicieusement et envisagez de briguer les suffrages! » Elle rappelle que le Manuel de pratique de l’architecture de l’IRAC souligne « qu’en matière de santé et de sécurité publiques, les architectes ont l’obligation de servir l’intérêt général et de répondre aux besoins du public ». « La majorité des effets nocifs sur l’environnement et la santé humaine sont dus à la con­ ception, à la construction et à l’inhibition du cadre bâti », ajoute-t-elle. « La profession a un énorme potentiel pour affirmer un leadership en matière d’action climatique. Comme le souligne le récent rapport du Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat (GIEC), dans une dizaine d’années les niveaux de bouleversement de la société seront irréversibles, il est temps d’agir. »

The Bibliothèque du Boisé by Cardinal Hardy* | Labonté Marcil | Éric Pelletier* architectes in consortium (*now Lemay) targeted LEED Platinum from the design stage, and won the RAIC’s 2017 Green Building award.

La Bibliothèque du Boisé de Cardinal Hardy* | Labonté Marcil | Éric Pelletier* architectes en consortium (*maintenant Lemay) a visé la certification LEED Platine à l’étape de la conception et a remporté le Prix du bâtiment écologique 2017 de l’IRAC.

La Colombie-Britannique s’est engagée à franchir des étapes graduelles d’ici 2032 pour accroître les exigences de son code du bâtiment en matière d’efficacité énergétique. Le gouvernement fédéral s’intéresse vivement à cette approche.

Selon Mona Lemoine, la transition vers des modes de conception plus durable offrira des opportunités qui compenseront les contraintes, en plus de contribuer à l’innovation et à l’excellence en architecture. « On consacre aujourd’hui beaucoup d’efforts pour réduire la consommation d’énergie et l’empreinte carbone. Toutefois, il ne faudrait pas oublier l’importance des matériaux sains, des environnements naturels, des liens avec la nature et de la qualité de l’air, sans compter la beauté du cadre bâti dont on a toujours besoin, parce qu’elle influe positivement sur notre santé et notre bonheur. »

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New chapters and new opportunities in the RAIC Nouvelles sections régionales et nouvelles opportunités à l’IRAC representatives on the BC Chapter network committee. The RAIC National Board member for the province will also be linked into the chapter.

The RAIC Alberta chapter will build on active networks, such as in Edmonton, and create the opportunity to revitalize or start new networks in interested regions across the province, for instance in Calgary, Lethbridge, and Red Deer.

RAIC

The mandate of the RAIC chapters will be aligned with that of the overall organization: to serve the advocacy, educational, and networking needs of their members, to promote excellence in the built environment, and to promote responsible architecture.

By / par Eva Schacherl With the launch of the RAIC BC chapter on January 1 and the RAIC Alberta chapter on April 1, the groundwork has been laid for a structure that will keep the RAIC strong and its members engaged.

“We aim to create a stronger voice for advocacy at the provincial level, as well as creating more visibility for the RAIC, architects and architecture across Canada,” says Giovanna Boniface, RAIC’s Vice President of National Affairs.

Based in Vancouver, Boniface has been holding stakeholder meetings and national forums (in Vancouver and Edmonton so far) since mid-2018. More are planned this year in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces.

Renewing the chapter structure will help to develop leadership and offer meaningful volunteer opportunities. Boniface says it will also build on the engagement and vitality of existing networks within provinces, such as those in Edmonton, Nanaimo and Vancouver.

The new structure will tie together these levels of volunteer involvement more solidly.

For example, in BC, the Vancouver, Victoria and mid-Island networks will each have

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Initial discussions have generated excitement and new activities. For example, in February, the RAIC Edmonton Network launched a new series of “Fellow Talks”— inspiring conversations with RAIC Fellows.

The inaugural event featured architect Vivian Manasc, FRAIC, founding partner at Manasc Isaac Architecture and RAIC Past President. It was held in a penthouse space atop a converted historic tower.

If you’re an RAIC member interested in starting a regional network or getting involved in stakeholder meetings, please contact Giovanna Boniface, RAIC’s Vice President of National Affairs, at gboniface@raic.org.

Avec le lancement des sections régionales de l’IRAC en Colombie-Britannique, le 1er janvier, et en Alberta, le 1er avril, les bases ont été jetées pour une structure qui assurera la solidité de l’IRAC et l’engagement de ses membres. « Nous voulons parler d’une voix plus forte à l’échelle provinciale et assurer une plus grande visibilité à l’IRAC, aux architectes et à l’architecture à la grandeur du Canada », souligne Giovanna Boniface, vice-présidente des affaires nationales de l’IRAC. Établie à Vancouver, Mme Boniface a organisé des rencontres de partenaires et des forums nationaux (à Vancouver et à Edmonton, jusqu’à maintenant) depuis le milieu de 2018. Elle prévoit en tenir d’autres cette année en Saskatchewan, au Manitoba et dans les provinces atlantiques.

Le renouvellement de la structure des sections régionales favorisera le renforcement du leadership et offrira des possibilités de bénévolat enrichissantes. Il tirera également parti de l’engagement et de la vitalité dans les réseaux existants, comme ceux d’Edmonton, de Nanaimo et de Vancouver.

La nouvelle structure tissera des liens plus solides entre ces niveaux d’implication volontaire. Par exemple, les réseaux de Vancouver, de Victoria et du centre de l’île de Vancouver auront chacun des représentants au sein du comité des réseaux de la section de la province. Le membre du Conseil national de l’IRAC pour la province sera également lié à la section régionale.

La section de l’Alberta de l’IRAC entend miser sur des réseaux actifs (comme celui d’Edmonton) et favoriser la revitalisation des réseaux existants ou la création de nouveaux réseaux dans les villes ou les régions qui le désirent (p. ex., à Calgary, Lethbridge, Red Deer).

Giovanna Boniface, Vice President of National Affairs, RAIC.

Giovanna Boniface, vice-présidente des affaires nationales, IRAC.

Le mandat des sections régionales de l’IRAC sera en phase avec celui de l’organisme, à savoir : répondre aux besoins des membres en matière de sensibilisation, d’éducation et de réseautage; promouvoir l’excellence dans le cadre bâti et promouvoir une architecture responsable.

Les discussions ont suscité un grand enthousiasme et généré de nouvelles activités. Ainsi, en février dernier, le réseau d’Edmonton de l’IRAC a lancé une nouvelle série d’entretiens inspirants avec des fellows de l’IRAC, les « Fellow Talks ».

L’architecte Vivian Manasc, FRAIC, associée fondatrice de Manasc Isaac Architecture et ancienne présidente de l’IRAC a donné le coup d’envoi à cette série lors d’une soirée qui s’est tenue dans un penthouse d’une tour historique réhabilitée d’Edmonton.

Les membres de l’IRAC qui désirent mettre sur pied un réseau régional ou participer aux réunions de parties prenantes sont invités à communiquer avec Giovanna Boniface, à gboniface@raic.org.

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RAIC Journal

Journal de l’IRAC

Past meets future at the RAIC Festival of Architecture in October Le passé et le futur se rencontrent au Festival d’architecture de l’IRAC en octobre

Doublespace Photography

pants’ own personal use including proof of attendance as structured learning (where applicable), professional portfolio, activity tracking, and curriculum vitae.

By / par Eva Schacherl

In October 2019, the RAIC Festival of Architecture meets in Toronto, offering five days of learning and networking opportunities at one of the largest annual gatherings of architecture professionals in Canada.

Toronto is the fourth-largest city in North America, and possibly the world’s most global city, where some 130 languages and dialects are spoken. It will be a vibrant location for this year’s Festival on the theme of The Future of Architecture. Here are six reasons to be there: Architectural Tours — The Festival offers 16 architectural tours. They run the gamut from the historic Union Station (and its decade-long revitalization by NORR Architects & Engineers), to a creative collaboration workspace of the future, the Quadrangle-designed Artscape Daniels Launchpad. You can revisit 200 years of architectural history on the University of Toronto’s St. George campus; join a two-hour walking tour of Toronto’s cultural and fine arts buildings; explore the “vertical campus” of Ryerson University’s new Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex by Perkins+Will; or join DTAH for a guided walking tour of the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront.

Sustainability — More than a third of the 19 continuing education sessions at the Festival

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provide learning opportunities on sustainable design. Topics include energy conservation design and energy modelling, integrated hybrid systems, ultra-low energy and passive house buildings, mid-rise and high-rise wood construction, and designing for urban mobility to make our future cities more sustainable.

Renzo Piano, Hon. FRAIC — He’s been called “the genius behind some of the world’s most famous buildings”—including The Shard in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Whitney Museum of Art in New York. Piano is also an Italian senator for life and head of the Renzo Piano Foundation, dedicated to the promotion of the architectural profession. He will be inducted as an RAIC Honorary Fellow and will be the keynote speaker at the RAIC College of Fellows Convocation.

Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA — The author of A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America will offer a talk about the future of architecture. His Manifesto calls for a more urban United States and argues this will lead to environmental, economic, and social equity improvements. Chakrabarti will be inducted into the RAIC College as an Honorary Fellow.

Continuing Education Certificates — For the first time, all sessions, plenaries, and tours at the Festival of Architecture are eligible for RAIC continuing education certificates.

RAIC certificates are provided for the partici-

Networking — Join us for the RAIC International Prize Gala on October 25, and for the President’s Gala on October 28, where we honour exceptional achievements and dedication to architecture. Award presentations include the Prix du XXe Siècle, Awards of Excellence, 2019 Architectural Firm Award, and several others.

2019 Festival of Architecture October 26 - 30, Westin Harbour Castle

Join the tour of Queen Richmond Centre West

by Sweeny&Co Architects for an architectural conversation between old and new.

Participez à la visite de Queen Richmond Centre West Sweeny&Co Architects pour un dialogue architectural entre l’ancien et le nouveau.

Register by June 30 for the best rates!

Join our partners, sponsors and trade show exhibitors.

Find out how to join the conversation at festival2019.raic.org

En octobre, le Festival d’architecture de l’IRAC se tiendra à Toronto et offrira cinq jours d’apprentissage et de réseautage à l’un des plus grands rassemblements annuels de professionnels de l’architecture au Canada.

Toronto est la quatrième plus grande ville en importance en Amérique du Nord, et possiblement la ville la plus internationale du monde où l’on parle quelque 130 langues et dialectes. Ce sera un endroit palpitant pour discuter du thème de cette année, Le futur de l’architecture. Voici six raisons pour vous joindre à nous : Visites architecturales — Le Festival offre 16 visites architecturales tout aussi variées les unes que les autres, allant d’un lieu historique comme la gare Union (et sa revitalisation d’une décennie par NORR Architects & Engineers), jusqu’à un milieu de travail collaboratif du futur, l’Artscape Daniels Launchpad conçu par Quadrangle. Vous pourrez revisiter 200 ans d’histoire sur le campus St. George de l’Université de Toronto; vous joindre à un circuit pédestre

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Journal de l’IRAC

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Aaron Richter

© RPBW, photo Stefano Goldberg

tour The Shard, à Londres, le Centre Pompidou à Paris et le Whitney Museum of Art à New York. Renzo Piano est également un sénateur italien à vie et il est à la tête de la Fondation Renzo Piano dédiée à la promotion de la profession architecturale.

Il sera intronisé en tant que fellow honoraire de l’IRAC et sera le conférencier d’honneur à la cérémonie d’intronisation du Collège des fellows de l’IRAC.

de deux heures dans le quartier de la culture et des beaux-arts de Toronto; explorer le « campus vertical » du nouveau complexe des sciences de la santé Daphne Cockwell de l’Université Ryerson des architectes Perkins+Will; ou vous joindre à DTAH pour une visite pédestre guidée du secteur riverain de Toronto.

Durabilité — Plus du tiers des 19 séances de formation continue du Festival portent sur la conception durable. Parmi les sujets abordés, mentionnons la conservation

de l’énergie et la modélisation énergétique; les systèmes hybrides intégrés; les bâtiments à ultra-faible consommation d’énergie et la norme de la Maison passive; la construction de bâtiments en bois de moyenne et de grande hauteur; et la conception en fonction de la mobilité urbaine pour rendre nos villes encore plus durables dans le futur.

Renzo Piano, Hon. FRAIC — On l’appelle le « génie caché derrière certains des bâtiments les plus connus au monde », dont la

Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA — L’auteur de A Country of Cities : A Manifesto for an Urban America parlera du futur de l’architecture. Dans ce « manifeste », il plaide en faveur des États-Unis plus urbains et prétend que c’est ce qui entraînera des améliorations sur les plans de l’environnement, de l’économie et de l’équité sociale. M. Chakrabarti sera également intronisé en tant que membre honoraire du Collège des fellows de l’IRAC. Certificats de formation continue — Pour la première fois cette année, toutes les séances, les plénières et les visites guidées du Festival d’architecture donnent droit à des certificats de formation continue de l’IRAC. Ces certificats qui comprennent une preuve de présence à une activité structurée (s’il y a lieu), sont fournis aux participants pour leur usage personnel, que ce soit pour leur portfolio professionnel, le suivi de leurs activités de formation, l’inclusion à leur curriculum vitae ou autre.

Réseautage — Joignez-vous à nous pour le gala du Prix international de l’IRAC, le 25 octobre et pour le gala des présidents, le 28 octobre, deux soirées au cours desquelles nous soulignerons des réalisations exceptionnelles et rendrons hommage à des passionnés de l’architecture. Le Prix du XXe siècle, les Prix d’excellence, le Prix du cabinet d’architectes de l’année 2019 et bien d’autres prix de l’IRAC seront remis lors de ce gala des présidents.

Waterfront Toronto

Le Festival d’architecture 2019 Du 26 au 30 octobre au Westin Harbour Castle

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Inscrivez-vous avant le 30 juin et économisez!

Devenez l’un de nos partenaires, commanditaires et exposants.

Pour tout savoir, visitez le festival2019.raic.org

Top: Festival keynote speakers Renzo Piano (left) and Vishaan Chakrabarti (right).

Bottom: DTAH will lead a walking tour examining the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront.

En haut : Les conférenciers d’honneur au Festival, Renzo Piano (g.) et Vishaan Chakrabarti (d.)

En bas : DTAH mènera un circuit pédestre portant sur la revitalisation du secteur riverain de Toronto.

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RAIC Journal

Journal de l’IRAC

POP // CAN // CRIT 2019 asks ‘Who is the future of architecture in Canada?’

POP // CAN // CRIT 2019 demande « Qui est le futur de l’architecture au Canada? »

KTCH Photography

Farida Abu-Bakare, HOK, intern architect + associate at POP // CAN // CRIT 2018 in Vancouver.

Farida Abu-Bakare, HOK, stagiaire + associée au POP // CAN // CRIT 2018 à Vancouver.

By / par Kristen Gagnon MRAIC

This October, the 2019 RAIC Festival of Architecture will ask the question, ‘What is the future of architecture in Canada?’ But to know what the future might look like, we must first ask who the future of architecture in Canada will be. Who are tomorrow’s architects and leaders? What role will they play, and what resources will they need to succeed?

This year’s POP // CAN // CRIT symposium, The Education and Emergence of Architects in Canada, to be held October 26 in Toronto, will examine these questions. An official event at this year’s Festival, POP // CAN // CRIT will act as a springboard for the Festival’s forward-looking theme.

The 2019 symposium will cover the progression of an architect’s career from education, through internship and the exam process, to the first five years of practice and beyond.

Speakers—including Heather Dubbeldam FRAIC, David Fortin MRAIC, Omar Gandhi MRAIC, and Lisa Landrum MRAIC, among many others—will examine the need for continuing education, practical advice on starting a firm or moving into a partnership, and the importance of succession planning.

A final panel will examine the role of those who are educated in architecture or adjacent fields, but follow an alternative career path. The day will close with a roundtable on the future of architectural education and practice in Canada, leading to recommendations on how we move forward.

Architecture students, interns, and emerging practitioners are the future of architecture. Supporting them and their profession-

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al development will ensure the architecture profession in Canada continues to thrive and play a vital role.

Founded in 2016, POP // CAN // CRIT is an annual national symposium that supports the profession through constructive, critical, professional, and academic debates on contemporary practice and its peripheries.

Join the conversation on Saturday, October 26 live in Toronto at the Design Exchange or via an online webinar. To learn more, visit: popcancrit.ca and follow @popcancrit.

POP // CAN // CRIT 2019 attendees will be eligible to receive an RAIC Continuing Education Certificate of Attendance.

En octobre, le Festival d’architecture de l’IRAC de 2019 s’interrogera sur « le futur de l’architecture au Canada ». Mais pour savoir à quoi ressemblera le futur, nous devons d’abord nous demander qui sera le futur de l’architecture au Canada. Qui sont les architectes et les leaders de demain?

Quel rôle joueront-ils et de quelles ressources auront-ils besoin pour réussir?

Le symposium POP // CAN // CRIT de cette année se tiendra le 26 octobre à Toronto, sur le thème L’éducation et l’émergence des architectes au Canada. En se penchant sur ces questions, le symposium servira de tremplin au Festival dont il est cette année un événement officiel.

Le symposium de 2019 traitera du parcours d’un architecte à partir de ses études et tout au long du stage et de l’examen, jusqu’à ses cinq premières années d’exercice de la profession et au-delà. Les conférenciers, dont Heather Dubbeldam

FRAIC, David Fortin MRAIC, Omar Gandhi MRAIC et Lisa Landrum MRAIC, se pencheront sur les besoins en formation continue et en conseils pratiques sur le démarrage d’un bureau ou la création d’une société et sur l’importance de la planification de la succession.

Un dernier panel discutera du rôle des personnes qui ont étudié en architecture ou dans des domaines connexes, mais qui suivent un autre cheminement de carrière. La journée se terminera par une table ronde sur le futur de la formation en architecture et de la pratique de la profession au Canada, qui mènera à des recommandations sur les prochaines étapes.

Les étudiants, les stagiaires et les jeunes praticiens en architecture sont le futur de l’architecture. Il faut les soutenir et favoriser leur développement professionnel pour que la profession d’architecte continue de s’épanouir et de jouer un rôle vital au Canada.

Fondé en 2016, POP // CAN // CRIT est un symposium national annuel qui appuie la profession par des débats constructifs, critiques, professionnels et académiques sur la pratique contemporaine de la profession et de ce qui l’entoure.

Joignez-vous à la conversation le samedi 26 octobre en direct, à Design Exchange à Toronto, ou par un webinaire en ligne.

Pour en savoir plus, visitez : popcancrit.ca et suivez @popcancrit.

Les participants à POP // CAN // CRIT 2019 pourront recevoir un certificat de présence à une activité de formation continue de l’IRAC.

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interview

Andrew Latreille

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An Architecture Policy for Canada INTERVIEW WITH

Lisa Landrum, with input from Darryl Condon, John Stephenson, Toon Dreessen

Since 2016, a group of educators and practitioners have been developing a process to advance a national architecture policy for Canada. They are now on-track to begin coast-tocoast consultations on the initiative—a key next step towards creating an official federal policy. Canadian Architect editor Elsa Lam interviewed Lisa Landrum, one of the working group members, to find out more about the initiative.

What is a national architecture policy?

Council of University Schools of Architecture (CCUSA) to participate.

In 2017, the conversation of this 10-person working group turned to national architecture policies. We reviewed existing policies of Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and other European countries. We got excited! We recognized how these policies can serve as catalysts in creating a culture of design excellence by enhancing government support for quality architecture and public appreciation for well-designed environments. We realized that mobilizing an architecture policy for Canada would be an engaging and potentially rewarding way to have a public conversation about the value of architecture.

When did the initiative to create a national architecture policy for Canada get started?

Who is involved at this point?

This is a joint initiative of CALA , representing the provincial and territorial regulators; CCUSA , representing Canada’s 12 university schools of architecture; and the RAIC. With complementary man-

A national architecture policy is an aspirational document that shows how well-designed environments enhance social, cultural and economic well-being, and provides guidance to politicians, professionals and the public on how to achieve more sustainable, equitable and engaging communities. A national architecture policy empowers people to pursue positive change and sustainable growth. It informs public debate, influences legislation and inspires citizens to create meaningful and resilient development amid climate change, rapid urbanization, threatened heritage, and other 21st-century challenges.

In October 2016, the Canadian Architectural Licensing Authorities (CALA) formed a working group to develop a process of engaging the public in a national conversation about the value of architecture.

The desire to have this conversation grew from a variety of concerns—such as perceived public indifference toward the built environment, increased specialization, and the relatively low rate of incoming registered architects. CALA invited members of the Canadian

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dates to regulate, educate and advocate, this trio comprises an informed and inspiring voice to effectively move this initiative forward.

We are also beginning to involve other participants, including individuals from the RAIC Indigenous Task Force, the Canadian Architecture Students Association, allied design and planning profession-

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opposite The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, was completed

by Alfred Waugh of Formline Architecture in 2018. This project exemplifies Waugh’s synthetic approach to cultural sensitivity and environmental responsibility, and demonstrates the transformative potential of collaboration between federal government, First Nations communities, institutional leadership and architects. left The Canadian Museum of History (formerly Museum of Civilization) in Hull, Quebec, sits across from Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. Douglas Cardinal’s design of this national museum remains an important symbol for contemporary Indigenous design and organic architecture, integrating beauty, balance and harmony. Completed in 1989, the structure was also a forerunner in the profession for using computeraided design to generate its curvilinear complex forms.

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Does Quebec have a provincial policy similar to this already?

Canadian Museum of History, IMG2013-0099-0065-Dm

Québec has a roadmap for adopting a policy. In 2018, the Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ ) published White Paper for a Quebec Policy on Architecture: Support, Vision, Milestones (www.oaq.com/lordre/pqa. html ). This document, which results from four years of research and consultations, calls on a range of provincial ministries to form unified strategies that incentivize design excellence and raise awareness of best practices in Quebec. In April of this year, the Minister of Culture and Communications, together with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced that they are beginning to work with the OAQ to develop a Québec Architecture Strategy based on the document.

What other countries have architecture policies, and what effects have they had?

als, industry leaders, community activists, and public officials. Soon, everyone will have a chance to become involved through public consultations and a new interactive website to be launched soon.

How is a national architecture policy different from the building codes and regulations that are already in place?

Whereas a building code stipulates minimum enforceable technical standards, an architecture policy sets forth ambitious goals and calls to action with compelling arguments, images and case studies.

An architecture policy considers social and cultural benefits that extend well beyond the footprint of individual buildings. It aims to establish a shared, yet open, vision for what constitutes “quality” in the built environment. This is no easy task. To begin, we have prepared a framework for understanding quality architecture in relation to place, people, prosperity and potential. These four themes are intended to orient conversations about architecture’s manifold significance and impact on things like regional identity and cultural vitality; individual and collective well-being; sustainable urbanism and environmental stewardship; as well as the role of creative research, innovation, education and global partnerships in bolstering architecture’s potential.

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About 30 countries have already adopted or are developing a national architecture policy. In the 1990s, policies proliferated across Scandinavia. Supported by these documents, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands are now each recognized for distinctive design and for fostering resilient cities and healthy, happy citizens.

In the last 15 years, at least 18 more European countries, from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Slovenia, have created similar policies.

In some cases, as in the Netherlands, an architecture policy led directly to the creation of new cultural institutions, local architecture centres, and government funding programs for design competitions and research on the built environment. An architecture policy in New South Wales, Australia, led to the creation of guidelines for better heritage protection. The greatest effect is the cultivation of public understanding about architectural value, which ideally leads to better decisions about the built environment.

How would a national architecture policy help Canadian architects in their day-to-day work? How would it benefit the built environment in Canada?

An architecture policy will not magically make architects’ day-to-day work easier or more lucrative, but it would provide a shared framework to talk to clients, consultants, other stakeholders, and to each other about why design matters. It would help foster a more visionary outlook and a greater sense of collective purpose among everyone who contributes to designing, building and preserving the built environment.

An architecture policy can help create buildings and public spaces that are more culturally vibrant and environmentally responsible.

Through calls to action and design principles, a policy would guide decision-makers at all levels of government on long-term investments.

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interview KPMB Architects’ Manitoba Hydro Place was North America’s first large-scale office tower to achieve LEED Platinum certification. It is the third most energy-efficient large-scale building in the world, with a 77% energy reduction over a typical building of its size. Features include sixstorey winter gardens that act as “lungs” to pre-treat air entering the building, and 78-foot indoor waterfalls that regulate humidity levels. The building makes use of solar and wind energies harnessed from Winnipeg’s unusual abundance of sunshine and gusting south winds.

Left

Gerry Kopelow, courtesy KPMB Architects

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Would a national architecture policy affect procurement—for instance, in compelling public agencies to shift from lowest-bidder procurement towards a quality-based-selection model?

While the intent of the policy is not directed at procurement, we anticipate an indirect positive effect on these types of issues. The policy would foster understanding about architectural value in ways that go beyond the lowest-bid as the deciding factor.

Procurement processes are intended to ensure that public goods and services are procured in a competitive, open and transparent environment, delivering the best value to taxpayers. An architecture policy will help politicians and the public understand what “best value” in architecture and architectural services entails in a more holistic manner.

Would this policy help Canadian architects to work abroad?

An architecture policy would celebrate Canadian design successes, thereby helping Canadian architects position themselves on the world stage.

A policy would lead to more international recognition for Canadian architects and greater global appreciation for Canadian design expertise.

The policy may include calls to action that prompt governments to incentivize participation of Canadian architects in international design competitions or subsidize Canadian contributions to international venues where design talent is on display, such as the Venice Biennale.

What are the other benefits of a national architecture policy?

What are its potential pitfalls?

There are social benefits, such as stronger communities that care for their neighborhoods because they are more informed and involved in their design. Other benefits may include bolstering local pride; generating tourism; attracting foreign investment; stimulating economies; advancing research; and inspiring the next generation of designers and thought leaders. One of the most important benefits for Canada is that an architecture policy could assist in developing Indigenous design and planning principles and help to advance calls to action established by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

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Pitfalls? Architecture, as we know, is political. An architecture policy is inherently political. The initiative will need to be steered in a way that maintains a spirit of listening and openness, aiming always for the public good. Another challenge will entail balancing specificity and generality, and ensuring the policy is not focused only on big city issues. While sustainable urbanism is important, so, too, is the responsible development and dignity of northern and remote communities.

Ideally, an architecture policy would be adaptable to Canada’s diverse geographies, climates and cultures. The initiative must also resist being a policy contrived narrowly by and for architects. The built environment is created by diverse multi-disciplinary teams working in collaboration. An architecture policy must be informed by a range of disciplines and stakeholders.

What is the cost of this undertaking, and who is funding it?

To date, CALA, CCUSA and RAIC have supported travel and related

costs for their working group members, who are from different parts of Canada and volunteering their time, to get together to brainstorm, review existing policies, discuss strategic planning, and draft discussion papers. Upcoming consultation sessions will be aligned with various conferences and events hosted by provincial regulators and the RAIC. We continue to seek other sources of funding to expand the consultation.

What are the next steps in this initiative? What is the timeline?

The immediate next step is to start spreading the word and soliciting feedback. Some provincial architectural associations will include the initiative on their agendas for upcoming meetings and conferences.

The first session, hosted by SAA , took place in Regina on May 3rd.

The AIBC is hosting consultations in May and June. The Ontario Association of Architects has a plenary session and workshop on the policy in its upcoming conference, May 22-24 in Quebec City. The NSAA is hosting a session on May 30th in Halifax. The RAIC festival in Toronto, from October 26-30, includes a plenary session on the project. Beyond this, we anticipate a series of events at some of the university schools of architecture in the 2019-20 academic year.

The steering committee is currently working with consultants to create a website and organize broader public consultations in the year ahead.

Input from these consultations will help refine the tone and tenets of a declaration document calling for an architecture policy for Canada.

If all goes well, such a declaration will be shared in October 2020.

Concurrent steps will also involve identifying local and regional champions to endorse and advocate for the initiative.

We encourage all members of the profession to get involved by participating in local consultations and welcome the involvement of local design advocacy groups. We hope that everyone with a stake in the built environment will seize this opportunity to have a much-needed discussion about the future of architecture in Canada.

Lisa Landrum is Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba.

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By participating in the Enbridge Savings by Design Workshop, we were able to discuss real costs of choices, both for construction and long-term operating. The overall building massing and layout was set by very complex program and siting restrictions, so the areas in which we benefited greatly were in rethinking storm water management on site, window type and performance, exterior wall assembly, and healthy materials.

The mechanical engineering part was also indispensable and so instructive; highlighting important and easy changes, discussing more complex upgrades, and understanding the long-term and performance impacts of our systems, both as climate change worsens and as building systems need replacement and upgrades.

The Enbridge charrette provided the perfect opportunity to make clear and informed choices that brought our project to the next level of energy, health and operating performance. It saved construction and operating costs and made for a healthier building.

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In 2018, Evergreen Brick Works was in the midst of an ambitious effort to transform the historic Kiln Building – and make it carbon neutral by using the right energy at the right time. Early in the process, Enbridge led a Savings by Design workshop for the project. On a fast track project, this provided a tremendous opportunity for the integrated design team to reflect on the early trajectory set in the project, and obtain informed perspectives from invited experts on enhancing it.

The workshop also provided a spring board to brainstorm how the Kiln Building project could serve as a catalyst to transform the entire Brick Works campus to be carbon neutral, which has been a longstanding vision of Evergreen.

The Savings by Design workshop struck a great balance between both blue sky and detail level thinking. It was informative, fruitful, and an overall positive experience. We’d highly recommend Enbridge’s Savings by Design workshop program for anyone thinking about making more sustainable buildings.

— Drew Adams, Associate, LGA Architectural Partners

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INSITES

ONTARIO PLACE: BUILDING ON OUR LEGACY TEXT

Helena Grdadolnik

TORONTO’S ICONIC ONTARIO PLACE IS UP FOR REDEVELOPMENT. IS THERE A BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO TEARING IT DOWN AND STARTING AFRESH?

In January, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport announced that it is accepting proposals to redevelop the Ontario Place site. Under its anticipated call for Expressions of Interest, the landmark’s cultural heritage—including the Cinesphere, pods and islands designed by Craig, Zeidler, Strong Architects and landscape architect Michael Hough—may be available for demolition and redevelopment.

Ontario Place was built at a time when architects such as the young Eb Zeidler had political influence, bold ideas were welcomed, and expertise was respected. A 1971 Government of Ontario promotional video

calls the design, whose buildings and islands project into Lake Ontario, the “most imaginative urban waterfront concept in the world.”

At a panel co-hosted by the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario and the Toronto Society of Architecture, architect Phil Hastings spoke about moving to Toronto from England in the 1970s, and how Ontario Place made him feel his new home held a lot of promise. When his firm was awarded the refurbishment of the Cinesphere, the world’s first purpose-built IMAX theatre, in 2010, he felt “a lot of pressure to get this right.” They studied the original hand drawings while strategizing

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how to accommodate a complete update to the audio-visual systems.

Phil recognizes that, “Any building requires significant renovation 50 years later. If the Cinesphere can be renovated as a state-of-the-art movie theatre, then the rest of the buildings [at Ontario Place] can certainly be salvaged for today’s use.”

Ontario Place was closed by a previous provincial government in 2012. When it reopened in 2017, visitors converged on the revamped Cinesphere and the new $30-million Trillium Park and William G. Davis Trail, by landscape architects LandInc and West 8. The park’s

ABOVE Completed in 1971, Ontario Place’s Cinesphere and Pods were designed by Toronto architect Eberhard Zeidler. The Cinesphere, which has been recently renovated, is a 35-metre-wide dome that housed the world’s first permanent theatre for IMAX technology. The Pods were first used to host a multimedia exhibition, but were designed to be flexible and accommodate different functions.

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designers worked with Carolyn King, former Chief of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, to integrate First Nations’ presence and ceremony with elements such as a fire pit and a large piece of granite etched with the Moccasin Identifier, by artist Philip Coté.

The incredible nostalgia at Ontario Place is a double-edged sword for considerations of its future, says Annabel Vaughan of publicLAB. The idea of a bold vision led by a single architect sits less comfortably today.

When it was built, environmental assessments were not standard, and consultations with the Indigenous community and members of the public were not required. Carolyn King proposes that, by contrast, “Ontario Place [now] has an opportunity to represent the diverse populations that have built the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto. Inclusion for all people—to visit, learn, play and envision a clean, sustainable future within the elements of land, water, air and the spirit of all the people.”

But do we really need a new vision? Michael McClelland, principal of ERA A rchitects, says that the magic of Ontario Place is being by the water and that it “doesn’t really need a heck of a lot more, but it needs access.” Ontario Place was already on the upswing by 2010, attendance almost doubled in 2011 and the park was expected to break even by 2015.

One year after reopening in 2017, it had as many visitors as the CN Tower.

It is the four pods—which cover an area the size of a World’s Fair—that do not have a compelling current purpose. These structures are excellent containers, but their content has always been a little undercooked.

(They originally held a very large exhibit about Ontario.) Architect and scholar George Baird, who places Ontario Place alongside the most seminal works of the Metabolist movement, says that patience may

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be needed: “You can’t rush reuse projects.” He gives the example of Maple Leaf Gardens, and how it took many years to find its next incarnation.

It now very successfully houses a large urban grocery store and a university athletic centre, complete with ice rink.

With acres of empty parking lots at Ontario Place, there is no need to knock down the pods and develop the islands. At a recent TSA-led charette for the site, my team proposed that the Province should run a Request for Proposals for the reuse of the pods alone, and leave the rest of the space to public waterfront uses, programming and incremental development by a range of partners. Toronto has a 2.7% office vacancy rate downtown, and spaces for artists and cultural production are being lost at a rapid rate. Long-term, commercial leases in some of the pods could cover their maintenance and refurbishment costs and subsidize artist live-work spaces. This approach could bring more regular activity to the park that would, in turn, support year-round cafés and restaurants. One of the pods could accommodate a museum of the city, or a space to tell the stories of the Mississaugas.

Toronto lacks the spaces that culture and industry need to thrive— and the pods have boatloads of room. They are a good place to start building a new future for the rest of the 155-acre site that includes all people, while also respecting the important cultural heritage landscape of Ontario Place.

Helena Grdadolnik is director of Workshop Architecture, and was one of the organizers of a panel discussion on Ontario Place co-hosted by the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario and the Toronto Society of Architecture.

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©Nadia Molinari, courtesy of LANDinc

©Nadia Molinari, courtesy of LANDinc

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Gow Hastings Architects’ 2011 renovation of the Cinesphere included the replacement of seating. The new seating is differentiated by colour: red seats lend a richness to the interior space, while black seats have the ability to swivel for optimal viewing of IMAX films. tOP The two lobbies include murals inspired by the early IMAX film North of Superior, which was commissioned for Ontario Place. Bottom left The engraving of a moccasin at the entrance of Trillium Park nods to the traditions of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. The park was designed by LANDinc, in collaboration with West 8 for the intial design phase. Bottom right The steep roofs of a park pavilion reference the peaks of evergreen trees.

Opposite

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Coming back home Todd Saunders recounts the process of designing a cultural centre for northern Labrador, the home of his great-great-grandparents.

Illusuak Cultural Centre, Nain, Labrador Saunders Architecture with Stantec (local architect) PHOTOS Bent René Synnevåg TEXT Todd Saunders AS TOLD TO Susan Nerberg

PROJECT ARCHITECTS

The Illusuak Cultural Centre, designed by Todd Saunders of Saunders Architecture with Stantec, recently opened as a gathering place for the Labrador Inuit, the southernmost Inuit population in Canada. A standout structure with undulating walls, the centre would be as novel in a large, design-forward city as it is in the small community of Nain.

Here, it serves as the nexus of a cultural revival, showcasing Labrador Inuit ingenuity and traditions nearly lost as a result of colonialism.

Illusuak was commissioned by the government of Nunatsiavut—the Labrador Inuit self-governing region formed after a successful land claims agreement in 2005—to celebrate Inuit culture. In the process, the region also got a beacon that places it on the architectural map.

Saunders tells Canadian Architect about building trust with a people which has survived centuries of deception from settlers; the challenges

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of designing in a remote location for a culture with no permanent architectural precedent of its own; and why Illusuak is different from any other project the Newfoundland-born, Norway-based architect has worked on so far.

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8 kitchen 9 gifts / CAFÉ 10 EXHIBITION / library 11 AUDITORIUM 12 GREEN ROOM 13 office 14 meeting room

Winning the trust of the client—and the commission During the procurement process, the Nunatsiavut Government interviewed maybe five to ten architecture firms in person. I couldn’t be there, so I had to be interviewed over the phone. It was like a blind date, and I was in a disadvantaged position: they could only hear my voice, I couldn’t present anything or use video. But we had a really good conversation.

I suggested that what was needed in the village of Nain wasn’t just a museum and a cultural centre. What they needed—as in so many small communities in Newfoundland and Labrador—was a living room for the town. People meet privately in one another’s homes as smaller groups, so, I suggested, why don’t we create a living room for the community? The government representatives liked that idea.

They knew I was from Newfoundland. My great-great-grandfather had lived in Labrador, a couple of hundred kilometres north of Nain, the northernmost town, on a river with my great-great-grandmother.

He was British, she was Mi’kmaq, and he spoke English, Mi’kmaq and Inuktitut. I explained that I was fascinated with that region and had read about it.

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Then it clicked. The president of the government [at the time]—it turned out he knew my great-great-grandfather. At the end of the halfhour call, he and I ended up on the phone for another half hour talking about that. They understood my interest was genuine when I told them I wanted to continue to work in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Learning about Labrador Inuit culture and finding design inspiration in Nunatsiavut When the Nunatsiavut land claim went through, the Labrador Inuit donated a chunk of land in the Torngat Mountains, north of Nain, for the creation of a national park. Since then, Parks Canada runs a camp every summer where visitors get to meet with and learn from local Inuit guides and research scientists from different parts of the world.

After winning the commission, I spent three weeks in Nunatsiavut, including a week at that camp. I went out on a boat seal hunting and

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The curved form of the Illusuak Cultural Centre is an homage to the temporary sod houses traditionally constructed by the Labrador Inuit. opposite Kebony, a product that used a bio-based liquid to enhance the durability of sustainable softwoods, was used to clad the exterior of the centre. The low-maintenance material is engineered to withstand harsh winter snow and wind conditions. above The interior of the centre includes an exhibition area, auditorium, and regional cultural offices. previous page

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fishing. I went to Rose Island, where Inuit have buried their loved ones for the past thousand years. I collected fire wood and cooked with Inuit guides. I also went hiking with fish researchers and got an outsiders’ view from them. Then I spent time in Nain to get a sense for the village. It’s very small and it might have been hard for an architect from Toronto to be there, but for me, being used to small towns, it was very comfortable. There, I got to know a few people from the Nunatsiavut Government and from Parks Canada quite well, and they were close to the team as we were working on the design.

Designing without precedent We created the brief with the client, so there was a lot of back-and-forth to massage the design. This is what we usually do—except with a government project, we’d normally be handed a recipe that has to be followed. But here, thanks to this government being small, we could develop the brief together.

Still, at first we created a room program that was too big. Once we got it down to size, we asked for time to put it all together, developing 25 to 30 ideas. The main challenge was that the Inuit never had a built architecture. There was no precedent, nothing to relate our ideas to. When I work in Newfoundland, there’s 400 years of housing to draw from; in Nunatsiavut, they didn’t have any permanent structures.

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I looked at the buildings of the Moravian missionaries, but that didn’t feel right. Plus, my great-great-grandfather took issue with the Moravians and the Hudson Bay Company, so drawing on that would feel like cheating on my ancestry. Then I went to Rose Island. There, I saw these organically shaped structures sunken two or three feet into the ground. When a Parks Canada staff sent me an archeological report on them, I realized this was actually something the Inuit had built.

The outline of these sod houses was quite free-flowing. This rounder, softer form was one I had never worked with before, but when I started working with it, it felt right—the shapes were soft and inclusive.

In the end, we decided to present three ideas, including the soft one. Before the presentation, I invited the community to take a look at them. They all went straight to the softer one, so it’s as if it was decided even before the presentation. It was obvious that was the right design for them.

Reflecting on the outcome We’ve created a building that wraps around people. The entrance area peels away, and most of the windows open toward the ocean. There’s no pattern to the placement of the windows other than following the ceiling, which changes in height the whole way around. We wanted the idea of a fireplace in the centre, so when people come in, they gather at the

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café. Beyond that are the collections on view for the public, a movie theatre, and offices for the Nunatsiavut government and Parks Canada.

We designed the building to blend in with the coastal landscape: the cladding is Kebony spruce, which will turn grey like the rocks with time. We added boulders that will eventually be covered with moss, and built a deck around the structure. We had to lift the land on-site because the 100-year sea level comes up quite high, so the building sits on pillars that are concealed by filling in with rock.

I’m very pleased with the shape and the moves—no one has really done this before in Canadian architecture. We tried to stay away from patterns, which are very European. In Nunatsiavut, there isn’t that rigidity, so we used soft forms throughout.

And that’s the main difference with this project: we’ve never worked with these free-flowing shapes, because in a European or Canadian context, the precedents were more rigid. Here, there was no precedent, so we went on an exploration to find out what the architecture could be.

Have we succeeded? I don’t know. But we’ve definitely done something that no one else has done up there, and we feel confident Illusuak has its own identity and its own character. The Labrador Inuit are distinct people. Our architecture is distinct, and hopefully it represents them.

Susan Nerberg is a writer and editor based in Montreal.

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Opposite A café is at the heart of the centre, which aims to act like a community-scaled living room for the the village of Nain.

ABOVE The soft forms of the building harmonize with the curves of surrounding snowdrifts and the nearby mountains.

CLIENT Nunatsiavut Government | ARCHITECT TEAM Saunders—Todd Saunders, Attila

Béres, Ken Beheim Schwarzbach, Rubén Sáez López, Joshua Kievenaar, Chris Woodford. Stantec—Kerry Gosse, Charles Henley, Lez Snow. | STRUCTURAL/CIVIL DMG Consulting (Reg Hedges, Bill Baird) | HVAC CBCL Limited (Paul Sceviour) | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CBCL Limited (Paul Sceviour, Mike Dormody) | BUILDER Bird Construction Ltd. | EXHIBITS Blue Rhino Design | EXHIBIT FABRICATOR Ontario Science Centre AREA 1,200 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | COMPLETION Fall 2018

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Seeing the Bigger Picture A new home for the Ottawa Art Gallery revitalizes a downtown city block.

Ottawa Art Gallery Expansion and Arts Court Redevelopment, Ottawa, Ontario ARCHITECTS Barry Padolsky Associates and KPMB Architects (design architects); Régis Côté et associés (architect of record); LEMAYMICHAUD architecture design (joint venture with Régis Côté for private tower) TEXT Odile Hénault PHOTOS Adrien Williams PROJECT

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The 30-year-old Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) has a new home in the heart of Ottawa, steps from the Rideau Canal. The six-storey building, designed by KPMB with Barry Padolsky Associates, is much more than a venue for art. It is the key project in a major effort to revitalize an awkward city block, originally designed for houses of justice rather than for cultural institutions.

On the same block, the former Carleton County Gaol was turned into a hostel in the 1970s, and stands next to what used to be the county courthouse and its adjoining annex. Over the years, the courthouse was converted into a hub called the Arts Court, bringing together numerous arts organizations (including, until recently, the OAG). The former Ottawa Police Headquarters—designed by Peter Dickinson in the 1950s and demolished in 1994—is the site of the new OAG. The more or less abandoned lot had become an anomaly in the dense city fabric surrounding it; now, it has been cleverly infilled with the Gallery’s striking white volume, an eye-catching device that draws attention from afar.

Behind the OAG, a residential and hotel tower by Montreal firms Régis Côté et associés and LEMAYMICHAUD interacts elegantly

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with the Gallery building. West of the Gallery, towards the Rideau Canal, the roof and chimneys of the former prison can still be glimpsed above a stone and concrete wall that flanks the grounds.

A visitor’s first impression, before even entering the Gallery, is thus one of interlocking volumes—of past meeting present, of city embracing art, and of urban revitalization at its best. Despite the project’s relatively small size, the architects faced an array of challenges. One of the first constraints was the need to connect the new OAG with the existing Arts Court as seamlessly as possible. They also had to integrate a 120-seat state-of-the-art black box theatre for the University of Ottawa’s Theatre Department. Close coordination with the architects responsible for the adjoining hotel and apartment tower was essential as well. Finally, the site is located along a heavily used trucking route between Quebec and Ontario, with approximately 5,000 trucks passing by daily—not the most amenable situation for an art gallery.

Inside the gallery proper, integration of another kind came into play.

There was a strong desire to pay homage to the Firestone family, whose Canadian art collection—today owned by the City of Ottawa—was

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The new Ottawa Art Gallery is part of the revitalization of a downtown block that includes a new mixed hotel-residential tower. Opposite A landscaped courtyard on the north side of the gallery leads to a secondary entrance off Daly Avenue. ABOVE The main concourse includes an airy cafÊ, knitting the building into the life of Ottawa’s downtown. right The main entrance of the museum includes a brass and marble staircase saved from the demolished residence of the Firestone family, whose Canadian art collection was donated to the gallery.

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transferred to the care of the OAG in 1992. The Firestone Collection, which includes major works by the Group of Seven, is now housed in a teak-lined space located on a mezzanine and projecting above the lobby. The use of teak is a reminder of the family’s now-demolished Rockcliffe residence, as is the imposing brass and marble staircase, which was saved from the home and reinstalled at the OAG’s entrance.

The site’s topography—with Daly Avenue’s elevation slightly lower than the Mackenzie King Bridge—provided the architects with a unique design opportunity. An exterior courtyard slipped between the historic façade of the adjoining Annex and the apartment tower’s party wall leads to the OAG’s secondary entrance, one level below the main entrance.

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The transparent façade offers a full view towards the interior café, which occupies most of the concourse level, and the multipurpose room at the mezzanine level, with its 245 retractable seats.

Natural light is key in this design—contrary to traditional concepts of galleries as introspective buildings—and large openings were introduced everywhere possible. A horizontal perforation is prominent on the main façade, illuminating the upper conference room and administration level, as well as the project gallery just below it. Along the east façade, daylight floods the central stair, which serves as the Gallery’s main circulation and orientation device. The feeling of spatial openness corresponds to the inclusive nature of the Ottawa Art Gallery, where visitors are admitted free of charge every day of the week, and where pedestrians are encouraged to use the building as a shortcut between the Mackenzie King Bridge and Daly Avenue.

Among the OAG’s notable features are its two roof terraces: one on top of the University of Ottawa’s theatre, and the other adjoining the multipurpose space, which projects above the Daly Street courtyard. Also of note is the gallery’s simple but beautiful cladding—a powder-coated expanded aluminum mesh, embedded with continuous LED strips that produce a subtle shimmering effect at night. Here again, the design references the Firestone residence, with the perforated texture nodding to the house’s ornamented concrete block façade.

The project features a number of adaptable exhibition and studio spaces, varying in size and height, some with natural light, others without. Planning of this relatively small building was carefully thought through, resulting in logical circulation patterns and clearly accessible

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Opposite A wood-clad feature staircase connects the upper levels of the gallery. TOP The Firestone Collection is housed in a teak-accented space that recalls the materiality of the family’s Rockland residence. Left The gallery’s façade is made of exanded aluminum mesh, backlit by LEDs that transform the buildling into a luminous sculptural cube at night.

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A variety of exhibition spaces are used throughout the gallery, allowing flexibility for the display of contemporary art. Below A section shows the complexity of working on this locked-in site, and demonstrates the importance of the teak-lined staircase linking the upper three gallery floors.

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section 1 Atrium / Café 2 Main Entrance / OAG Lobby 3 OAG Shop / Art Rental 4 North Courtyard 5 South Terrace 6 Contemporary Gallery 7 MultiPurpose Room 8 Reception Gallery 9 Studio 10 Collections Storage 11 Firestone Collection 12 Permanent Collection Gallery 13 Project Gallery 14 Admin Offices 15 parking

spaces. The potential for revenue-generating rentals was also part of the equation for this resourceful and dynamic institution.

If one were to issue a few reservations about the project, one could argue that the main lobby would have benefitted from a slightly higher budget for finishes. The Firestone Collection Gallery may also have been more subtly designed, while still reflecting its original home.

However, this is not what the new OAG is about: its focus is on mending the city, acknowledging the past while looking to the future, and creating art spaces that promote inclusiveness and sharing. It does all of this with elegance and intelligence.

Thirty years after its creation in 1988, the OAG has built what few organizations of its size could hope for, thanks to the driving force of director Alexandra Badzak and CEO Lawson Hunter. Its new home is an invaluable addition to this corner of the National Capital—an exemplar of sensitive development befitting a capital city’s downtown core.

Odile Hénault is a Montreal-based architectural writer and communications consultant.

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CLIENT City of Ottawa | DBFM CONSORTIUM EBC Inc., DevMcGill and Groupe Germain with Régis Côté et Associés | ARCHITECT TEAM Barry Padolsky—Barry Padolsky, Mike Kelly, Amanda Conforti. KPMB— Mitchell Hall, Glenn MacMullin, Zachary Hinchliffe, Olena Chorny, Grace Ko, Chris Hoyt. Régis Côté—Jerome Cote, Magalie Michel, MarieEve De Rome, Marco Rivalti, Thien Loc Mac. LemayMichaud—Judi Farkas, Lucie Vaillancourt, Pierre Mierski. | STRUCTURAL Cleland Jardine Engineering (design phase); Pasquin St Jean et Associés (implementation phase) | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Goodkey, Weedmark & Associates (design phase); Dupras Ledoux Ingénieurs (implementation phase) | CIVIL Delcan (design phase); Roche (implementation phase) | TRAFFIC Delcan (design phase) | GALLERY LIGHTING Gabriel MacKinnon (design phase) | THEATRE AND LIGHTING MCLD (design phase) | LANDSCAPE Lashley + Associates (design phase); Denis Massie, Architecte Paysagiste (implementation phase) | CODE Morrison Hershfield (design phase) | AREA 7,800 m2 (Gallery and university); 23,248 m2 (tower); 2,723 m2 (renovation) | BUDGET Withheld | COMPLETION April 2018

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BEHIND THE CURTAIN THE XIQU CENTRE PUTS CLASSICAL CHINESE OPERA AT THE GATEWAY TO A NEW CULTURAL DISTRICT IN HONG KONG—AND CREATES A NEW PUBLIC PLAZA IN THE PROCESS. Xiqu Centre, West Kowloon, Hong Kong Revery Architecture (formerly Bing Thom Architects) in joint venture with Ronald Lu & Partners TEXT Sylvia Chan PHOTOS Ema Peter PROJECT

ARCHITECTS

Classical Chinese opera is a vivid art form with flamboyant costumes and face paint, elaborate movements, and a boisterous mix of vocals and percussion. Also known by its Chinese name, Xiqu, the form developed during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and regional variations are included on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage practices.

Xiqu’s significance has recently gained further recognition in Hong Kong. Earlier this year, the city opened the world’s first performance venue specifically designed for classical Chinese opera. Designed by Revery Architecture (formerly Bing Thom Architects) in collaboration with local architect Ronald Lu & Partner, the $347-million Xiqu Centre is a solid foundation for celebrating—and reinventing—the heritage Chinese art form.

The seven-storey, 30,000-square-metre performance hall stands at the entrance of the West Kowloon Cultural District. The 40-hectare area, masterplanned by Foster+Partners, is slated to become Hong Kong’s primary arts precinct, with 17 cultural venues and a central park. The building’s distinctive curvilinear form evokes the seamless movements in Xiqu, while effectively setting the cultural destination apart from the boxy glass towers in the neighboring shopping area.

The building is further distinguished by its façade, composed of 13,000 CNC-cut marine-grade aluminum alloy fins, connected by stainless steel brackets to the building’s aluminum cladding. The curvilinear fins

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50 A façade resembling stage curtains opens the Xiqu Centre’s ground floor atrium to invite public use. The main theatre is suspended 27 metres above the plaza. RIGHT The atrium includes a podium for cultural events, surrounding by curved steps that double as casual seating. Topping the atrium, a red-and-white luminaire is an abstracted version of a grand chandelier.

PREVIOUS SPREAD

echo the building’s overall form. The composition was generated through a parametric digital model, and during construction, a full-scale mockup of a section of the façade was built onsite. These processes streamlined the façade’s fabrication and installation, ensuring that no material was wasted.

The aluminum fins are finished without paint or coating. Instead, each piece was blasted with glass beads, effecting a subtle finish that changes in shifting light. The building exhibits different personas according to the weather: on a cloudy day, it is a serious protagonist dressed in grey; at dusk, it is a lively dancer shimmering in gold.

At the four corners of the roughly square building, arched openings resemble parted stage curtains. They invite passers-by to glimpse inside the Centre. Particularly welcoming is the 20-metre-high main entrance facing Canton Road. Its sheer scale entices visitors to enter the Xiqu Centre’s predominantly white atrium space, with its dramatic red-andwhite abstracted chandelier. The atrium—which is accessible to the public 24/7, and occasionally stages free events—acts as a threshold to the entire cultural district.

A public-realm atrium was not part of the client’s initial brief, which called for a structure with a 1,073-seat Grand Theatre, a 200-seat Tea House Theatre, and training and administrative facilities. But upon investigation of the site, the architects realized that the Grand Theatre, if placed on the ground level, would entirely occupy the 1,260-squaremetre site and limit the building’s porosity. The team decided to suspend the Grand Theatre above the site, an audacious move that solved another issue—it isolates the performing space from the vibration and noise of an underground high-speed rail line.

Lifting the Grand Theatre four storeys above ground was no easy task. Six mega-columns and two doubled six-metre-high roof trusses support the weight of the 1,800-tonne theatre. The roof structure was first built on the ground and then raised halfway up the giant columns with hydraulic strand jacks. The columns were then reinforced with temporary concrete tie beams, before the roof structure was lifted to its final position, 48 metres above the ground. The underside of the theatre was also eventually raised to connect with the roof hangers.

Below, the resulting atrium reveals no trace of this complex engineering. Finished with over 200 double-curved, white-coated aluminum panels, the space exudes an aura of lightness and motion. Each panel has a unique trapezoidal shape and curvature; they were CNC-cut in Dongguan, China, based on a BIM model, and precisely assembled on site to create a space that flows. The free movement of air through the atrium further accentuates its spatial fluidity.

At the center of the atrium is a podium for cultural events. Stairs and gently sloping ramps lead visitors to the first and second floor, where the Tea House Theatre, training facilities, as well as shops and restau-

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rants are located. From the open-air balconies, visitors enjoy a clear view of the atrium’s daily life: people passing through, gathering for a free performance, or simply sitting and chatting on the curved continuous bench surrounding the podium.

On the first f loor, the 200-seat Tea House Theatre is designed to attract new audiences. It delivers shorter performances, with tea and Chinese dim sum served during each show. Located in direct view from the main entrance, the space is marked by a backlit 20-metre-wide glass wall, which contains a red silk interlayer. Silk is often used to make Xiqu costumes, and its use alludes to the building’s relationship with the ancient Chinese art form, as a f luidly enveloping presence. The second f loor is equipped with eight studios dedicated to training and rehearsals, including one space with an eight-metre-high ceiling and the same dimensions as the Grand Theatre’s stage.

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If the Tea House Theatre is intended for serendipitous discoveries of Xiqu, the Grand Theatre is dedicated to Xiqu as a high art form.

From the atrium, escalators and elevators lead to the foyers, which show the same fluidity and brightness as the open space below. Once inside the theatre, one is confronted with a dark palette, which renders this performance venue a distinctive world unto itself.

The Grand Theatre’s stage and auditorium differ from typical modern theatres. Xiqu is traditionally performed on flat wooden or bamboo stages, and audiences view performances with a relatively horizontal sightline. The Grand Theatre is thus designed with a shallow inclined rake and only one balcony. The large-scale auditorium is divided into pods, resulting in a more intimate setting that allows audiences to closely engage with the performers.

Xiqu has its own acoustic requirements as well. It features percussion and sometimes-improvised lyrics, which are key to conveying plot.

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Opposite Designed as a darkened sanctuary, the Grand Theatre contrasts with the stark whiteness of the public areas in the centre. The performance space is lined with milled concave wood panels, and further articulated with gaps and acoustical insulation in strategic areas to absorb or scatter sound.

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Vocal intelligibility is therefore important, and amplification is sometimes used. Revery Architecture engaged London-based Sound Space Vision to design a theatre for both loud percussion and the softer voices of performers. The walls of the theatre are clad with concave wood panels of varying radii to distribute sounds of different frequencies. Parts of the walls are insulated to absorb the percussive sounds, while interspersed hard surfaces ensure clarity of the voices from the stage. The walls are also lined with motorized acoustic drapes for further sound absorption if needed. The Grand Theatre allows for amplified performances— a mode that is currently favoured—while supporting the possibility of performances that rely solely on natural sound.

Opened in January, the Xiqu Centre has already become a popular cultural venue for both locals and visitors from around the world, as envi­ sioned by its chief architect, Bing Thom, who was born in Hong Kong.

Alongside the Xiqu Centre, Thom also led the design of the recently com­ pleted University of Chicago Center in Hong Kong, a new satellite campus of the institution in Asia. Thom did not oversee the completion of both projects, however, passing at the age of 76, while the buildings were under construction. Thom’s death was a huge loss to the team, yet his commit-

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ment to designs that give back to the community and realizing architectural solutions without compromise continued to guide the projects.

Eventually completed under the leadership of design principal Venelin Kokalov, the Xiqu Centre embodies the architect and the city’s vision to continually reinvent cultural forms that at once resonate with traditions and cater to contemporary needs. Like the performances it stages, the Xiqu Centre is a dream made real—fusing cultures of different places and times, with enthralling results.

Sylvia Chan is a Hong Kong-based architectural writer and researcher. She teaches at the University of Hong Kong.

CLIENT West Kowloon Cultural District Authority | ARCHITECT TEAM Bing Thom, Venelin Kokalov, Earle Briggs, Francis Yan, Ling Meng, Giles Hall, Johnnie Kuo, Kyle Chan, Amirali Javidan, Daniel Gasser, Marcos Hui, April Wong, Culum Osbourne, Bibianka Fehr, Nicole Hu, Elaine Tong, Charles Leman, Chun Choy, Brian Ackerman, Ryan Shaban, Chapman Chan, Vuk Krcmar-Grkavac; YiMei Chan | STRUCTURAL/MEP Buro Happold International | CIVIL/GEOTECHNICAL Atkins | TRAFFIC MVA | LANDSCAPE SWA Group | FAÇADE Front Inc. | LIGHTING Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design (HLB) | ACOUSTIC Sound Space Vision (SSV) | THEATRE Fischer Dachs Associates (FDA) | SIGNAGE 2x4 | AREA 29,729 m2 | BUDGET $347 M | COMPLETION December 2018

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façade assembly 1 steel bearing plate 2 spring washer 3 extruded aluminum

cover clip

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4 stainless steel sup-

port bushing 5 m30 bolt 6 extruded aluminum capping 7 stainless steel stopper cover 8 m10 male female cap 9 5.5m x 2.3m x o.oo3m aluminum sheet 10 stainless steel fin knuckle 11 stainless steel fin knuckle cover 12 extruded aluminum fin blade 13 extruded aluminum sleeve fin bracket 14 extruded aluminum transom

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Opposite A series of lobbies cascade up from the atrium, giving access to the Grand Theatre and Tea House Theatre, as well as exhibition areas, restaurants, studios, and a seminar hall. Top Right Poised at the gateway to the new West Kowloon Cultural District, the Xiqu Centre is designed to evoke a giant lantern. It exterior is made of fins CNCcut from marine-grade aluminum pipe, arranged to create a woven pattern. Bottom Right The intimate Tea House Theatre is designed as a casual setting for viewing classical Chinese opera, with dim sum served at each performance.

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Atlas of Brutalist Architecture Phaidon, 2018

REVIEW

Jon Scott Blanthorn

In recent years, there has been a revived interest in brutalism. Not long ago, critics and the public alike reviled the movement known for its large geometric shapes built in reinforced concrete. The buildings were seen as weighty blights, and as examples of modernism’s failures. Yet now, a mix of nostalgia, an uncertain global political climate, and the visual appeal of the buildings on social media has led to a comeback.

Brutalism is back with a vengeance.

There is currently a wealth of publications on global and localized brutalism. Each indulges in images of large forms casting dramatic shadows on urban landscapes, like some futuristic vision of utopia—and a generation who grew up in the wake of the 1970s is eating it up. The latest addition to the library is Phaidon’s Atlas of Brutalist Architecture, an exhaustive inventory of 878 structures. Going well beyond its visual

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appeal, the Atlas gives an objective view of a brutalist past that couldn’t deliver against its promises, but whose design details and motivations have found their way into contemporary architecture.

A compendium on this scale—some 560 pages, and 3.4 kilos—testifies to the style’s impact across the world. The editors’ introductory essay gives a good synopsis of brutalism’s history, but it’s the buildings themselves that speak to its global prevalence. The Atlas sorts entries by continent and country, helping to draw a distinction between the differing political, sociological and design intentions—and outcomes— of brutalism.

It is notable, given its apparent geographical reach, that the definition of brutalism is also broad. The term as currently used can be traced to British architects and theorists Alison and Peter Smithson, who in 1953 coined the term “New Brutalism” to describe the architectural style defined by the increased use of exposed and unfinished concrete. For the Smithsons, this was a second wave of concrete architecture; Le Corbusier and his béton brut contemporaries were the original brutalists. New Brutalism was about more than the accomplishments of individual architects—it was seen as a tool to put the sociological responsibilities of architecture into practice in urban planning and the public sphere.

Battling through post-war economies, the world needed reasons to be future-focused. The urge for both political and social reform was powerful, and architecture was positioned to communicate these changes.

It was a perfect atmosphere for the growth of a movement whose roots lay in ideals of equality. Most brutalist architects were not recognized names, but civil servants in government offices charged with revitalizing weary cities. They would look to the early socialist theories laid out in publications like Le Corbusier’s The Radiant City (1935), whose urban vision responded to need rather than class or economic position.

Ironically, it was this socialist promise that proved problematic for brutalism. When adopted by communism, it failed as a utopian dream of harmony and neutrality. In Eastern Europe, Russia and beyond, brutalist architecture served a tool of the all-powerful state and its authoritative strength over the individual. In later years, as communism failed, so would brutalism. The Atlas lists a large number of European and Russian buildings erected between the 40s and the late 70s that are no longer operational, in ruins, or demolished.

In Western Europe, as governments changed, the welfare state that brutalism served became a burden. Tower blocks and housing solutions, left with little funding and poor maintenance, turned into dangerous slums for the underclasses. Ultimately, brutalist buildings became symbols of failed social experiments.

However, when brutalism travelled to the New World, it largely left behind the weight of politics; the Americas benefitted from the skills and aesthetics of newly arrived immigrants. Architects, builders and labourers shared their familiarity with the technical attributes of concrete buildings in places open to growth, but limited in funds. The Atlas’s chapters on North, Central and South America, along with Australia, are filled with examples of public and private buildings that remain in use. As early as 1955, Canada was a strong proponent of the style, particularly for civic and educational architecture. While Canada doesn’t get the equal representation here it deserves, those projects included are not limited to Ontario and Quebec and demonstrate that brutalist icons spread across the country. By the 1970s, countries in the Middle East and Asia saw the potential of these grand but cost-effective

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constructions, and began commissioning Western and Eastern European architects to design brutalist buildings in these areas.

The Atlas makes it clear that brutalism lives on. Structures built as recently as 2017 echo their earlier counterparts in the use of similar materials. Exposed and reinforced concrete are still efficient and lowcost, and new construction methods and material combinations have increased their ecological attributes. This adapted version of brutalism—New Brutalist Revival?—seems to hint at the past while remaining relevant to the present.

There is renewed support for older brutalist buildings as well. In many countries, the robust structures are being retrofitted to meet the standards of contemporary life safety and environmental regulations. Even in Eastern Europe, where few of these buildings are rehabilitated, they are now appreciated as giant sculptures—monuments to a past era.

Beyond adorning coffee tables, the Atlas is a detailed reference book—a valuable resource for academics and architecture enthusiasts to begin or confirm their investigations. A sort of catalogue raisonné of brutalism, its black-and-white images are accompanied by succinct, considered descriptions of each structure and a legend identifying its current condition and use. Many of the buildings are rarely mentioned in articles or exhibitions because of their little-known creators; others

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Courtesy Phaidon

Bent René SynnevÅg, Courtesy the Fogo Island Inn

Liao Yusheng

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Top Designed by Douglas Cardinal, St. Mary’s Church in Red Deer, Alberta, is a brick structure that is included to show Canada’s distinctive contribution to brutalist architecture. above left The Fogo Island Inn,

by Saunders Architecture with Sheppard Case Architects, is included in the volume as an example of contemporary brutalism. above right The Grand Théâtre du Québec was designed by Victor Prus as one of the brutalist-styled projects that marked Canada’s centennial celebrations.

have been demolished and are long forgotten. Of course, the recognizable names are here, too, but they aren’t given distinction as heroes of brutalism. Instead, the movement itself is the focus. Because of this, the Atlas is perhaps the most successful book so far on the topic. While most publications don’t get much further than glamourous, gloomy images, the Atlas of Brutalist Architecture documents what brutalism intended all along: the equality of structure, the building as a framework for living, with spaces for people to work, eat, sleep, and dream in—and ultimately make their own.

Jon Scott Blanthorn is a freelance architecture writer who focuses on new Canadian and international projects for global publications.

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The Architecture Concept Book

By James Tait (Thames and Hudson, 2018) REVIEW Images

Paul Dolick James Tait

From conception to realization, understanding the architectural design process can feel like a fool’s game. Design inspiration can emerge from seemingly nowhere and its creative application tends to, more often than not, feel circuitous and elusive to the uninitiated. And so it is with considerable ambition and unlikely success that author and architect James Tait has written The Architecture Concept Book, an insightful primer for students and young professionals looking to formulate and develop enduring architectural design strategies.

In his book, Tait offers clear guidance on how to assess, analyze, augment and assemble meaningful architectural experiences. Using an effective balance of text, diagrams, and seminal historical case studies, the book covers a broad spectrum of topics. These range from the lofty provision of numinous awe and wonder through “the warp and weft of the rational and irrational” to more practical concerns such as how to organize and express a building’s vital but often overlooked mechanical, electrical and plumbing services.

Admirably, Tait raises a personal concern for the political apathy that pervades the work of contemporary architecture students and practitioners. Asserting that “architecture isn’t everything,” the author

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encourages designers to more actively engage in broader socio-political agendas and to push back on the increasingly dominant but riskaverse market economy, which he argues tends to stif le architectural agency and innovation.

Of the book’s few deficiencies, perhaps its most obvious is not elaborating on the essential relationship between buildings and their surrounding landscapes. Published at a time of heightened global awareness and concern for our planet’s wellbeing, it’s a missed opportunity to not consider more carefully the potential for leveraging landscape as a design driver and metric of success within contemporary building projects.

Tait’s greatest strength is his ability to unpack and demystify the discussion surrounding the architectural design process. Written in a straightforward style, his book is a refreshing break from the scholarly jargon and esoteric hyperbole so common in architectural publications. The author’s penchant for quoting important but often complicated texts—and then paraphrasing them in more relatable terms— is very helpful for the novice reader. The result is thorough without being garrulous, concise without being reductive.

Accessible, inspiring, and humane, The Architecture Concept Book is a finely crafted educational tool that takes readers on a rewarding and informative journey through the complex and multifaceted process of architectural design.

Paul Dolick is an OAA Intern and Adjunct Instructor at the Universities of Toronto and Waterloo.

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LCS Ceramics, Le Corbusier Taking inspiration from the many buildings designed by Le Corbusier, Gigacer has created exclusive collections of ceramics which are reminiscent of the minimalist character of its famous architecture.

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calendar —07/01

05/15—06/27

www.youraga.ca

www.lanescape.ca

another landscape show This exhibition at the Art Gallery of Alberta critiques landscape’s place in Canadian art and popular discourse.

Courtesy Surrey Art Gallery

Winnipeg 05/03-06/30

ABOVE Omer Arbel’s Particles for the Built World, currently being exhibited at the Surrey Art Gallery, explores experimental ways of working with concrete.

Dawson City 09/11—14

Adaptive reuse of heritage buildings The RAIC and Parks Canada offer a three-day design charette, using heritage buildings in the Yukon as learning tools. www.raic.org

British Columbia —05/11

Jim Breukelman: Altered States This exhibition includes several place-based photographic studies, including of altered landscapes. www.westvancouverartmuseum.ca

—05/21

Kevin Schmidt: Reckless A set of blinking, multi-coloured LED lights on the exterior of the Polygon Gallery are synced to a soundtrack based on Bryan Adams’ 1984 album. www.thepolygon.ca

05/22—07/13

Design for Living Eight modernist homes are revisited in their current state, after being restored, updated and adapted to the needs of contemporary family life. www.westvancouverartmuseum.ca

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www.winnipegarchitecture.ca

—06/16

05/25—26

Doors Open Toronto This annual event showcases the city’s most architecturally and culturally significant buildings with free tours and a series of public talks. www.toronto.ca

05/29

Construction adjudication symposium This meeting studies the develop-

Particles for the Built World Centering on a sculptural installation, this exhibition delves into Omer Arbel’s experiments with concrete over the past five years. www.surrey.ca

Calgary 05/30—06/01

Passive House training This three-day course provides step-by-step instructions for working with the Passive House Planning Package. www.passivehousecanada.com

11/06—07

BUILDEX Alberta This trade show enables architecture, design, construction, and property management professionals to immerse themselves in dialogue and build community. www.buildexalberta.com

Edmonton 05/24

2019 AAA AGM + PD Symposium This full-day event features professional development sessions with speakers including John Patkau, John McKenna and Russel Pollard of Innovia Partners, and Joel Good of RWDI. www.aaa.ab.ca

Michael Cho

ACROSS CANADA

Architecture+Comics: Canadian Cartoonists and the City This exhibit looks at how contemporary Canadian cartoonists are drawing cities, streets, and buildings, exploring architecture as spaces we inhabit and as spaces that inhabit us.

Laneway lecture series A three-part series covers the essentials of implementing laneway suites under the City of Toronto’s new planning policy.

ABOVE A dense urban environment is a key part of Canadian cartoonist Michael Cho’s graphic novel Shoplifter. The graphics are part of an exhibition at the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation.

05/25

Table for 1200 More Storefront MB is one of the partners in organizing this pop-up dining event, which places one of the world’s longest dining tables in an urban space.

ment of prompt payment and construction adjudication, its introduction to Canada, its potential use on federal government contracts, and what this means for construction. www.rics.org

www.tablefor1200more.ca

Toronto 05/11-08/30

New Monuments for New Cities This public art exhibition will travel to five cities that are part of the Highline Network, a group of industrial reuse projects. www.thebentway.ca

—08/30

Scaffold and Horizons (Earth and Sky) As part of MOCA’s Art in Use series, Adrian Blackwell’s installation of modular steel frames with plywood and felt surfaces can be organized to accommodate workshops, meetings, thinking and studying. www.moca.ca

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10/26—30

RAIC Festival of Architecture 2019 This year’s Festival of Architecture takes place in Toronto, with the theme “The Future of Architecture.” www.raic.org

Ottawa 05/30

Le Party The Ottawa Art Gallery’s annual silent auction and cocktail party supports the insitution’s exhibitions and programming. www.oaggao.ca

07/19—21

solving problems. In areas ranging from climate change to housing affordability, architects are catalysts for transformation.

www.oaa.on.ca

09/30—10/04

Woodrise Conference Co-organized by FPInnovations and the FCBA (France), the Woodrise 2019 international conference on mid-rise and high-rise wood-building construction is expected to attract 1000 attendees.

Grand Métis 06/22—10/6

www.raic.org

Halifax

Montreal

05/28—31

Our Happy Life The CCA’s new exhibit interrogates architecture and well-being in the age of emotional capitalism.

Washington, DC

a unique insight into the inspirational interactions between the Netherlands and the Bauhaus. www.boijmans.nl

—07/28

Secret Cities This exhibition at the National Building Museum looks at the architecture and planning of three top-secret cities built for Manhattan Project researchers during World War II.

Germany

Boston

www.klassik-stiftung.de

www.nbm.org

04/09—

The Bauhaus comes from Weimar The permanent exhibition at the newly opened Bauhaus Museum Weimar centres on the key proposals of the movement.

www.woodrise2019.ca

From point cloud to existing conditions BIM with Revit RAIC partners with the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) Lab in a weekend-long workshop focused on using BIM to work with heritage buildings and existing conditions.

05/08—10/13

INTERNATIONAL

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International Garden Festival For the Festival’s 20th anniversary, newly commissioned contemporary garden installations focus on the theme of play. www.internationalgardenfestival.com

45th Annual SSAC Conference The Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada hosts its 45th annual conference. www.canada-architecture.org

—07/28

The Bauhaus and Harvard Harvard University played host to the first Bauhaus exhibition in the United States in 1930, and went on to become an unofficial centre for the Bauhaus in America.

—10/06

Bauhaus Imaginista This exhibition tells the transnational story of the Bauhaus, bringing together accounts of its reception in Asia, Africa and the Americas. www.bauhaus.de

www.harvardartmuseums.org

New York City —06/15

The Value of Good Design Beginning with MoMA’s Good Design initiatives, this exhibition explores the democratizing potential of well-designed, affordable contemporary products. www.moma.org

09/08

Grand Opening: Bauhaus Museum Dessau Marking the centenary of the Bauhaus, a new museum designed by Barcelona’s addenda architects will present the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation’s extensive collection in a comprehensive manner. www.bauhaus-dessau.de

www.cca.qc.ca

05/26

addenda architects

Montreal Museums Day Montreal’s open house day for museums includes special events at many of the city’s cultural institutions, including free guided tours at the CCA. www.museesmontreal.org

09/12—09/14

SIDIM 2019 Montreal’s design fair offers opportunities to mingle with experts, view product launches, attend seminars and take in new interior design trends. www.sidim.com

Quebec City 05/22—24

2019 OAA Annual Conference At its core, architecture is about

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ABOVE Addenda architects’ design for the Bauhaus Museum Dessau, set to open this fall, houses the collection in a monolithic black box that seemingly hovers over a new public plaza on the ground floor.

05/29—30

2019 Spring Forum The NSAA’s annual general meeting is followed by a two-day event that includes a public lecture by Alfred Waugh, plenary sessions, and the presentation of the third annual President’s Awards. www.canada-architecture.org

Rotterdam —05/26

Netherlands <> Bauhaus: Pioneers of a New World Almost 800 objects–artworks, furniture, ceramics, textiles, photographs, typography and architectural drawings–provide

09/06—01/27/2020

Original Bauhaus The Bauhaus-Archiv’s exhibition at the Berlinische Galerie presents 700 original objects from the archival collection, and recounts the familiar and forgotten stories behind them. www.bauhaus.de

2019-04-24 4:38 PM

backpage Left Wooden ribs frame the interior of the student-centred space, which is designed to evoke the underside of an upturned canoe.

Tom Arban

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the good journey TEXT

Paul Dolick

Designed by Gow Hastings and Two Row Architects, the Odeyto Indigenous Centre at Seneca College is a small space with A big mission.

“I wasn’t really aware: nobody told us or discussed it, except maybe at parties…” This is how Peggy Pitawanakwat, former Wikwemikong Chief and current First Peoples Co-ordinator at Seneca College, describes her understanding of Canada’s devastating residential school system as a teenager growing up on Manitoulin Island. Her words are a powerful reminder of the need for community-based spaces, including the new Odeyto Indigenous Centre at Seneca: a small but thoughtfully accommodating social hub where students and elders can counsel one another on the past and future of Indigenous culture, celebrate its traditions, and spread awareness of its difficult truths.

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The desire to connect and learn more about Indigenous culture is what brings me to Odeyto on a frigid afternoon in late February. I am among a small assembly of strangers who have gathered for a screening of Indian Horse—a film portraying the true-to-life story of a First Nations boy who survived Canada’s residential school system in the 1970s. We are a multicultural group, but here, under Odeyto’s sinuous array of tall, vaulted wood ribs, we are all welcome in equal measure.

Named with an Anishinaabe word meaning “the good journey,” Odeyto marks a new, alternative entrance into Seneca’s Newnham Campus. Its modest 167 square metres are situated at the centre of an Indigenized land-

scape that includes a coniferous boreal garden to the west and a deciduous medicine garden to the east. The centre’s curved edges break away from the otherwise dominant colonial grid found on campus. Working in tandem, its interior and exterior spaces render homage to the Haudenasaunee Longhouse typology and embrace the site’s shifting sun and wind conditions throughout the year. Odeyto’s connection to nature is perhaps most evident on June 21, when its primary circulation axis aligns with the summer solstice, and traditional sunrise ceremonies are celebrated.

“Expressing a truth in materials was very important to the project,” says Matthew Hickey of Two Row Architects, who completed the project with Gow Hastings Architects.

Built upon native ground—which, according to Hickey, involved removing substantial amounts of diesel-infused soil—the building’s formal expression as an upturned, resting canoe involves 28 vaulted Douglas Fir glulam ribs (one for each day of the lunar cycle) bearing on exposed concrete to provide an open but protected sense of place. Entry doors painted bright red encourage visitors to “walk the red road”—meaning to live a life of respect, humility, and truthfulness—and recognize Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and children. The building’s exterior is clad in triangulated zinc shingles, whose layered and canopy-like arrangements recall the Haudenosaunee’s symbolic White Pine Tree of Peace, and whose subtle glint evokes fish scales.

As the film concludes, the room feels tense and our group’s subsequent discussions are emotional. We share words of outrage and disbelief, but also of hope and reconciliation.

This is a testament to Odeyto’s success as a communal building. It delivers on its promise to provide a place of support and discourse—not only for the estimated 400-700 students at Seneca who identify as Indigenous, but for anyone eager to learn, ref lect, and celebrate Indigenous culture.

“Odeyto provides us the opportunity to ask questions, story-tell, spread awareness and wellness, and to build stronger communities,” says Pitawanakwat. “It will take generations to heal, but Odeyto is certainly a step in the right direction.”

Paul Dolick is an OAA Intern and Adjunct Instructor at the Universities of Toronto and Waterloo.

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