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04/12 canadian architect 5
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9 news Calgarycelebratestheinaugurationofsig-
natureCalatravabridge;nationalwinnersofMigratingLandscapescompetitionfortheVeniceBiennalerecentlyannounced.
31 report DavidTheodoreinformsusofthepotent
messagescontainedintheImperfect HealthexhibitionattheCanadianCentreforArchitecture.
37 calendar BanffSession2012;15thAnnualSustain-
ableBuildingSymposiuminCalgary.
38 Backpage PaigeMagarreydiscussesSylviaGrace
Borda’sphotographsofpostwarModernistchurchbuildingsinNorthernIreland.
14 gulf islands residence a bracinGly modern and eleGanT new Home SpanS iTS rocky SiTe in THe Gulf
iSlandS like a floaTinG GlaSS bridGe. teXt Tanya SouTHcoTT
20 lawren harris house drew mandel confidenTly meeTS THe cHallenGe of updaTinG THe former Home of
Group of Seven luminary lawren HarriS To currenT conTemporary STandardS. teXt kaTHarine vanSiTTarT
26 guillaume sasseville afTer yearS workinG for Saucier + perroTTe arcHiTecTeS in monTreal, a younG
deSiGner expandS HiS reperToire by enTerinG THe arena of induSTrial and producT deSiGn. teXt leSlie Jen
cover renovaTion and addiTion To THe lawren HarriS HouSe in midTown ToronTo, by drew mandel. pHoTo by Tom arban.
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april 2012, v.57 n.04
contents
The NaTioNal Review of DesigN aND PRacTice/The JouRNal of RecoRD of aRchiTecTuRe caNaDa | Raic
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We acknoWledge the financial support of the government of canada through the canada periodical
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EditorIan ChodIkoff, OAA, FRAIC
AssociAtEEditorLesLIe Jen, MRAIC
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contributingEditorsGavIn affLeCk, OAQ, MRAICherbert enns, MAA, MRAICdouGLas MaCLeod, nCARb
rEgionAlcorrEspondEntshalifax ChrIstIne MaCy, OAA regina bernard fLaMan, SAAmontreal davId theodore calgary davId a. down, AAAWinnipeg herbert enns, MAA vancouver adeLe weder
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6 cAnAdiAnArchitEct 04/12
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Ian ChodIkoff [email protected]
AbovE desIGned by oMa and ProvenCher roy et assoCIés, the new Musée natIon-aL des beaux arts du QuébeC In QuebeC CIty Is the resuLt of a weLL-ConCeIved desIGn CoMPetItIon. the MuseuM Is ex -PeCted to oPen In 2014.
competition into a typical North American proposal call.
Within the Canadian context, organizing a successful design competition is never easy, even in the province of Quebec, which boasts a significantly higher competition rate than any other province. For certain public buildings in Quebec, such as municipal libraries, the province requires a design competition to be held. However, the province has yet to support competitions for public schools, as some architects have suggested. Most recently, Quebec municipalities unable to afford their own mandated design competitions for libraries have been delegating this process of selecting an architect to a general contractor, thereby abdicating their responsibilities to the interests of a private corporation. The outcome is unlikely to be positive.
Yet it cannot be overstated that a competition’s ultimate success rests with a client group’s ability to pursue a strategy for its organization that effec tively balances programmatic and institutional requirements with design excellence. A clear strategy helps to define a successful architectural competition. The lack thereof may explain why a number of highprofile Canadian public buildings completed in recent years (i.e., the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton) are generally thought to be architecturally underwhelming.
Occasionally, a design competition yields a good pairing between architect and client. Appearing as the keynote speaker for the LEAP symposium was Shohei Shigematsu, a partner in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and director of its New York office. Shige matsu’s firm, along with Montrealbased Provencher Roy et Associés comprise the architect team for the new $90million Musée National des BeauxArts du Québec (MNBAQ) in Quebec City. The team was announced in 2010 after winning what was widely believed to be a fair and successful international design competition. The museum expansion will effectively double the space allocated to exhibitions. With most of the money secured, construction is set to begin this spring with a completion date sometime in 2014. Line Ouellet, the client representative and recently appointed director of the MNBAQ, presented the museum’s expansion plans with Shi ge matsu, implicitly sending out a strong message that measuring the success of a design competition requires the clear vision of both architect and client group. We hope that LEAP’s next symposium will further the conversation by discussing client viewpoints as a contributing factor to success within the complex structure of architecture competitions.
The Université de Montréal recently held an international symposium on the subject of architectural competitions—the first of its kind in Canada. The event illustrated the importance of many critical issues that contribute to a successful competition—such as nurturing emerging talent, ensuring the transparent selection of design teams, and promoting architectural excellence. However, when formulating the perfect competition, selecting an actual winner represents only a small part of the process.
Entitled “International Competitions and Architectural Quality in the Planetary Age,” the symposium was jointly directed by Professors JeanPierre Chupin and Georges Adamczyk, who chose architects, urban planners and academics from over 15 countries to participate. Since 2001, Chupin and Adamczyk have led the development of an online Canadian Competitions Catalogue through their work with the Laboratoire d’étude de l’architecture potentielle (LEAP), an interdisciplinary research organization that undertakes—among other things—competitionrelated research with the School of Architecture at the Université de Montréal, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Institut de Recherche en Histoire de l’Architecture.
Of the many presentations delivered at the symposium, the competition process in several European nations was of particular interest. Many countries in Europe mandate that publicly financed buildings require the implementation of a competition process; over 500 competitions are held every year in Germany alone. By comparison, Chupin estimates that roughly 300 design competitions have been held in Canada since 1945. However, Switzerland and the Nordic countries expressed the fact that as design competitions become more prevalent they tend to become more bureaucratic, incorporating substantial prequalification requirements and other criteria which begin to transform the design
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ProjectS
city of calgary celebrates inauguration of signature calatrava bridge.On March 24, 2012, the City of Calgary celebrated the opening of the Santiago Calatrava-designed Peace Bridge. The red twisting helix-shaped ped-estrian bridge is unlike any of the renowned architect’s other designs. Known for his soaring, vertical icons, Calatrava opted to design a low single-span bridge in order to meet geometrical constraints. With a no-fly zone enacted above the bridge due to a nearby heliport and the high water and ice levels of the Bow River beneath it, Calatrava had an envelope of only seven metres in which to create his signature bridge. Addition-ally, the Peace Bridge was designed without supporting piers in the riverbed in order to minimize impact on the surrounding environ-ment. These parameters influenced the decision to proceed with a tubular steel-truss bridge. When Calatrava was first commissioned by the City of Calgary to design a pedestrian bridge over the Bow River, he wanted to provide the citi-zens of Calgary with an aesthetically pleasing structure that would also offer protection from the extreme natural elements. The result is an awe-inspiring permeable yet enclosed bridge that is as functional during the winter as it is during the summer.
Bing thom architects and Manasc isaac architects selected to design new facility at Mac ewan University.Edmonton’s MacEwan University has chosen Bing Thom Architects (BTA) of Vancouver and Manasc Isaac Architects of Edmonton to design its new Cultural Arts and Communications Centre. The facility will house the programs currently in place at its Centre for the Arts and Communications campus. In November 2011, the university Board of Governors approved $5 million for the design and planning of the facility. Bing Thom is the principal of BTA, which he founded in 1982. Thom is a dedicated and artful city-builder with a global reputation. His commitment to using architecture to improve the urban context has been recognized by a range of honours, including the Order of Canada. Vivian Manasc is one of Canada’s top integrated design facilitators. Over a 25-year period, she has delivered and refined a facilitation method that brings out the best in people. Manasc has been on the leading edge of inclusive participation and integrated design; her firm’s leadership role in the field was recognized with an Innovation Award from the Royal Archi-tectural Institute of Canada. The university ex-pects the architectural plans to be ready by March 2013. Founded in 1971, Mac Ewan University is
proudly celebrating its 40th anniversary. As a comprehensive university, MacEwan offers more than 65 programs including undergraduate de-grees, applied degrees, diplomas, certificates, continuing education and corporate training.
aWardS
national winners of Migrating Landscapes competition for the Venice Biennale announced.The national winners of the Migrating Land-scapes competition were recently announced to a crowd of 250 people at the opening reception of the National Exhibition of Migrating Landscapes at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Eighteen individual and team entries were selected: Amirali Javidan (BC), Mira Yung and Imu Chan (BC), Olena Chytra, Philipp Dittus, Alana Green and Katy Young (BC), D’Arcy Jones with Amanda Kemeny, Daan Murray and Melani Pigat (BC), Tiffany Shaw-Collinge (Alberta), April Hiebert, Brad Pickard, Robyn Robertson, Mark Sin and Victoria Yong-Hing (Saskatchewan), Jason Hare (Mani-toba), Travis Cooke and Jason Kun (Manitoba), Andre Silva, Chris Gilmour and Kory Kaspersion (Manitoba), Andrew Batay-Csorba and Jodi Batay-Csorba (Ontario), Erica Pecoskie and George Simionopoulos (Ontario), Kfir Gluzberg and Liana Bresler (Ontario), Enrique Enriquez (Quebec), Felix Tue (Quebec), Jean-Nicolas Bouchard and Philippe Charest (Quebec), Anca Matiyku and Chad Connery (Quebec), Marianna de Cola (Atlantic Region), and Stephen Kopp, Monica Adair, John Leroux, Jessie Croll, Alicia Halas and Acre Architects (Atlantic Region). Special thanks to the national jury of Eleanor Bond, Ian Chodikoff, Anne Cormier, Bruce Kuwabara, and John Patkau. Together with organizers and curators 5468796 Architecture +
Jae-Sung Chon, these 18 winning entries will form Canada’s official entry at the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture, which runs from August 29 to November 25, 2012. The winners have already been the focus of several news sources, in the Toronto Star and twice in the Win-nipeg Free Press. The announcement wraps up the hugely successful seven-city Canadian tour of Migrating Landscapes. Now the young architec-tural “Team Canada” urgently needs your finan-cial assistance. All donations will go directly to supporting Migrating Landscapes in Venice, in-cluding exhi bi tion transportation and installa-tion costs, promotion, reception and team travel costs. Donate now online or by contacting the RAIC’s Venice Biennale Project Manager, Sascha Hastings, at [email protected]. All donors receive visibility on the exhibition sponsor wall in the Canada Pavilion in Venice, as well as a charitable tax receipt from the RAIC Foundation.http://migratinglandscapes.ca/competition
2012 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize.The World Monuments Fund (WMF) recently an-nounced that it is inviting nominations for the 2012 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize. The Prize will be awarded in fall 2012 to a design professional or firm in recognition of in-novative design solutions that preserved or saved a modern landmark at risk. Nominated projects should have enhanced a site’s architectural, func-tional, economic, and environmental sustaina-bility while benefiting the community, and must have been completed in 2007 or after. Nomina-tions must be submitted by July 31, 2012. For
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more information about the initiative and previ-ous prizewinners, please visit the WMF website.www.wmf.org/modernism
Winners of the 2012 Governor General’s awards in Visual and Media arts announced.The winners of the 2012 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts were recently an-nounced by Robert Sirman, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts. Each has, in their own way, made a mark on Canada’s dynamic art scene through their groundbreaking work. They are: Margaret Dragu, performance artist; Geoffrey James, photographer; Charles Lewton-Brain, art-ist-goldsmith (Saidye Bronfman Award); Ron Mar-tin, visual artist; Diana Nemi roff, art gallery direc-tor and curator (Outstanding Contribution); Jan Peacock, visual artist—media and installation; Roy-den Rabinowitch, sculptor; and Jana Sterbak, visual artist. In addition to a $25,000 prize from the Can-ada Council, the winners will each receive a spe-cial-issue medallion sponsored by the Royal Can-adian Mint. An exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada will be held in conjunction with these awards, running from March 30 to June 17, 2012. www.canadacouncil.ca/news/releases/2011/tc129749133257998534
2011 north american Wood design awards select MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple architects for three major awards.The North American Wood Design Program recognizes innovative wood design in North America, and has honoured MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects (MLSA) with three awards. The Ron Thom Award was given to the firm for the Ghost Campus, located in Upper Kingsburg, Nova Scotia. This prestigious award is rarely granted and is presented to an architect and a body of work that demonstrates outstanding cre-ative talent and exemplary architectural design. The second award issued to the firm was a Wood Design Honour Award, which recognizes the Cliff House, located on Nova Scotia’s eastern shore. And lastly, a North American Wood Design Citation distinguished the Two Hulls House on Nova Scotia’s south shore. The awards ceremony will take place in May 2012 at the American Institute of Architects National Convention in Washington, DC.
What’S neW
iideX 2012 call for presentations.Share your insight and knowledge and make a difference in the architectural and design in-
dustry by presenting a seminar at IIDEX/NeoCon Canada 2012. With over 3,000 conference attendees and 75+ sessions, IIDEX is widely recognized as an industry leader by providing thought-provoking and insightful hands-on educational opportunities for the design, archi-tectural and facility management communities. Sessions are offered in one-, two- and three-hour time slots, with a preference for one- and two-hour sessions. Sessions are being sought that are at the basic, intermediate and advanced skill level in order to provide a wide range of learning opportunities. Please submit online by April 30, 2012. www.formstack.com/forms/iidex-iidexneocon_ canada_2012_call_for_presentations
architecture app developed by ryerson researchers puts downtown toronto at your fingertips.Downtown Toronto is filled with architectural icons designed by the likes of Calatrava, Gehry, Libeskind and Alsop. A new app developed at Ryerson University will allow tourists, Toronto-nians and architecture fans to delve into the de-sign, function and history of many of downtown Toronto’s most notable buildings. The Ryerson Architecture Mobile App, a partnership between
04/12canadian architect11
Ryerson’s Department of Architectural Science and the Ryerson University Library and Archives, is a free interactive mobile app that uses geo-location data to help users identify and learn more about the architecture that im-mediately surrounds them. Architectural science professor Vincent Hui first came up with the concept in late 2010, and took his idea to Innovative Technologies Librarian Graham McCarthy who, along with his team, de-veloped the app. The Architecture Mobile App offers the user a detailed look into the history, function, design and creation of the more than 90 build-ings in its database. It will also highlight the closest buildings to the user offering a wealth of relevant information, including documents such as floor plans and high-res images. More than 60 students and recent gradu-ates have contributed to the database, researching downtown buildings and their history on their own time. The database also includes data provided by Canadian Architect magazine archives, and the entire database is vetted by Hui and his research assistants. Available now on Android, on the Apple App store and on the mobile web, the app has been accessed by almost 800 unique users since it became available. www.ryerson.ca/news/news/General_Public/20120125_app.html
Parks canada approves Sturgess architecture’s Glacier discovery Walk project.Parks Canada recently announced that the Glacier Discovery Walk project has met all required environment assessment guidelines and is a project that is acceptable within Parks Canada’s policy framework governing the management and protection of our national parks. Parks Canada has given Brewster Travel Canada approval to proceed with the next steps in the development of the project. The decision for the Glacier Discovery Walk project, a 400-metre-long guided interpretive walkway with a 30-metre glass-floored observation area overlooking the Sunwapta Valley at the Tangle Ridge Viewpoint in Jasper National Park, is a major step in an exten-sive regulatory process required by the federal government through Parks Canada for all projects occurring within a national park. The project’s de-sign—developed by Sturgess Architecture in Calgary—recently won a presti-gious international architectural award at the World Festival of Architecture for its stunning design that evokes the surrounding landscape and for the incorporation of environmentally friendly elements such as Corten, a type of steel that will both weather well and blend in with the natural surround-ings without using any paint or chemicals. The design was also recognized in part for its ability to provide Canadians of all ages and abilities with barrier-free access to view a piece of our national park in a way that will both challenge and educate visitors. www.glacierdiscoverywalk.ca
call for innovative seismic design projects for 2012 design exchange exhibition.An exhibition will be held at the Design Exchange in Toronto in November/December 2012 relating to innovative approaches to seismic design. Featur-ing drawings, models and various multilmedia platforms, the exhibition aims to convey the cutting-edge character of some of the most creative pro-jects around the world. Curators Effie Bouras of Mechanik Design Office and Professor Ghyslaine McClure of McGill University are seeking complet-ed building projects and research that engage an innovative approach to seismic design requirements—buildings that have been designed to resist earthquakes in the typically seismic zones of the West Coast, China, Japan, New Zealand, etc. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2012. Please e-mail your proposals with “DX exhibit” in the subject line. [email protected]
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14 canadian architect 04/12
Float PlaneS
a Short-lived deSign PartnerShiP yielded a careFully conceived WeSt coaSt reSidence that FloatS above itS rocky outcroP.
ProJect Gulf Islands ResIdence, salt spRInG Island, BRItIsh columBIadeSignerS RuRal/uRBan/fantasy pRoject (Ruf)teXt tanya southcottPhotoS Ivan hunteR
When West Vancouver’s City Council approved the demolition of Arthur Erickson’s famed Graham House, the loss of this West Coast Modern gem resonated among the architectural community across the country and be-yond. Arguably one of the few times and places in Canadian architectural history revered internationally for its sense of place and unique approach to climate, building materials and lifestyle, the legacy of architectural design in British Columbia from the 1950s and ’60s is increasingly threatened by the expense of upkeep in a strong developer-driven market. Fortunately, a new generation of designers is attempting to address this cultural amnesia head-on through a reinterpretation of the fundamentals of this venerable style. The Gulf Islands Residence, the inaugural project of local design collaborative Rural/Urban/Fantasy Project—or RUF for short—is an elegant example of this continuum.
Just under 100 kilometres across the Strait of Georgia from mainland British Columbia’s lower west coast, Salt Spring Island is the largest of the South Gulf Islands. Accessible from both the mainland and Vancouver Island by float plane and ferry service, its population can easily triple dur-ing the summer. The road from Ganges, the largest island village, to this waterfront retreat winds through dense stretches of forest scattered with an eclectic mix of wooden cabins and modern homes until finally opening up onto a moss-covered rocky outcrop sloping gently down to an even rockier shore. Set back from the road, the house appears to float like a glass bridge spanning the rocky crest, framing panoramic views of the Strait and the islands beyond. The strong horizontals of the golden-coloured heavy timber roof hold the gaze low to the ground, identifying immediately the duality of this Modernist object in the landscape—the desire to blend into its natural setting while simultaneously standing out.
Located on a former apple orchard, the Gulf Islands Residence is the second generation of waterfront homes to be built on this three-acre site. When architectural graduate Sean Pearson and landscape architect Alyssa Schwann first set foot on the plot, they found a rotting wood-frame house complete with tennis court, palm trees and a quaint 1911 timber guest cabin. Unsalvageable even with a major renovation, the house quickly came down, but not before Pearson and Schwann temporarily reclaimed the cabin in which to set up their live-work studio as the basis for their RUF partnership
04/12 canadian architect 15
for the duration of design and construction.Both graduates from the University of Manitoba, the two had been work-
ing in and around design across Europe for several years. After gaining experience with a number of prestigious architectural firms including London-based Hopkins Architects and Jump Studio, Pearson was working in the Netherlands as Design Director for Nike, developing projects ranging from branding and product work to retail design. Unlike more traditional timelines of architecture and landscape architecture graduates, the two moved quickly from office to office, constantly pushing forward the bound-aries of design. Schwann was also busy building a portfolio of international-ly acclaimed pieces while working with West 8 in Rotterdam. When the possibility to return to Canada presented itself with the Gulf Islands Resi-dence, the duo seized the opportunity to launch their design collaborative and reconnect with North American industry.
The design brief was loose, allowing RUF the freedom to develop a narra-tive for the site that drew from a number of contexts. Torn between the idea of a modern villa and a rustic cabin in the woods, the clients believed strongly in making the house “belong” to a particular place, favouring the approach of the West Coast Modernists. The final design was ultimately driven by the flow of spaces, the relationship between interior and exterior, and framing views out to the landscape. The clients wanted a home that would accommodate but not overwhelm two permanent residents, and also
comfortably house visiting family and guests throughout the year. At 5,600 square feet, the Gulf Islands Residence is far from a modest country cabin. Yet a large part of the building’s success is the intimate scale of individual spaces and their inherent flexibility.
The house is clearly divided into two parts. The main floor, a transparent glass box framed by timber wings, contains the traditional elements of the home in one continuous space. Kitchen, living room and study soar over the landscape, inviting sweeping views as the backdrop to domestic activities. The master suite is less permeable, framed by oak-clad walls that create a sense of privacy directing views to the boathouse and shoreline and away from the adjacent property. Built-in furniture and sliding walls throughout the building bring spatial definition and a sense of enclosure to individual spaces. The dining room walls slide away to connect the room to the rest of the house, but can also close to create an intimate space for entertaining. Sliding glass walls in the kitchen and master bedroom open onto outdoor
oPPoSite an ode to the leGacy of West coast modeRnIsm, the home’s Golden-hued hoRIzontally domInant tImBeRs GloW at nIGht. above laRGe expanses of Glass Reveal the InteRIoR mateRIal palette of Wood and stone. at nIGht, the ResIdence Is a Beacon to passInG feRRyBoats tRanspoRtInG passenGeRs thRouGh the Gulf Islands.
16 canadian architect 04/12
loWer Floor
Main Floor
1 23
4 5
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9
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6
1 hall2 stoRe3 stoRe/mech
4 mech5 medIa Room6 Guest Room
7 patIo8 utIlIty9 caRpoRt (aBove)
1 2
3 4
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78910
11 12
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1 foyeR2 mudRoom3 hall4 dInInG5 pantRy6 Wc
7 kItchen 8 GReat Room 9 lIBRaRy10 masteR suIte11 masteR Bath12 spa
13 closet14 laundRy15 teRRace16 caRpoRt
terraces, creating a seamless transition between interior and exterior space.
In contrast to the transparency of the upper level, the lower floor is submerged into the site and clad in custom-cut limestone pavers to look like a man-made version of the natural topog-raphy. Built on the foundations of the original house, this guest wing is the most private part of the home and features a series of modest, trapezoid-shaped rooms staggered in a sawtooth plan to frame views out towards the shore.
The house showcases an honesty of materials and elegant simplicity in their detailing that marries both design and craft. Minimal interior finishes feature inexpensive, local materials de-tailed in very precise ways. Walls and ceiling are predominantly finished in wood that was hand-selected for its colour and cut, and detailed according to the direction of the grain and in-herent patterning. At 10 feet and higher, the golden hemlock ceiling sets a continuous datum throughout the house, while subtle variations of the wall treatment are tailored to individual
Site Plan
1 house2 GaRaGe3 Boathouse4 Wood platfoRm5 tennIs couRt6 foRest
1
2
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toP the shelteRed caRpoRt pRovIdes a Gentle entRy to the house. sItuated at the junctuRe of the tWo WInGs, the fully tRanspaRent GReat Room on the uppeR level hoveRs oveR the Rocky land-scape. Middle the Island RetReat, seen fRom the foRest at nIGht. above the sImply desIGned kItchen Is peRfect foR enteRtaInInG vIsItoRs Who can luxuRIate In the spectaculaR vIeWs.
0 20’
0 100’
04/12 canadian architect 17
spaces. Large panels of oak are used in public spaces, and thin verticals of fir bring texture and scale to the private bedrooms.
Having the right crew was paramount to the success of the project. Pearson and Schwann quickly realized the advantage of working with a local contractor who was committed to their vision when they were first introduced to H. Hazenboom Construction by their client. A resident of Salt Spring Island for over 40 years, Hazenboom had built a reputation on the careful and meticulous craftsmanship necessary in realizing the simplicity and elegance of RUF’s detailing. With few exceptions, crews were se-lected locally which proved an asset in choosing materials that would be accessible from the site. Sourced from mainland British Columbia, the yellow cedar glulam roof beams were designed to within a quarter-inch tolerance of 108 feet—BC Ferries’ maximum allowable length under special permit—and navigated by logging truck along the narrow meandering island roads. Like the beams, the bulk of the materials were designed as com-ponents, manufactured elsewhere and assembled on site where they had to be sized by hand to fit together seamlessly.
After two years of construction, the Gulf Islands Residence was finally completed in the fall of 2011. While Schwann has moved on to found Atelier Anonymous, Pearson maintains a small core team that swells and shrinks as the workload demands, absorbing freelance design-ers and specialty consultants as projects necessi-tate specific skills and focus. Now located in a converted warehouse in East Vancouver, Rural/Urban/Fantasy has turned the spirit of collabora-tion that fuelled the design and construction of the Gulf Islands Residence into the core of its business model. ca
Tanya Southcott is a Vancouver-based architect.
client WIthhelddeSign teaM sean peaRson, alyssa schWann Structural paRallel consultInG stRuctuRal enGIneeRs ltd.Mechanical jade West enGIneeRInG co. ltd.geotechnical BRaun GeotechnIcal ltd.contractor h. hazenBoom constRuctIon ltd.building enveloPe RIchaRd kadulskI, aRchItectarea 5,600 ft2 budget WIthheldcoMPletion auGust 2011
right In addItIon to Its utIlItaRIan func-tIon, the ancIllaRy Boathouse suGGests the pResence of a folly In a Rocky Island context. bottoM right escheW InG the use of dRyWall, the InteRIoR Walls aRe lIned WIth eItheR stone oR Wood veneeR.
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20 canadian architect 04/12
deco reiterative
described as canadiana art deco, a toronto residence has been updated to reflect modern-day domestic life.
proJect Lawren Harris House restoration, renovation & addition, toronto, ontarioarchitect drew MandeL arcHitectsteXt KatHarine vansittartphotos toM arban
Lawren S. Harris didn’t live here long. In 1931, the iconic Canadian artist commissioned con-struction of his monumental house poised high in the heart of old-world Forest Hill. It was de-signed by Russian-born Alexandra Biriukova, one of few women practicing architecture at the time, and the first female member of the Ontario Association of Architects. The house’s compos-
ition of a flat roof and strong, simple geometry with a plain façade and black steel windows was radical for Toronto at the time, and must have stunned its neighbours. Never mind the contro-versy. By 1934, Harris, then 49, had packed his bags and moved away after having thoroughly scandalized Toronto society by leaving his wife and marrying Bess Housser, herself recently divorced from Harris’s friend and associate Fred Housser.
Even today, if you step out onto the third-floor terrace of the towering Art Deco-era house and look out from its singular perspective over the tops of aspen and conifers that wood the front
yard, across the dormers and gables of the trad-itional enclave, beyond the high-rises of down-town, and then all the way to the shimmering ex-panse that is Lake Ontario, you can sense Harris’s maverick spirit. At home in the wilds of northern Ontario and amongst Europe’s avant-garde, it is in this house that the painter synthesized much that he’d gleaned in his life up to that point. The Ava Crescent residence was more than just a home for Harris—it was a light-filled studio, im-promptu art gallery and salon where he could gather and inspire fellow artists that defined 20th-century Canadian art history. “Without Harris,” wrote A.Y. Jackson, “there would have been no Group of Seven.”
“It is an imposing house, with this large oval foyer,” says architect Drew Mandel, standing in the elliptical front hall. With its soaring cove ceilings, curving walls and granite-trimmed trav-
04/12 canadian architect 21
opposite by reorienting and broadening tHe entry doors at tHe rear of tHe House, tHe newLy reconfigured bacK-yard Has been given greater proMin-ence in tHe daiLy Life of its residents. left wHite stucco, bLacK MuLLions and pLenty of gLazing coMpLeMent tHe wHite art deco-inspired arcHitecture of tHe originaL coMponents of tHe HoMe.
ertine, the front hall shares a similar footprint to many of today’s condos. As the entrance’s gran-deur alone attests, Harris was no starving artist. Part of the Massey-Harris Company Limited agricultural machinery clan, he studied in Berlin, served in the First World War and then travelled around Europe and America where he would have witnessed early Modernist architecture firsthand.
Mandel was commissioned by the current owners in 2010 to restore the house and renovate portions of it to better suit their lifestyle. “They said it was an impressive house with lots of char-acter but that it didn’t feel like a home,” recalls Mandel.
The house is listed as a heritage Art Deco- influenced building and several Deco features re-main, but only some are authentic. Subsequent owners attempted to engage with the building’s mythology by adding exterior lanterns and
sconces. Thankfully, Harris’s design for the sim-ple, stylized fern motif on the stair railings re-mained. Nonetheless, the home is more in keep-ing with the Moderne or International Style traits which came after Art Deco and thus helps explain the residence’s experimentation with steel, con-crete, glass, and a clean aesthetic unencumbered by all historic reference.
The Harris house is constructed of steel web-bing and concrete block covered in stucco—an advanced technique for Canadian residential building at the time. As an artist, Harris explored formal abstraction, minimal colour and purity of composition in his paintings, so Biriukova’s pared-down structure and streamlined décor would have resonated with him. “It was an excit-ing time,” notes Mandel, who discovered the building’s robust structure during demolition of the back wall to make way for an addition that
carries forward the Modernist sensibility.A semi-public quality to the house may be key
to what wasn’t translating easily into 21st-century “hominess” for the current owners. Harris, one assumes, had in mind his family when he com-missioned the project and it must have felt wel-coming once completed. The dining room, in the front west wing, remains much as he would have enjoyed it: bright and convivial thanks to full-height windows, chamfered corners and 12-foot ceilings. In the front east wing, the living room is larger though similarly shaped, sunlit and invit-ing, with a wood-burning fireplace. In both rooms, as on the spiral staircase treads, birch, fir and pine floorboards lend warmth to contrast against the stone floors elsewhere. The combined effect was perceived as being “Canadiana Art Deco” for its uniquely nationalistic and natural-istic evocation of the diversely interpreted style. “But there is a formality to the house that is chal-lenging,” notes Mandel. From a contemporary family’s perspective, longing for spaces in which to lounge in front of a big-screen television or curl up with a book, presents a challenge for an architect to rethink both its form and function.
Said to be a social hub and home gallery in Harris’s day, the foyer perplexed Mandel. “Every time we had meetings we’d hang around in here wandering what to do with it.” The sensible solu-tion was to then approach the project from the rear of the house. The original kitchen, pantry and washroom were located off the front foyer. “Every time you came across the old kitchens and bathrooms, you couldn’t believe how stifling and inappropriate they were,” notes the architect. Attached to the east side of the kitchen had been Harris’s garage. A previous owner had renovated it into a family room and built a three-car garage that once dominated the backyard. “Fortunately, the things that needed our attention were also the things the clients wanted updated to suit their lifestyle,” says Mandel.
The architect responded by reorienting and broadening the entry points at the rear, thereby
22 canadian architect 04/12
0 10’site plan and Ground floor
second floor third floor
new construction
new construction within existing envelope
refinishing, new furnishings, furnishings and fixtures
Diagrams: extent of new/ restoration work
1 entry/foyer 2 KitcHen 3 breaKfast rooM 4 MudrooM 5 faMiLy rooM 6 office 7 Living rooM 8 dining rooM
basement
1 storage 2 bedrooM 3 wasHrooM 4 cLoset 5 waLK-in cLoset
6 Laundry 7 wine ceLLar 8 gaMe rooM 9 Media rooM10 exercise rooM
11 MecHanicaL12 Master bedrooM13 Master ensuite14 Lounge
9 pooL10 patio11 coLonnade/garden waLL12 Hot tub13 cabana14 wasHrooM15 MecHanicaL/pooL storage16 garage
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above witH tHe context of tHe street visibLe in tHis pHotograpH, tHe Long driveway Leading to tHe residence-— situated on a corner Lot—is reLativeLy discreet.
client witHHeLdarchitect team drew MandeL, Jowenne poon, caroLine Howes, aLLison gonsaLves, racHeL taMeiraostructural bLacKweLL bowicK partnersHip LiMitedlandscape drew MandeL arcHitectsinteriors drew MandeL arcHitectscontractor eisner Murrayarea 8,367 ft2 (pLus 3,478 ft2 baseMent and 2,578 ft2 garden rooM)budGet witHHeLdcompletion 2011
04/12 canadian architect 23
top riGht Lawren Harris once enJoyed using tHe entry foyer for entertaining, but tHe current owners prefer to focus tHeir entertaining in tHe KitcHen and bacKyard. However, tHey reMain coM-Mitted to preserving tHe foyer’s originaL bar. middle riGht tHe expanded KitcHen area is one of tHe Main differences between tHe Luxurious LifestyLe of today versus tHat of tHe 1930s. riGht bacKyard activity is focused around tHe swiMMing pooL.
reversing the massing-to-glazing ratio to the ex-tent that the once-stucco back wall is now almost entirely steel and glass with limestone piers echo-ing the house’s existing limestone detailing. A re-duced two-car garage now opens out to a sand-blasted glass walkway sheltered by a floating steel canopy. “It makes for a nice promenade,” says Mandel of the seamless sequencing from car to kitchen. The promenade includes passing through a “mudroom” by name only—the room has 12-foot ceilings, clerestory windows, sleek cabinetry and deep counters containing a large white sink used for washing the dog and rinsing flowers.
Moving from the mudroom to the renovated kitchen, the moniker “kitchen” seems barely ad-equate. More than any other aspect of the 21st-century home, changes to where we prepare food and how we enjoy family time have shifted pro-foundly since Harris’s day, and this is what Man-del sought to express when reconfiguring the new kitchen’s program. The kitchen’s 12-foot ceilings draw much attention to the garden while playing off of the relatively lower-ceilinged adjoining family room. Redesigned to be more of an outdoor lounge than garden, the backyard features lime-stone and concrete decking, along with a built-in grill, cabana and pool that is flanked by a fringe of grasses on the west wall and ivy on the east.
Continuing with the home’s black-and-white scheme and material palette of steel, glass and stone, a Corian island floats atop a sea of black terrazzo used to visually unite the various open-concept rooms. In keeping with Frank Lloyd Wright’s belief that architecture and furniture design are a holistic entity, Mandel designed ample built-in quarter-cut white-oak cabinetry, desk, entertainment centre and bar nook. A min-imalist stone-and-steel gas fireplace articulates the corner connecting the breakfast nook, family room and garden.
Rising from the driveway along the back of the west wall and across the kitchen ceiling’s seam, a long, thin skylight demarcates old and new. The “gap,” as Mandel calls the strip of glazing, also brings slanting sunlight into the kitchen and could represent an allusion to Harris’s spiritual paintings: think of the sunbeams in his North Shore, Lake Superior and other mountain paintings that are pierced with a renewing sense of light.
24 canadian architect 04/12
above, left to riGht tHe originaL deco-inspired residence; LiMestone and wHite stucco detaiLing provides a weLcoMe coMpLeMent to tHe originaL 1930s MateriaL paLette. bottom, left to riGht a new conteMporary wasHrooM; tHe ex -panded KitcHen area; tHe interiors Have been retrofitted witH Many buiLt-in furni-ture coMponents.
Negotiating with the home’s conspicuous architecture was a first for Mandel. The majority of his residential commissions demand that he must work with Victorian-era architecture found throughout Toronto, and his approach is typically to juxtapose old with new. With the Harris resi-dence, Mandel remarks that “Sometimes it’s the texture and grit of the old houses that makes the gleaming new thing work. Here, it was Modern but not the same kind of Modern.”
Other restoration work included repairing hardware and replacing putty work around steel-frame windows for better energy efficiency, un-covering and refinishing floors and renewing the stucco exterior. The owners, who have lived here a year, continue to discover new ways of enjoying each space. With Harris in mind, they’ve held parties that began in the foyer, “but everyone al-ways ends up in the kitchen,” the owner laughs.
Habits and innovations of one century can be-come eccentricities and inefficiencies in the
next. Elegant formality can become awkward for-mality. On the original 1930s drawings there is a room in the basement simply called “Trunks” that has now become an exercise/dance room. The remaining portion of the previously dank basement has been updated to include an enter-tainment centre and wine cellar. Harris’s third-floor studio is now the master bedroom and his pantry has become a mudroom. The outdated kitchen is transformed into the super-efficient hearth of the home, while the bathrooms provide amenities more suitable to today’s daily rituals. The 7,850-square-foot mansion was not lacking space, yet Mandel’s 535-square-foot addition ef-fectively integrates the original spaces by creating a more comfortable and spontaneous living en-vironment. No doubt Harris would have felt right at home. ca
Katharine Vansittart is a Toronto-based freelance writer.
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3230-1576_PosIdeaT_CA_D3.indd 1 3/4/11 8:21 AM
Man in the Moon
a young Montreal designer transitions froM work at an esteeMed architectural practice to the reduced scale of indus-trial and product design.
designer Guillaume SaSSevilleteXt leSlie Jen
Today, the best design firms and practitioners are able to bridge comple-mentary disciplines, arming themselves with a multifaceted approach to their design process. One example of such agility is Montreal-based Guillaume Sasseville, who has shown an impressive range of skills—first in his work for Saucier + Perrotte architectes, and now through his independ-ent one-man venture of SSSVLL, a design studio that focuses on industrial and product design.
Though Sasseville never trained specifically as an architect, he graduated from the Environmental Design program at the Université du Québec à Montréal in 2001, and began honing his craft under the tutelage of Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte the following year. While at the firm, Sasseville worked on projects of varying scales, from urban design to architecture to interior and exhibition design. He credits both of his mentors for inspiring his design sensibility and work process, leaving a marked influence on his approach to thinking, seeing and creating.
With the multitude of opportunities available outside the realm of archi-tecture, Sasseville began to pursue complementary design explorations in furniture and jewelry, along with collaborative excursions in the design and conception of exhibitions, installations and curatorial projects. In 2009, he even undertook independent jewelry studies through an instructor who could accommodate his busy schedule through private lessons.
In 2010, the young designer left the firm, and embarked on a one-year
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04/12 canadian architect 27
opposite The Half Moon wall Sconce deSiGned for chriSTofle illuminaTeS The SurroundinG Space wiTh SofT, diffuSe liGhT. aBoVe, left to right for The Resized SerieS of rinGS, Guillaume SaSSeville SubJecTS wax caSTS of ornaTe chunky rinGS To The riGid GeomeTry of a priSm To achieve The final effecT of oddly TruncaTed buT STill wearable obJecTS. BottoM, left to right alSo parT of The Resized SerieS, ThiS hoTel room key iS made preciouS and unuSual by iTS compoSiTion of GoldplaTed Silver and iTS definiTively anGled cuT; The cenTurieSold TradiTional Quebec “babiche” chair GeTS SaSSeville’S priSm TreaTmenT for The BaBicHe nouvelle exhibiTion of 2008; Three exampleS of SaSSeville’S preciouS and uniQue Resized rinGS in Their final STaTe.
program at the prestigious École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ÉCAL) in Switzerland, from which he graduated with a Master’s degree in Industrial Design. His decision to attend this particular institution was based on its strong reputation as an applied program with a real-world focus. The school’s established liaisons and collaborations with recognized European luxury brands and manufacturers such as Baccarat and Christofle meant that Sasseville could obtain direct experience designing real projects during his education, some of which were ultimately commissioned for production. The school’s affiliation with such companies also provided the young de-signer with access to the finest and most experienced artisans to craft his visions.
One such success was the Half Moon project for Christofle, a French man-ufacturer of silver flatware and home accessories. Half Moon is a light sconce that was inspired by Sasseville’s childhood memories and imaginative con-
ceptions of the moon. The sconce’s cratered silver surface is mounted atop a convex frosted glass surface, through which a concealed LED disc glows, emitting a diffuse light reminiscent of the moon’s soft, calming luminosity.
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28 canadian architect 04/12
Another of Sasseville’s designs currently in production is Jump, a rarefied but functional jump rope—also for Christofle—that was commissioned for the baby gift niche market. Sasseville describes it as a “non-design”—meaning he kept the object in its original and most basic form, made mani-fest in a rope knotted at each end, probably its simplest evocation. However, with its handles made of solid silver, the jump rope is very much a beautiful objet while still fulfilling its promise of a completely functional—and expen-sive—toy.
Sasseville’s independently produced work enables him to pursue a more conceptual and subversive—yet also artisanal—approach to design. For the Resized series of 2010, he applied an intriguing geometric exercise to a vari-ety of everyday objects usually taken for granted, such as cheap dime-store rings and hotel room keys. By imposing the geometry of a prism onto such objects, Sasseville cuts away at the extraneous material of the object falling outside the constraints of the prism, thereby sculpting a new and unusual object in the process.
With the rings, Sasseville created wax casts of the original objects. Once the geometry of the prism was applied to the wax casts, Sasseville “read” the object to determine the best place to make the cuts to communicate the im-posed geometry while still retaining the feeling and meaning of the object. Simple slices were made to the wax casts, then the final rings were cast in gold or silver, creating valuable and enduring pieces of wearable jewelry but also highly conceptual works of art.
Adopting the same theme, Sasseville’s submission to the 2010 Carton Jaune competition and exhibition (which he also co-curated and co-de-signed) was a hotel room key—made precious and unusual by its composi-tion of gold-plated silver and by a curious diagonal cut across the fob. In slicing the fob according to the dictates of the prism, the room number is partially cut off, thus reducing the key’s functionality and usefulness.
This approach ultimately derived two years earlier from his Prism Chair of 2008, which he submitted to the Babiche Nouvelle exhibition at the Commis-saires Gallery in Montreal. By applying the geometry of a prism to Sasse ville’s version of the centuries-old traditional Quebec “babiche” chair, critical parts of its structure were lopped off, rendering it useless for the purpose it was intended.
Another chair appeared in Sasseville’s repertoire in 2008—this time for the Testing Ground exhibition at Atelier Punkt. The designer was asked to submit a design for a chair, to which he responded with Flat Chair, a puddle of grey plastic bearing a vague resemblance to a melted chair—that blended perfectly with the grey concrete floor of the gallery. So invisible it was that visitors walked right over it. Sasseville maintains his design was a comment on how we read our environment and how the conventional notion of a chair dictates where we sit. Here, he invites people to sit where they want—in this case, on the ground if they choose the Flat Chair.
Though he has expanded the scope of his design work, Sasseville hasn’t strayed completely away from architecture. His simple two-storey Island House in Rivière-du-Loup along the St. Lawrence River measures a modest 25’ x 32’. While this elemental structure seems very basic viewed from ground level, in typical Sasseville fashion, there is a twist. The steeply pitched roofline has an elegant deviation, with the roof ridge running diag-onally from front to back. The skewed geometry is imperceptible from the front elevation, but is readily apparent from above in plan view. Construc-tion of the house will begin later this month, and is scheduled for comple-tion in the fall.
The designer’s talents have recently been recognized: in November 2011, Sasseville was named the winner of the Phyllis Lambert Design Montréal Grant, a $10,000 prize that will enable him to complete his current project entitled Verre Commun, a series of glasses and cups inspired by drinking vessels mass-produced in early 20th-century Montreal. Currently in the process of design and production in Graz, Austria, this latest creation will be introduced to Canada later this year. We eagerly await the unveiling. ca
top JuMp waS commiSSioned by chriSTofle To fill The luxury baby GifT niche markeT. Middle caRton Jaune waS a 2010 compeTiTion and exhibiTion premiSed upon The common obJecT ThaT SaSSeville deSiGned and curaTed in collaboraTion wiTh feed, a monTreal Graphic deSiGn STudio. aBoVe for The testing gRound exhi biTion in 2008, SaSSeville reSponded wiTh The SliGhTly SubverSive flat cHaiR, a puddle of melTed Grey plaSTic.
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Deep Roots in a new eneRgy CityDes assises soliDes pouR la ville Des éneRgies nouvellesDelta st. John’s Hotel and Conference Centrest. John’s, newfoundland and labrador | terre-neuve-et-labradorJune 12-16, 2012 | 12 au 16 juin 2012
pResenteD by | pRésenté paR
Newfoundland & Labrador Association of Architects
For more information and to register pour en savoir davantage et pour s’inscrire
Festival.RaiC.oRg
venez célébrer l’architecture avec vos collègues et profitez de l’événement pour :
• suivre des activités de formation continue donnant droit à des heures de formation dirigée;
• entendre des conférenciers inspirants;
• assister à des remises de prix et distinctions à des professionnels qui se sont illustrés au cours de l’année;
• participer à diverses activités sociales, visites architecturales et occasions de réseautage;
• profiter des belles journées d’été à st. John’s, ville accueillante; et plus encore!
Come celebrate architecture with your colleagues while enjoying:
• Continuing education courses that qualify for core credits (hours)
• inspiring talks from keynote speakers
• presentation of awards and Honours with the top professionals of the year
• social activities, tours and networking
• summer days in friendly st. John’s, and much more!
pHoto: neD pRatt pHotogRapHy – CouRtesy oF / aveC l’autoRisation De : pHb gRoup inC.
2012 Festival_can arch_ad.indd 1 2/22/2012 4:41:21 PM
04/12canadian architect31
report
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Architecture, so they say, is in the middle of a digital revolution. So it’s not surprising that a key artifact in the current exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), placed on a ped-estal behind Plexiglas, is a small, pristine white model of a digitally generated blob. But it’s not the “digital” that visitors are supposed to ponder: it’s the paunch. For the blob is a plastic replica of Captain B. McCrea. You’ll remember him as the commander of the infamous luxury galactic cruise ship in the 2008 film WALL-E. Pudgy Captain McCrea, installed in a room dedicated to the theme of architecture and obesity, perfectly captures the show’s ambitions. Like the Pixar film, the CCA is at pains to suggest that the world we design for ourselves may not turn out to be one we want to live in.
Imperfect Health: The Medicalization of Architec-ture is the latest in a series of CCA exhibitions developed under the direction of Mirko Zardini which link architecture to contemporary social themes. From 2005’s Sense of the City, through 1973: Sorry, Out of Gas, which examined the energy crisis, to exhibitions on migration, war and speed, the CCA has made a normative push to-wards explaining what architecture should be about.
The curators—Zardini along with CCA Curator of Contemporary Architecture Giovanna Borasi—organized Imperfect Health around six themes: obesity, allergies, asthma, epidemics, aging and cancer. The list is not meant to be exhaustive. Obvious sites for the intersection of buildings and illness, such as hospitals and sick-building syndrome, are not documented here. Instead, the curators use the themes as carryalls to hold to-gether an eclectic bundle of modern design proj-ects, from interiors to cities, through which architects have sought to improve our health. The idea is to use research to bring questions to light, not to answer them. In architectural schools, one regularly encounters discussions of these kinds of topics —themes combining diverse ideas from a welter of different fields —but they are rarely broached in professional practice. It’s the kind of
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research Rem Koolhaas/OMA popularized in books such as S,M,L,XL and The Harvard Guide to Shopping. If you enjoy that style of thinking, you will enjoy the approach to this exhibition and the recently released companion publication.
The CCA archive is well represented here, especially with stunning sets of photographs showing the unparalleled richness of the CCA’s vaults. There’s work from Alfred Stieglitz and Lynne Cohen, and a series of industrial land-scapes by Hilla and Bernd Becher, just to name a few. For those who missed the exhibition, a book edited by Zardini and Borasi accompanying the exhibition launched in the middle of March by the CCA with Lars Müller.
For me, the air-conditioned nightmare that is the spaceship from WALL-E is a key touchstone for the show’s concerns, symptomatic of an architectural urge for total environmental control. Alison and Peter Smith-son’s 1956 House of the Future offers a Pop Art take on enclosed habitats. Crisp drawings detail a plastic, self-cleaning, sanitized, inward-focused and organically shaped domestic interior that today seems more forlorn than futuristic. Likewise, there’s a melancholy aura to a 2010 project from Copenhagen-based David Garcia Studio. It’s a proposal for reintegrating the quarantined with family life. The inflatable Domestic Isolation Unit allows a single susceptible inhabitant to live at home in a plastic bubble, designed as a hospital-standard isolation environment, separated from but surrounded by family members. In an emotional emergency, the bubble can be un-zipped and the family reunited. So does the design merely substitute a physical problem with more potent mental distress?
Overall, Zardini and Borasi want to highlight the unintended conse-quences of our attempts to improve our health through the design of our environment. It’s not just that our best efforts sometimes fail, but that they can often harm us. The key case study deals with allergies. First, visitors
are treated to a display of Cesare Leonardi’s careful, almost obsessive ink drawings of trees. The curators’ commentary notes that his influential 1982 book The Architecture of Trees, based on these drawings, helped populate western cities with tree species whose pollens cause allergic reactions: birch, poplar, even ginkgo. Likewise, Frederick Law Olmsted’s great 19th-century urban parks, shown in a radiant series of photographs taken by Robert Burley around 1990, provide lungs for cities, but also create allergies for park users. The road to imperfect health, it seems, is lined with trees.
Thus health and architecture, the curators argue, are ambiguously en-meshed in complex relationships. Let me give an example of how the show brashly stages contradictions. The section of the exhibition devoted to al-lergies includes a 2011 proposal from Landscape Architecture Nature Devel-opment (LAND, a Milan-based network of landscape architects). As part of a strategy for greening Milan, LAND designed hypoallergenic gardens, filled with carefully chosen pollen-free plants. The implication is that these gardens proffer a solution to the problem of allergies, a better urban envi-ronment, and improved health for citizens. And yet, the show teaches us to be wary. Doesn’t LAND’s proposal merely repeat the hubris of earlier archi-tects? What new unanticipated problems will a hypoallergenic garden bring? Is there anything architects can do to make cities healthier that might not lead to imperfect health?
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Nearby projects for vegetative buildings embody similar contradictions. The curators include Patrick Blanc’s celebrated “green wall” or vertical garden concept, and Tryptique Architecture’s housing block entitled Harmonia 57, built in São Paulo in 2008. These projects argue that growing plants on walls, inside and out, promotes biodiversity, better energy con-sumption, and cleaner air. And yet, arguably, green walls also cause more allergies. Édouard François’s L’immeuble qui pousse (Sprouting Building), a housing block in southern France, playfully captures this ambiguity. A gnarly and wrought scraggly model, bleakly adorned with barren trees, represents the scheme. The building uses gabions for cladding. Its rocky crevices contain an integrated irrigation system, creating a potential home for opportunistic plants. But unlike Blanc’s vertical gardens, François’s gabions offer no guarantee that vegetation will flourish. His project stages the problem, but backs away from any definitive solution.
A separate thematic section features environments specifically aimed at accommodating the aging. There’s a concise 1975 video showing residents going about their daily routine in Herman Hertzberger’s Brutalist, Structur-alist, and inventive De Drie Hoven housing complex for the elderly in Amsterdam. In the next room, marketing brochures tout Sun City, Arizona. Still growing, it was started by the Del E. Webb Corporation in 1960 as the first “active adult retirement community.” This small but potent juxtaposi-tion of state-based and market-based projects gives food for thought.
Yet another of the show’s bold contradictions stems from the curatorial team’s keen awareness of contemporary western architecture. Although the
team wants to steer away from a traditional focus on architectural practice, the show nonetheless manages to celebrate recent work from the top echelons of celebrity architects: in addition to OMA’s light-filled Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre in Glasgow, there’s work from BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), SANAA, Morphosis, MVRDV, François Roche, Steven Holl and Philippe Rahm. Next to Captain McCrea, these unabashedly formal archi-tectural moments give the show its brightest sparks.
For good drawings make good exhibits. Take Níall McLaughlin’s 2009 Orchard Respite Centre in Dublin, a daycare facility for people with Alz-heimer’s. The design’s sensitivity to light, smells, vegetation and other markers that help patients stay connected and oriented is captured in a playful drawing of storks and rabbits (or is that a fox terrier?), orchards and flowers, reminiscent of Renaissance book illustration, but all surrounding a rigorously modern pinwheel plan.
Imperfect Health continues CCA’s policy of engaging an international coterie of designers. London-based graphic designer Jonathan Hares makes good use of neon to highlight words from the wall text, a strategy duplicated graphically in all printed typography. How best to convey the information overload that accompanies themes as controversial as cancer? Photocopies, brochures, printouts and newspaper articles, unceremoniously attached to poster boards with small magnets, effectively suggest the reams of material published online and in print. As usual, the CCA’s taste and restraint mute any aggressive ideas. The show has an intriguing model of François Roche’s Dustyrelief F/B-mu, a museum proposed for Bangkok that would use the building envelope to clean dust from the air. But as displayed here, it’s the least dirty dust you’ll ever see.
Brussels-based OFFICE, led by architects Kersten Geers and David Van Severen, are responsible for the exhibition “scenography.” Like many de-signers faced with choreographing movement through the main galleries, they sought to overcome the static, formal six-room enfilade. Their design works; it is simple but makes for subtle, ambiguous sensations. They in-stalled two parallel glass walls equipped with a coating that makes weak but palpable reflections. The walls deftly overlay a new spatial organization on the existing rooms.
The curators also commissioned artist Andy Byers. He responded with a burst of craftsmanship and imagination. His three life-size paper sculp-tures dramatize our encounter with swine flu (a pig), mad cow disease (a cow) and avian flu (a chicken). The sculptures are counterpoised by ar-chitectural projects dealing with animals in the food supply chain. Cedric Price’s 1977 plan for a mixed cattle, sheep and pig-folding pen shares space with animal scientist Temple Grandin’s abattoir designs for livestock-hand ling facilities, as well as with MVRDV’s notorious Pig City. This sky-scraper pig farm is meant to both dramatize the scale of Dutch consumption of pork and, at the same time, suggest ways of farming pigs that consume less land and other resources.
Finally, it should be said that with Imperfect Health, the CCA continues to innovate, showing an unrivalled understanding of what interests non- architects about architecture. The drawback may be that Canada’s premier architecture museum now rarely celebrates the profession’s actual concerns or retells its history. The gain is a sustained attempt to make architecture part of popular culture—not the old-fashioned elite culture of opera and connoisseurs, but rather the more fluid play of university life, modern art museums, blogs, film and magazines. Eclectic, provocative and non- didactic, the show is ultimately optimistic about design. Captain McCrea eventually returns home to accept the imperfect world. So might we. ca
David Theodore is a doctoral candidate in the History of Architecture, Medicine, and Science at Harvard University. The exhibition’s compendium Imperfect Health: the Medicalization of Architecture was co-edited by Giovanna Borasi and Mirko Zardini. The book is available from the CCA Bookstore or online.
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BachelorMarch 15-May 5, 2012 This exhibition at MADE in Toronto features the work of Georgia Dickie, who accumu lates discarded objects and detritus, later combining and re arrang ing them in her studio. The sculptures engage elements of utility while simultaneously negating their primary functions and allowing them to exist as descriptive art objects. www.madedesign.ca
Uriel Orlow performanceApril 24, 2012 As part of the Urban Field Speakers Series, Swiss artist Uriel Orlow lectures/performs at 7:30pm at the Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art in Toronto. Orlow presents Aide-Mémoire, in which he explores the territory between travelogue, slide show, obscure history lesson and immersive soundscape. The event is moderated by b.h. Yael, filmmaker, artist and Professor of Integrated Media at OCAD University. www.prefix.ca
Hot Docs 2012April 26-May 6, 2012 Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market, presents its 19th annual edition featuring an outstanding selection of 170+ documentaries from Canada and around the world. Hot Docs also mounts a full roster of professional development and market events and services for documentary practitioners, includ ing the renowned Hot Docs Forum and The Doc Shop. Hot Docs takes place at the Hot Docs Cinema, located at 110 Spadina Avenue in Toronto.www.hotdocs.ca
Banff Session 2012April 27-28, 2012 Held every two years, the Banff Session provides an opportunity for those involved in the practice of architecture and interior design to discuss their work, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes in an arena of open dialogue, in a unique context unencumbered by the everyday pressures and activities of the workplace. Taking place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, the
event will explore how cultural context impacts and enhances design decisions and working methods while connecting people to places.www.banffsession.ca
15th Annual Sustainable Building SymposiumMay 3, 2012 Taking place at the BMO Centre in Calgary, speakers will explore the value that the green building movement offers individuals, companies, building owners and com munities. Topics covered will in clude how green buildings contri bute to the business of designing, building and operating buildings more efficiently, new product and service business opportunities at home and abroad, and how better de sign and planning builds more live able and sustainable communities.www.asbs2012.ca
OCADU 97th Annual Graduate Exhibition May 3-6, 2012 The Ontario College of Art & Design University’s (OCADU) Class of 2012 will exhibit work from a broad spectrum of disciplines, including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, criticism and curatorial practice, integrated media, sculpture/installation, advertising, illustration, material art and design, and environmental, industrial and graphic design.www.ocadu.ca/gradex
Introduction to Insulated Rammed EarthMay 5-6, 2012 Taking place in Vancouver, this course introduces par ti cipants to rammedearth construction through examining optimal soil blends, exploring aspects of design and engineering, and building rammedearth samples through handson experience.www.sirewall.com
Ryerson Architectural Alumni Association MixerMay 8, 2012 RAAA’s architectural cock tail reception will be returning to the Thompson Hotel Rooftop Lounge, providing a great opportunity for architects to network with industry. www.theRAAA.ca
2012 AIBC Annual ConferenceMay 9-11, 2012 With the theme of “Elevation: Reaching Higher Ground,” the annual conference of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia presents an array of continuing education courses and other professional development opportunities. This event takes place at the Vancouver Convention Centre West.www.aibc.ca
Lightfair InternationalMay 9-11, 2012 Taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, five pavilions will showcase cuttingedge style and innovative design while launching new products and revealing new technological advances to the global architectural and commercial lighting industry.www.lightfair.com
2012 OAA Annual ConferenceMay 9-12, 2012 An annual event, this conference adopts the theme of “Architect as Conductor: The Music of Architecture.” Taking place at
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ULI Asia Pacific Real Estate Summit 2012May 16-18, 2012 This is Asia’s only multidisciplinary forum for real estate leaders from Asia Pacific and around the world to meet and discuss critical issues facing our industry. Topics include landuse policy, sustainability, capital flows, transitoriented development, planning, development and architecture and design.www.uli.org/LearnAboutULI/ WhereWeAre/Asia.aspx
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aBOVe, LeFt tO right three of Sylvia Grace Borda’S photoS printed on plateS derive from her ChurChes SerieS of photo-GraphS. BOttOM right the plateS, exhiBited in Situ at the BelfaSt expoSed Gallery thiS paSt winter.
church Lady
photoGraphS of poStwar reliGiouS Build-inGS in northern ireland conStitute a thouGht-provokinG exhiBition at the BelfaSt expoSed Gallery.
teXt paiGe maGarreyphOtOS Sylvia Grace Borda
It’s a funny thing. For all the criticism that reli-gious organizations take for their rigid, some-times outdated attitudes, they’ve often led the pack when it comes to modern design. Across the globe, minimalist Mid-Century Modern religious buildings sit like otherworldly UFOs, nestled among both simple townships and bustling cities as monuments to the postwar building boom of the ’50s and ’60s: Frank Lloyd Wright’s pyramid-like Beth Sholom Synagogue on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Wendell E. Rossman’s curvaceous and wavy designs in Arizona, and British archi-tects Robert Maguire and Keith Murray’s iconic Bow Common in London. It’s structures like these, albeit slightly more underplayed ones, that Sylvia Grace Borda sought to capture in her latest collection. The Vancouver photographer spent three years in Northern Ireland before she decided to start a two-year traipse across the country, travelling to the most far-flung locales to photograph religious build-ings far off any tourist map. The resulting instal-lation, exhibited at the Belfast Exposed Gallery this past winter, showcased 100 images of Mod-ernist religious buildings constructed after World War II and before the ethno-political conflict that rattled Northern Ireland until just a decade or so ago. The images were projected as a slide show on the wall with nary a title card; no indi-cation of each building’s religious affiliation, location, or even architect. The absence of infor-mation was a deliberate and simple decision, and certainly not the first time a piece of art has been
shown devoid of context. But in Borda’s case it’s a fascinating commentary on the equalizing effect of the Modernist aesthetic. Previously, the archi-tecture of “sacred” or religious buildings was not only informed by its faith, it was defined by it—think of Christian medieval churches built with a cross-shaped footprint. Enter Modernism—and the forward-looking, innovative architects be-hind it—and buttresses were replaced by stark concrete shells, and bell towers by dramatic, ethereal rooflines. All of a sudden, a Greek Orthodox Church becomes relatively indiscern-ible from an Islamic mosque—not impossibly, mind you, but certainly compared to the ornate designs of even 50 years prior.
Borda’s photographs are indistinguishable as religious sites, tourist hotspots or otherwise; in-stead, they become simple testaments to one of the most significant architectural periods in the past century. It’s a statement made all the more tongue-in-cheek by the installation’s second component, a table set for 18 with plates printed
with photos from the series—an abstract take on the souvenir plates found at tourist sites across the globe. Photos and kitschy souvenirs to re-member a place you haven’t been to and couldn’t find if you wanted to. What could be more mod-ern than that? And while such a review of the equalizing effect of Modernism would be poign-ant anywhere, in the context of Northern Ireland, a country whose identity has been defined by religious turmoil and a sense of “otherness,” the simple slide show and dining table set-up becomes a compelling conversation-starter long after closing night. ca
Paige Magarrey is an architecture and design writer based in Toronto.
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