Constructed destinations: Art at airports

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C O N S T R U C T E D

DESTINATIONS:

A R TAND REPRESENTATIONS OF HISTORY AT THE

V A N C O U V E R

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

by

R O S A L I N D A L L X R O R K E

B.A. , McGil lUniversity,

1991

A THESIS SUBMITTED INP A R T I A L F U L F I L L M E N TOF

T H E

R E Q U I R E M E N T S

FOR

T H E D E G R E E

OF

M A S T E R

OF AR TS

in

T H E F A C U L T Y

OFG R A D U A T E

STUDIES

(Department

of

ArtHistory, Visual Art

and

Theory)

We

accept this thesis as

conforming

to the

required standard

T H E UNTVERSITY OFBRITISH C OL UM BI A

October

2001

RosalindAlixRorke,

2001


2/106

In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced

degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it

freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive

copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my

department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or

publication

of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written

permission.

Department of

The

University of British Columbia

Vancouver, Canada

DE-6

2

/88


3/106

A B S T R A C T

Since its opening in 1931, theVancouverInternationalAirporthasbeenasite

where significant representationsofthe city, its geography

and

its population have

been

made. Insteadofbeing

utilitarian

structures the

airport

terminals have

been

purposefully

designed

and

decorated withartchosen specifically to communicate Vancouver's distinct

qualities

and

culture to travelers. As culture is neverstatic

and

changescontinuously, the

representations havealsoshifted over time.

Byconsidering the specific historyofVancouver's

airport

in conjunction with the

wider historyofCanadianandinternational

airport

development, patterns (such as the

continuous use of symbolsfromnative cultures to represent

aspects

ofthe colonizer's

culture)

and

tensions(such as Vancouver's relative position as a majorCanadian urban

centre

and

the growth of visible immigrant populations) which accompany the

representation of locality at the

airportbecome

apparent. HenriLefevbre's

understanding ofspaceasanactive socialproduct,DavidHarvey's

assessment

ofthe

impact of globalization upon the local and Siegfried

Kracauer's

interpretation of

architecture as illustrative

of broad

social trends

underpin

my analysis.

The

adoption,ofanhistoricalandtheoretical framework within

this

thesis

is

directed at developing

an

interpretation

of

the

current art program

at the Vancouver

InternationalAirportwhich can move beyond the point where

debate

regarding

"authenticity"

and

the

agencyof

the native artists

or

their communities constricts the

discussion. Throughanexamination ofairportdesign, both theoreticalandactual, the

genesisofandreactions toartprogramsexecutedat theairportsincethe1960s,as well

asaspectsofthecity'ssocial history, I illustrate that the currentart programis

representative ofmorethan a superficial thematic strategy. Instead, it points to a

complexandongoing struggle to defineandrepresentVancouverboth to itsresidentsand

therestofthe world.

ii


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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Abstract

;

;

1 1

List

of Figures

i y

Abbreviations

v u

Acknowledgments

v m

Introduction

1

ChapterOne ;

1 4

Chapter

Two

;

"

2 7

4 9

Chapter Three *

z

64

Conclusion

71

Bibliography

79

Figures .

iii


5/106

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 AntonioSan'tElia's

"Station for airplanes

and

trains with

funiculars

and

elevators

onthree

levels"from da CostaMeyer,E.TheWork ofAntonio

San't

Elia,Retreat

into

theFuture.1995.

Page

104.

Figure

2

"View of

theCentralStation,FlankedbyFourSkyscrapers"from

Le

Corbusier. The

Cityof

To-morrowandhsPlanning.

1987.

Page

192.

Figure

3

Richard

Neutra'sRush

CityAirTransfer

from

The ArchitecturalRecord.

August

1930.

Page

100.

Figure4

FrankLloyd-Wright's

submission

toLehighAirport

Competitionfrom

Shubert,

Howard.RACAR.

1989.Figure200.

Page

288.

Figure

5

Hangar

at

Vancouver

InternationalAirportin

1931from

McGrath, T.M;

History of

Canadian

Airports.

1992.

Page

242. -

Figure6 Vancouver

InternationalAirport's

Administration

Building

1931from

Piggott,

Peter.

Wingwalkers,A

History ofCanadian

Airlines

International.1998.

Page

77.

Figure

7

The

SheetMetal Workers'Rocket

1937.

City

of Vancouver Archives

negative

99-5075.

Photograph

by Thomson,

Stuart.

Figure8 Musqueam

men

view

Lockheed-l4 on

airfield

in

1939.National Archivesof

CanadaPA

207860.

Figure

9

Baggage

Claim

Lobby

at Edmonton's

Airport,

December

11,1963.

Brick

muralbyB. C .Binning.National Archives

of

CanadaPA207851.

Figure10

GiftShop

and

Concession

at

Edmonton'sAirport,December

11,1963.

National Archives of

Canada

PA207852.

Figure

11 Customs

Check

out

atEdmonton'sAirport,

December

11,1963. National

Archives

of

CanadaPA207850.

Figure12

Edmonton'sAirport,

Exteriorview,

westelevation,July

3,1963.National

Archives of

CanadaPA

207853.

Figure13

DorvalAirport,

Waiting Lounge,

November

2,1960.National Archivesof

CanadaPA207855.

Figure14

DorvalAirport,InternationalExit

Lobby,

November

2,1960. National

Archives ofCanadaPA

207854.

IV


6/106

Figure 15 Dorval

Airport,BaggageClaim,

1960. National Archives of Canada

PA

207859.

Figure 16 Dorval

Airport,

Exterior

view

from

Northwest,

February

2,1959.

National

Archives of Canada

PA

207857

Figure 17

Mural

by Kenneth Lochhead

installed

inside

Gander

International

Airport,

October

1958. National Archives of Canada

PA

207847.

Figure 18

Postcard

of

sculpture

that

foregrounded

a

government

troutHatchery in

Wardner

B. C.

from White,

Peter.

It

Pays

to

Play:BritishColumbiainPostcards

1950s-1980s. 1996.Page25.

Figure 19 VancouverInternational

Airport,postcard

imagecirca 1968 from White,

Peter.ItPaystoPlay:British

Columbia

inPostcards1950s-1980s. 1996.Page

88.

Figure 20

Cumbria(1966)

by Robert

Murray,

courtyard

besideLasserre

building,

University

of British Columbia

campus.

Photograph

by Rosalind Rorke, May

1997.

Figure 21

Wave Wall(1995)

by

Lutz

Haufschild,

International

terminal.

Photograph

by

Rosalind Rorke, July 2001.

Figure 22

Spirit

of

Haida

Gwaii

(1994)

the

Jade Canoe

by

Bill

Reid,

International

terminal at VancouverInternational

Airport,

The

Postcard

Factory,

Reference

#:

PC57-Vanl63. Captionreads"Visitors to Vancouver

International

Airport's new

InternationalTerminal arewelcomedby "The Spirit ofHaida Gwaii",the

Jade

Canoe, by

artistBill

Reid. Thebronze

sculpturedepictslegendary

paddling

Haidacreatures."

Figure 23

Close

up of

"log-jam"

carpet

pattern,

corridorbetween

Domestic

and

International terminals.Photograph

by Rosalind Rorke, July 2001.

Figure 24 Bridge Medley

above

'Pacific

Market',International

terminal.

Photograph

by

Rosalind Rorke, July 2001.

Figure 25 Fairmont

Hotel's

Chateau

entrance.Photograph

by

Dagny

Vaney, July 2001.

Figure 26 The Pacific

Passage,photograph

by Rob Melnychuk

appearing

inVancouver

Magazine,March

2001.

Page

24.

Figure 27

Display

located

in

front

of

exit

to parking

garages.

Photograph

by Rosalind

Rorke, July 2001.


7/106

Figure28 ChiefE d

Sparrow

from

Ward,

Andrew.

"Vancouver

-Good

Luck City"

National Geographic.April

1992. Page 101.

Figure29

'Monster House'

and

elderly neighbour

from

Ward,

Andrew.

"Vancouver

-

Good

Luck City"

National Geographic.

April

1992. Page 107.

Figure30

Vancouver

International

Airport,exterior

view.

Photograph

byRosalind

Rorke. July2001.


8/106

ABBREVIATIONS

C A V CityArchives of Vancouver

C C A

Canadian CentreforArchitecture

DIA Denver International

Airport

I ATA International

AirTravel

Association

Y V R

Call

letters

forVancouverInternationalAirport

Y V R A A

VancouverInternational

Airport

Authority

Y V R A S Vancouver

International

AirportServices

vii


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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

I

wish to thank my

thesis

advisors,

John

O'Brian

and Ken Lum

for their sharing

their immense knowledge

andprovidingwise

direction throughout every

stage ofthis

project.

For

the

less

formal

discussions

which helped

shape

my research

I

would

also

like to thank

Charlotte Townsend-Gaultand

Ruth

Phillips.

I greatly appreciate the time

and

energy expended on

my

behalf by

Rita

Beiks

of

the

Y V R A rtFoundationduring

November

and

December

o f 2000.

I would

also

like to thank

AlanElder

for his advice

andhumour,MarinaRoy, Lara

Tomaszewska, Sheila

Rorke,

Stephen Jeong

and

Jeremy

Todd

for lending their time to

read

early drafts

andKarenLove

for her insightful

comments. I

am

grateful to

HarryToor

for his help with digitizing

images,

to Nancy

Ormandyfor her personal support

since

I

began

this

project

and

to

Bill

Uhrich

and

Jill

Anholt

who shared their

experiencesand

knowledge.

Finally,

I wish to

express

my

gratitude for the unwavering support

from

my family who made every effort to encourage

and

support my academic endeavours.

viii


10/106

INTRODUCTION

Thearton display at theVancouverInternationalAirporthas recently attracted

the attentionofboth journalistsandarthistorians.

The

airport'scollection, consisting

mostly of

neo-traditional

native sculpture, hasbeendiscussed in daily newspapers, local

magazinesandacademic papers.

1

Althoughaspectsoftheartprogram,such as the

political

andsocial implications for native artistsandnative communities havebeen

criticallyaddressed,pastconclusions havebeenlimited

by

the failure to consider the

airport's

history as

an

influence

on

the

current

construction of

Vancouver

as

a

destination.

Iwill argue thatbecausethe historical development of

airports

inCanadahas

beena complexprocessinvolvingmuchmore

than

technological changeandthe growth

of

theaviation

industry,this

development must be taken into account in any attempt to

assess

the significanceoftheartdisplayedinthem. As will be

argued

below, Canada's

urban

airports

have

been

treated as national

and

localshowcases,

sites

where changing

identitieshavebeenpresented,contestedandre-stated.

Through

a considerationofthe

history of representations atVancouver's

airport,

influenced over time by the social and

economic growthofthe cityandthe country, one mayarriveat a more nuanced

understandingofthearchitecturaldesignandthematicprogramat thecurrentfacility.

Informing

my study

of

the historical development of

Vancouver's

airport

is

the

basicprinciplethatartandarchitecturalstyle,beyond any decorative quality,

1

Foracademic papers see

Leddy,

Shannon.

Tourists,

Art andAirports,

Vancouver

InternationalAirportas

aSite ofCultural

Negotiation.

UBCDepartmentof Fine

Arts

Masters Thesis. 1997and

Fairchild,

Alexa,

1

CanadaCustoms,Each-you-eyh-ulSiem(?)UBCDepartmentofArtHistory,VisualArtand Theory

Masters Thesis,

2001.

1


11/106

communicate meaning to the viewer.

Architectural

designandmonumental art have

been

employed at the

airport

to project

concepts

of

local

identity to travelers. The social

and

cultural

history of Vancouver, which includes constantly changing notionsof

identity, has influenced the

aesthetic

choicesmade at the

airport. Furthermore,anxieties

about the representation of local identity have

twice

resulted in significant re-modelling

of the terminals,once

in

the

late1960sand

again

in

the early

1990s. Althoughthe

primary

purpose

of

both reconstruction projects was

to

improve the airport's

infrastructure, other important

changes also

occurred.

Drawingon the workof

Henri

Lefebvre, the

space

oftheairportcan be

considered as a social product,andnotasaneutral or utilitarian

void.

In his analysis,

space is

not simply a

"passive

locus

of

social relations" but instead

is

"active",

"operational or instrumental" serving the hegemonic group which makesuse ofit.

2

Space produces social relations. In the era

of late

capitalism, heavily influenced by the

phenomenon

of

globalization,

space

ultimately

serves

the

interest

of

capital. Drawing

on

Lefebvre's theorizationofspace,

David

Harvey's own workThe

Condition

of

Postmodernity

(1990)reiterates

the

thesis

that spatial practices are not neutral but

"...always

express some

kindof

class

or other social content,andare more often than

not, the

focusof intense

social struggle."

3

He argues that

becauseof

the unimpeded flow

of capital

across the globe,

particular

qualities of certain

spaces

which are attractive

to

capital are emphasized as distant communities are forced into competition with each

2

Lefebvre,

Henri;

TheProductionof

Space,Nicholson-Smith,

Donald

Translator;

Blackwell

Publishers;

Massachusetts, 1991;page 10.

3

Harvey,

David;

TheConditionof

Postmodernity;

Blackwell

Publishers;

Cambridge,Massachusetts,

1990;

page 239.

2


12/106

other.

4

This

competition is intensifiedoracceleratedunderthe conditions of

globalization which compress timeandspacein

order

to increase

production

and

consumption ofgoodsandservices.

5

Harveyimplies that "localized competitive

strategies"arise. Theyare designed specifically to maximize the special qualities

of

a

place to provideanadvantage over other,rivalplaces.

In

hisassessment,this reaction to

globalization"...looks strongly to the identification of place, thebuilding andsignalling

ofitsunique qualities in an increasingly

homogeneous

but fragmentedworld."

6

InthisthesisI will depart

from

the conclusionsofbothLefebvreand Harveyby

arguing

that while the

space

of

Vancouver

International

Airport

has been actively

producedin an effort to articulateaspectsof locality, efforts to represent the constructed

identity

of

the local hegemonic

group

have recently begun to work at something

else

in

addition

to the most efficient

manner

of attractingandaccumulating ofcapital.

Over

time, the dominant representationofthe city at theairporthas changed

from

one which

focused on a linkageofthe local to the nationalandinternational to one that promotes

'distinctive' local qualities, de-emphasizingculturalconnections to the restoftheworld.

Thespace

of

the

current

airporthas been harnessed toexpressonly certainaspects

of

the

cityandits history,thosewhich constructVancouveras a distinctive destination and

reinforce

a

particularidentity.

This

representational strategy has been aimed

primarily

at

travelersarriving fromtheUnitedStatesandother international points of

departure.

OtheraspectsofVancouverhave beenignored. Importantly, anyillustration ofthe area's

4

Ibid;page

271. See

also

Harvey;

page

295:"Theactiveproduction ofplaces with special qualities

becomes

animportant

stake

in spatial competition

between

localities, cities, regionsandnations."

5

Ibid;

pages 284-287.

6

/Wrf;page271.


13/106

close

economic

ties

to

Asia

is refused by the airport's current thematic

program.

Instead

the local is signified overwhelmingly

throughart

by

First

Nations artists. The limited

pictureofnative culture generated through the display is but onepieceo fthe puzzle of

representations

of

a diverse population within one

site. M y

analysis must therefore go

beyond the inadequacies of

a

primitivizingconstruction of aboriginal

peoples

and

attempt to grasp what the significance or utility

o fthisportrayal

may be to other, non-

native, communities.

For

thesakeof

clarity,

I have divided development at the

airport

intophases,the

first ofwhich

ran

fromthe beginning of

aviation

in

the

late

1920s

through to 1962 when

the facility was sold by the municipality to the federal government. The secondphaseof

development

ranfrom

1962

until

the transfer

of

the airport's management, in 1992, from

the federal government to theY V R

AirportAuthority

(YVR AA ). Thethirdphasebegan

in

1992

and

continues to the present. As the re-construction of

aworkingairport

is a

lengthyprocessthese

arbitrary

chronological divisions

mark

the commencement, not the

completion, of

each

new design strategy.

Monumentalarthasbeenfeatured prominently at Vancouver'sairportsince1936.

Theairport'sartworks have represented

particularaspects

of locality with

varying

degrees

of

success.

Some works, such as the

SheetMetalWorkers'

Rocket

and Bill

Reid'sJadeCanoehavebeenembraced bya

broad

audience. Thepopularityofthese

two works

rests in

their high

degree

of

legibility.

They successfully communicate to

viewersby making use of symbolsaroundwhichexistsa common

consensus

ofmeaning.

TheRocketsymbolizes the future, the contribution of

organized

labour to Vancouver's

history as well as the

Sheet

Metal

Workers'

technical skills.

Similarly,

the

JadeCanoe

4


14/106

symbolizes well recognizedaspectsofthelocal history such as the Northwest

Coast

style

ofcarving,the mythsor

legends

of

native

cultureanda

close

connection to thesea.

Other

works,

particularlylesslegible modernistpiecessuch asRobertMurray'ssculpture

Cumbria,haveprovokeda

storm

ofcontroversy

because

abstraction

tends

not to make

useoftheserecognizable symbols

and

subsequently fails to easily communicate with

viewers.

'Permanently'installed sculptures havebeendiscardedanddestroyed,andmajor

changesto the terminals haveoccurred. Thesechangeshavebeenrelated neither to the

logistics

of

safe

passenger

movement

nor

to advances in flight technology.

On

the two

occasionsthat

old

terminals have

been

replaced,a new

plan

to communicate a certain

imageorfictionofthe"local"hasbeenconstructed. Atno time, however, has the fiction

ofthe destinationbeenmonolithic;infact, competing representations oflocalidentity

have alwaysexistedsimultaneously.

Explanations

andjustifications for artistic and

designchoiceshave met with denialsandaccusations

during

momentsofchange

from

the oldaestheticto the new one. Editorial

opinion

andlaymen'sstatements

recorded

in

printregardingthe choice ofartworksforthepassengerterminals are often sarcastic and

abrasive,

illustratingthe disagreement over what

constitutes

an appropriate

representationofthe

Vancouverite

and/orBritish Columbianidentity.

In

each chapter of

thisproject, the'work'thatarthasbeen expectedto do to represent the destination

will

be examined.

Although airportsare facilities dedicated to thepracticalfunction of

air

transport,

theyare simultaneouslysiteswhere travelers' impressions are

formed

andwhere a local

'self-portrait'canbe created. Following

Harvey,

airportsarespaceswhere unique and


15/106

particularaspects

of a place are presented

in

the competition for global capital.

Frequently,

however, the history of

airport

design

and

development has

been

discounted

as irrelevant

becausepractical

function is assumed to override all other considerations

withinterminalbuildings. In December2000,MurrayWhyte,writingintheNational

Post,described

airport

terminals as"...simpleutilitarianboxes,airportshavehistorically

beenarchitecturalun-statements,designedas little more than conduitsbetween

land

and

air."

7

In the Summer2000

issue

of

Western

Living,AllanCasey interpreted thestyleof

Canadianairports

of

thelate1960s,designed

in

the International Style, as"...

bland,

bilingualmimstry-of-transport approved spartanism...".

8

Contrary

to

this

perspective, Ipresentthe argumentthat

airport

architecture is

neither aforegoneconclusionruledexclusively by function nor is it devoid ofcultural

meanings. SiegfriedKracauerargued inThe Mass Ornament

that

architecture has

significance as a "surface level expression"

9

andas such is a medium through which it is

possible

to understandsome

aspects

ofsociety. Hewrote thatanera'srelative position

in

history can be understood by considering the "surface level

expressions"

as

articulations

oftendencies,

not as total comprehensivestatements.

10

Following

Kracauer,

I

will pursue the argumentthat

airport

designshould

also

be considered as an

ideologically embedded

statement

representing

aspects

of localitythatare important to

the dominant

cultural

group

Semotician UmbertoEcohasalsointerpreted architecture as aformofmass

7

Whyte,

Murray;The

National

Post;

December 12,

2000;

pageB1.

8

Casey,

Allan; AirMall"

inWesternLiving,Summer

2000; pages 20-26.

9

Kracauer,

Siegfried;The

Mass Ornament;

edited by

Levin,

Thomas.

Harvard

University Press;

Massachusetts, 1995;

page

75.

1

Ibid;page 75.

6


16/106

communication. Architecture's

primary

purpose is identified byEcoas a "functional

object", which provides

shelterand

organizes

space,

while architecture's secondary

purpose is as a "symbolic object" which, for example,inthecaseofapavilion at a

World'sFair,

can symbolize a national culture." Isuggestthat in an

airportterminal

the

secondary, symbolic function may dominate the

primary

functional quality of

architecture in a similar way.

French

architect

Paul Andreu,

who was responsible for

Terminals

2 and

3

at

Roissy -

Charles

de

Gaulle,

described airports asplaceswhere "anything is

possible...

[they have]

no identity, no historyandno corresponding social fabric."

12

While

it may be true that anything is possible from a design perspective, I will illustrate

that development

of

Vancouver's

airport

has

been

inextricably tied to the

city's

social

history,attemptsat creatinganational identityandto the representation of the local to

therestof the world.

Designdoesnot occurin

a

vacuum; it bothreflects

and

is influenced by the wider

social, economic, political

and

technological climate,

13

The historical development of

Vancouverandof

Canada

have had direct bearing on the physical appearance of the

airport. The

desire to

create

a distinctive

'senseof

place'

14

using

artand

architectural

design, although more blatantinthe1990sstructure, hasbeena coherentstrategyat the

airport

sincethe

late

1960s. In asomewhatless

consistent

mode, the first

phase

of the

1 1

Leach,

Neil;Re-thinking

Architecture:

AReaderin

Cultural

Theory;Routledge, New

York,

1997.

Chapterby

Umberto

Eco"Functionand Sign: The Semioticsof Architecture"pages

182-202

and"HowAn

Exposition

ExposesItself' pages

202-204.

1 2

Ellenberger, Michelle;

"Paul Andreu: The

Architecture of

Airports" inArtPress;Sept. 1996;page64.

1 3

Woodham, Jonathan;

Twentieth-CenturyDesign;Oxford

History ofArtSeries;

OxfordUniversity

Press;

NewYork,1997;

page

8.

1 4

Phrase used in

Y V R

PressReleaseofJune

2000

re:

LATA

award

7


17/106

airport

also

communicated regional identity. Since several plans to capture the

'sense

of

place' havebeenput into

effect

at Vancouver International

Airport

over thelast

seventy

years, it

does

not make

sense

to

suggest

that the

terminaldesigns

can reasonably be

assessedas purely functional or pre-determined.

In

Chapter

1, I will provide a foundation for the assertion that terminals are not

entirely determined by their

practical

function by considering several early theoretical

airport

designs.

While

none oftheseUtopianplanswereever built,theyillustrate the

wide range of possibilities which aviation

suggested

to architects.

Each

design differs

significantlyfromthe

next

andeach represents the philosophicalandpolitical perspective

of the designer. Because airports of the20thcentury have

beensites

where technological

advance is highly visible, flight

and

its infrastructure have

becomelinked

to

representations of the future. Early20thcentury predictions of the future, such as the

eventual replacement

of

the automobile by personal aircraft, hint at the affinity

between

aviationandpopular imagination of the future.

15

The

Sheet

Metal

Workers'

Rocketitself

was inspired by the image of the

world

of tomorrow created within comic books and

Buck

Rogers films.

16

The

decision to install

this

work at the

airport

in 1937, over any

other location, is indicative of

what

the

airport

siterepresented.

Chapter

2 will

discuss

the active production of

space

by the federal government in

the form of theairport buildinginitiative of the1960s.

This

government initiative

1 5

SeeWilson,

Richard,

Pilgrim,Dianneand Tashjian,

Dickran.

The

MachineAgeinAmerica.HarryN .

AbramsInc. NewYork.1986; seeChapter2"MachineAesthetics," especiallypages

55-57

and Koolhaas,

Rem.DeliriousNewYork.TheMonacelliPress. NewYork.1994. Seepage84 for

an

illustration captioned

"

The Cosmopolis

of

theFuture"which pictures a crowded skyfilledwith bi-planes buzzingbetweencity

buildings referred to as "1,000

foot

structures".

1 6

LetterfromRobert

Colvin,

BusinessManager andFinancialSecretary for

Sheet

MetalWorkers Union

Local280 toRosalind RorkedatedFebruary1, 1998.

8


18/106

resulted in the expansionandupgrading of airports across

Canada

and

had,

asakey

component,

a

large art

program. The

artprogramwas specifically designed to

complimentandenhance the new International Style

airport

buildings

and,

at the time,

was heralded as

a

route by which

Canada

could favourablycompetewith thefinestair

facilities all over the

world. Theresultsofthis

well-defined policy

17

werehot always

appreciated. The

subsequent

failure in

some

quarters, only 30 years later, to

even

recognize the adoption of

International

Style architecture

and

abstract modern art by the

federal government as

a

conscious

aestheticprogram,muchless

as a policy directed

specifically at the formation of

a

'Canadianidentity', is illustrated by

Murray

Whyte.

Regarding

federal government involvement in

airport

construction

and

expansion, Whyte

quotedAndrewMcAlpinewho is a senior

associate

atArupNAPA,an international

airport

consultancy

firm

as saying:

Up

until

several years ago, it was a

Transport Canada

function,andit was very

much

patchwork development. It was sort of 'make do,

meet

demand, don't do

any more than you absolutely have to' ... I think that it was previouslyseen as a

public

service

in

the

same

way that a highway was,

or

that

a

utility

grid

was, or

any number of things. It was simply part of the infrastructure of the city,

and

it

was a government function to provide that infrastructure.

18

Examination of newspapersandperiodical literaturefromthe1960scontradicts

McAlpineand

leads

to a different conclusion. Carefulcentralized planning, attention to

detailandregional variation as well as an attempt tocreatean internationalfacefor

For

elements

ofthe federal policy seeLowe,

Frank..

"Art

in

the NewAirportsGivesCanadaa

Sophisticated Image".CanadianArt.May-June1964;

page

144 wheredetailsofDeputyMinisterof

Transport JohnR.Baldwin's activities to organize a budget forartacquisitions areprovided. See

also

Syme,Edwardand

Wells, Alexander.

AirportDevelopment,Management

and

OperationinCanada.

Prentice-Hall Career

and

Technology. Scarborough.2000;

page

12. See also,Ferrabe,Lynn."Toronto

Airport:

Interior Design".Canadian

Architect.

February1964;page63. The Chief

Architect

for

Department

of Transport

was

W A .

Ramsay, who over saw work across the country.

1 8

Whyte.

page

BI.

9


19/106

Canada characterize this period far more accurately thandoestheglibdescription

'patchwork development'.

Abstraction

did not

resonatewith a l l

Canadians as appropriate art for airports.

The ferocityo fthe laymen's critiqueo fthe airport's modernist aesthetic is a window into

the anxietywhichwas caused by the federal planner's inabilitytocreatea

'sense

of

place' through

abstract

artthatwas legible to some

l o ca l

residents. The desire to

illustrate Canada's sophistication to an international audience dominated the Department

o fTransport's agenda at the expense of accommodating

loca l

domestic audiences.

19

Records

o f

the intense opposition to the

abstract

artworks installed at airports across the

country indicatetheseterminals were anything but blandutilitariantransport depots.

InChapter 3,1 showthata

'sense

o fplace' (which relies on neo-traditional native

art and references to the natural geography) wasdistilledand magnified for Vancouver

by

the Y V R

Airport Authority

in an effort to brand the destination. A shift in aesthetic

strategy occurred asabstractart was replaced by artwhichmade use of more commonly

accepted symbols. The representation of

locality

in Vancouver's airport is now achieved

withina neo-modern terminal

which

showcases the natural geography and prominently

featuresthe work

o f

native artists.Accordingto Y V Rpublicity,this type of native art

celebrates the natural beauty

20

o fthe region.

A rtpeppersthe terminals and is essentially decorative. Placed at points where

crowds stream by on their way to customs, parking lots or to

meetarriving

travelers, the

1 9

Lowequoted

Stan

White

of the

Department

of Transport as

saying:

"There was no

catering

to

popular

taste...Weweretrying to

achieve

for Canada the

most

sophisticated imagewepossibly

could."

2 0

Voice

overfrom

promotional

Y V R C D - R O M ,

distributed

from

information kiosk

at the airport during the

summer

of2000

10


20/106

art

works function as

billboards.

Large

displays

of

native art

quickly

register Vancouver

as'exotic'anddistinct. The art's potential toengageandperhapseducate viewersis

limited by its physical arrangement in

space

which may

curtail,

but not eliminate, the

traveler's desire to contemplate the displays.

Nor

doesthe art allegorize the current

condition of native

peoples.

YVR'spresentation of native culture as non-

confrontational,

homogeneousand

transhistorical has the

effect

of eliding the ongoing

socialandpoliticalchallengeswhich native individualsandcommunities currently face.

The

artprogramdoesevenless

to address other

cultural

groups. In fact, the

currentairportdesign

seems

to be more than just indifferent to local realities. It will be

presented

inthis

analysis as an organized attempt not to

discuss

the

outsideworld

on any

level other

than

a highly superficial one.

The

worldbeyond the

Canadian

border is

represented within the

airport

terminals by

fast

food restaurants, bysignage,by currency

exchange

kiosks

and

by newspaper stands. Because the

Y V R

construction of

local

culture is based almost exclusively on native culture, the influence ofother

cultural

groups upon the character

of

the city of

Vancouver

is erased.

Perhaps as aresponseto the pressures of globalizationandinternationalization,

the airport's representation of

locality,

which as

late

as the

1970s

was focused on a

connection to other international destinations, has turnedinward. The desire toportray

the local as unique

and

distinct from all

else

has replaced the former representation.

However, the expression of

a

specific, narrow

'senseof

place' at the

airport

fails to

address the

cultural

diversity whichexistsinthe city.

The

limited representation of

Vancouverand BritishColumbia,

which was

undertakenpriorto the recent economic downturn,

resists

the illustration of the

close

11


21/106

connection to

Asian

markets

and

travelers.

While

the attraction of

capital

may arguably

be themostsignificant motivation for the current representation of place within the

Vancouver

International

Airport

terminals,

aspects

of Vancouver's social history

complicate theportrait.

The

airport'srepresentationsof the cityandits culture are

complex

and vary

within facility

from

area to area. I will argue

that

the

absence

of

representations

of

other

cultures,

particularly

Asian

ones,reflects

the anxiety which

accompanies social

change

andethno-cultural competition.

The

changing patterns ofcity

life, from real

estate

development, to shifting ethnic demographics in certain

neighbourhoodsand

schools,

which

have

caused social

tension

andanxiety are avoided

by the

Y V R

version of local culture.

The

colonial vision of Vancouver as a "village on theedgeof the rainforest"

21

persistsand has

been

re-presented at

Y V R

as

a

marketing

device

which both courts

travelers from

abroadandobscures

Vancouver's position as

an

international port with

strongtradeandimmigration links to

Asia.

Simultaneously, however, Vancouver's

airport

is presented as a

worldclass

destination on the

Y V Rwebsiteand

by

Fairmont

Hotelbrochures.

This

advertising proclaims the hotel to be

"The

Most

LuxuriousAirport

Accommodations

in

theWorld"

andmakes

frequent reference to

services,

such as

internet

access,

newspaper delivery, advance check-in

andmeeting

rooms, which would

appeal to the international

business

traveler. The current

"Fairmont

VancouverAirport"

brochuremakes

absolutely no reference to native

art

or culture.

The

multi-layered and

occasionally contradictory nature of the

representations

currently constructed within the

2 1

AllanFotheringham's description

of

a

facet

of

Vancouver's identity as recordedinWynne,Graeme and

Oke,Timothy,Editors,

Vancouver

and its

Region;UBCPress;

Vancouver,

1993;page236.

12


22/106

terminals will be discussedinthe final chapter.

Mymainconclusions will beasfollows:the

space

ofVancouverInternational

Airport

isa socialproductwhereartandarchitecture havebeenlinkedin communicating

particularaspectsof

local

identity, that

an

analysisofthe

current

representationsof

Vancouverattheairportis

aided

bya considerationofpastrepresentations at theairport

siteandthat the

current art

programcan be understoodas

an

aspectofone ofseveral

constructionsofthe city which havebeencreatedsincethe1930s. Finally,I willsuggest

that the

current

construction of

Vancouver,

which may be a

responseto

local anxiety

about globalization

and

internationalization

of

the city, represents

an

attempt to re-assert

a distinctive local identity. Moreover,the constructionofnative cultureas

"supernatural"

represents

an

aspect

of

the assertion of a hegemonic group's identity.As

such,

thedisplayofnativeartat theairportmust be understood as more thanevidenceof

increasing political empowerment of

aboriginalpeoples,of

blatant tokenismoras

a

mistakenrenderingofnativeculture.

13


23/106

H P T E R 1

Airportterminal buildingshaveonlyexisted forapproximatelyseventy-five years.

Unti lthemid-1920s,aviators had no need for acentralizedgroupofmaintenance and

service

buildingsbecauseparks, race tracks and farmfieldswereadequateas runways for

the earliest aircraftwhichwere

relatively

lightandslow moving.

22

Becauseof

their

small

size,

airplanes

could

be stored

in

pre-existingagricultural

barns

that

had been converted

intohangars.

23

However, aviationwas apowerfulstimulant to theimaginationand the

designo fairports,however unnecessary, commenced as soon as the

possibilities

o f

mechanicalaviationwererealized.

Thefirst theoretical architectural

plan

for an urbanairpOrtwas prepared by

AntonioSan't

E l i a

a member

o f

theItalian

Futurist group.

San't

Elia's

airport was fully

integrated intohisLaCittaNuova(1914) projectwhichpresented a completecityand

urban transportation system (figure 1).

H is

designs were forimposing,angular structures

to bebuilt inconcrete where ornamentation was almostabsent.

24

The structural

silhouette ofhisairportmirroredother

buildings

intheCittaNuova. Its function as a

transportation nexuspracticallyandstylisticallyenhancedby

bridges,

overpasses and

2 2

Thefirstairplane

flight

n Canada was

made

in 1909 byJ.A.D.McCurdyat Brasd'OrLake,NovaScotia.

SeeMcGrath, T . M . ;History ofCanadian Airports,2

nd

Edition; LugusPublications;Canada, 1992;

page

1.

2 3

Canadian

Centre

for

Architecture;

Airport Origins:ThreeProjects

by

Frank LloydWright,Montreal,

1990; page3.

2 4

A

unifying

aestheticwas

created

by

repetition

ofelements

such

as

bridges,

archesand

exteriortower

elevators.

14


24/106

elevator towers.

The large central terminal structure was placed within a

massive,

walled

trenchwheretrains couldarriveon onesidewhileplaneslanded on awiderunway on the

opposing

side.

His

design consistentlyembodied theFuturistideology which glorified

technology, speed,urban

development andthe new.

According

to the

Canadian

Centre

for Architecture(CCA),

San't

Elia's

was the first architect to envision "monumental

cities

centred on the airplane."

25

The

Futurists believed

that

theoretical architecture was

"...

a

direct expression

of

contemporary

forcesand

a dynamic celebration

of

the

uprooted, anti-natural

tendencies

of the modern city."

26

San'tElia's

design

for

Citta

Nuovahas

been

referred to as "visionary architecture"

because

it was

"...the

original and

classical expression of the notion of architecture as a metaphor fortechnology."

27

His

design

illustrates the Futurist's perception of the airplane as the "symbol of a new age, as

well as the instrument by which

art, and

civilization itself could be transformed",

28

It

points to the potential for aviationtechnologyto influence

urban

planning.

Anotherairportdesign thatwas similarly central, butevenmoreimmensein

scale

29

,was planned by

French

architect

LeCorbusier

in 1927,

and

was included in his

project

"The

CityofTo-morrow"(figure 2). LeCorbusierplannedatransportation hub

where

the roof of the centralrailstation was a landing strip for "aero-taxis" which would

link

the city to a larger

airport

beyond the downtown area.

30

Thisdesignexpresses

an

2 5

CCA;page7.

2 6

Curtis,

William;Modern Architecturesince1900;

Phaidon;London,

1996;

page

109.

27

28

Finch,Christopher;"Introductionone"

in

DesignQuarterly;Volume74/75;January1996;

page

6.

CCA;

page

7.

29

Ibid; page7.

3

Ibid;

page

11.

15


25/106

efficient,rational approach tourbanplanning as the central landing pad/runway was in

close

proximity to fourhugeskyscrapers, theroofsof whichwere

also

conceived as

potential landing

spots.

31

The small airplanes illustrated in the plan appear to be intended

to function aspresentdayhelicoptersdo, making short tripsaroundthe city and landing

on small paved strips. As San'tEliahaddoneearlier,LeCorbusierpresentedacomplete

planfor the larger

urban

area, withfeederairports located within the city and specifically

mapping out

areas

of housing and open

spaces.

Designsfor airportsthat weremoremodestin

scale

thanthoseproposed by San't

Elia

and

Le

Corbusier,

were

created in the

late

1920s

by

Richard

Neutraand

Frank Lloyd

Wright.

The lack ofagrandiose monumentality wasreflectiveof

these

Modernist

architects'

desire

tocreatespaceswhich functioned on a more humanscale.Modernism,

both as astyleand philosophy, hasbeendescribed as a derivation of the

...

Enlightenment idea ofempiricaltechnical progress, through the Romantic

conception of epoch-making art formsandthe

Victorian

pursuit of an

amalgamation ofartsandmanufactures, to the earlytwentieth-centuryrejection

of historical

models

by Futurists,

and

the Constructivists

and

the De Stijl belief

in

the universal legitimacy of abstract expressionism.

32

ForNeutra and

Wright,

the relationship

between

form and function was paramount. The

work ofRichardNeutrabearsconsideration inthiswork

because

of the direct influence

he had on Vancouver

architects

in the 1940 and1950s,including the

firm

which built the

1968 airport, Thompson, BerwickandPratt.

33

Withrespectspecifically to airport design, architectural historian AnthonyVidler

3 1

LeCorbusier;The

City

of

To-morrow

and itsPlanning;Dover Publications Inc., 1987;

page

187.

3 2

Windsor

Liscombe,

R.;The NewSpirit: Modern Architecturein

Vancouver

1938-1963;

Douglas and

Mclntyre,

Vancouver, 1997,

page

28.

33

Ibid;page

40 minordetailsof interaction facilitated by

B . C .

Binning.

16


26/106

noted that

...

from

the inception of

air

travel,modernist architects made themetaphorical

connectionbetween

air

flow,

air

speed, the streamlinedsectionofthe wingand

the determinants of

functional

design.

34

Anairportdesign competition was conceived

by

anAmerican

firm,

theLehigh

PortlandCementCompany,in 1929 to promote the useof portlandcementas abuilding

material.

35

Thecompetition attracted over 250 submissions

including

designs

by

Richard

Neutra. Neutrasubmitted

Rush

CityAirTransfer(figure 3), a modified version of apre

existing

projectRushCityReformed

whichwas a"utopian"design foran

American

city

that he

had

begun

in

the early

1920s.

36

In 1930,

Neutrapublished

a short article in

The

Architectural

Record

about his

Rush

Cityplans, entitled"Terminal

?Transfer

"inwhich

he discussed

transportation

systemsandthe

airport's

potential role

within

those systems.

Asthetitleofthe article indicates, he believed that theairportcouldandshould be an

integral partof

a

completesystemwhere "flow"

and

"efficiency"weretheprime

concerns. Hewrote

Atpresent

an

inefficientlinkbetweenlong distanceair

travel

andregional traffic

counterbalances theadvantagesoftheformerto quitean

extent.

Speed

and

fluidityinthetransitionfrom

air

togroundvehiclesis what is needed morethana

grandcourt

d'honneur

infront ofanairport.

37

Expressing

sentimentsstill of concern to travelers 70 years laterNeutrasuggestedthat

travel through airports

should ideally be "smooth,rapidandinexpensive."

38

To

thisend,

3 4

Vidler,

Anthony

in

Rosier,

Martha;

InThe

PlaceofthePublic;ObservationsofaFrequent

Flyer;

Cantz;

1998;

page

13.

3 5

C C A ;page

17.

3 6

Hines, Thomas;

RichardNeutra

and

theSearchforModern Architecture;OxfordUniversity Press;

Oxford,

1982;pages 60-61.

3 7

Neutra,

Richard; "Terminal?Transfer "inTheArchitecturalRecord;August 1930;

page

100.

3S

Ibid;

page

100.

17


27/106

he designed theairtransfer point asanurbanhubwhere different

transportation

systems

wereconvenientlylinkedtogetherwithin one structure. Definitivelymodernaspectsof

Neutra's design include the streamlined appearanceo fthe terminal's exterior, the

creation ofregularsectionswhich would result inavisual

rhythm,

large openspaces

within

the structure

and

the nearabsenceof surface decoration.

The

transfer pointalso

includedpracticalamenities such as bathrooms, apostoffice,writingandwaiting rooms.

Another

level

of

the facility would feature shopping arcades,cafes,

a

hotel

and

an

amusementpark.

39

Neutra's

modern

design re-enforced his commitment to flow by

featuring

an

efficient, functional

building

with open

spaces

through which

travelers, not

staying long enough have need for any services, couldquicklypass.

Thepotential foranefficient

transportation

hubwhich included anairportwas

alsorecognized

byFrank Lloyd

Wright.

The

structure he designed for theLehigh

Competitionaccommodatedair andsea planes as well as ships, trains,busesand

automobiles (figure

4 .

40

Wrightdesigned

a

circular

terminal

structure which included,

as Neutra'shad,

offices

for

mail,

baggageandticket

sales

as well as a restaurant,

observation deckandweatherbureau.

41

Wright

triedto design theairportso that

passengerswould have the

shortest

possible distance to go to

reach

theterminalfrom

theiraircraftandplannedthe entireterminalaroundthe concept that it could be a

"transfer point"betweenvarious

modes oftransportation.

42

A llfour

ofthese

earlyairportdesignswere,

despite

their significant differences,

39

/Z;rf;page104.

4 0

C C A ;

page

17.

4

Ibid;

page

19.

42

/te/;page19.

18


28/106

united by the fundamental optimismthey

express

towardindustrial,scientific and

technological advances and now characterize planningthisera. Faithinthe power of

transportation technology to

carry mankind

intoaprosperous, industrial future is

expressed

inthesearchitectural plans. However, the unrestricted dominance of

technology

in

the

designs

by San'tElia

and LeCorbusier

was rejected by

Wright

and

Neutra in favour ofamore 'human'scale. In hisassessmentofthe historyo fmodern

design, arthistorian

RhodriWindsor

Liscombe

notes:

By the time

Modernism

reached

Canada

inthe

late

1920s,its early iconoclastic

radicalismhadmoderated. Increasingly it

seemed

to promote a socially relevant

approachto design, not a dogmatic set of formulas.

43

WindsorLiscombesuggeststhat the moderation of modernism as an approach to

planning led to an increasing professionalinterestinand adherence tothisdesign

philosophy in

Canada

by1930s. As a result, modernist

ideas

had a significant influence

on

post-WorldWar

II development.

44

The

local history of

airport

design began in

Canada

shortly after

WorldWar

I.

Priorto the war, the

Aero

Clubof

British Columbia

(formed in1915),the first

organizationofaviators inthe province, operated relatively light and

slow

aircraft for

personal use

from

Minoruparkracetrack without what could be described as a

airport

(figure 5). The

critical

point

past

which airports became a

necessity

was reached only

when planes began to

carrypassengers

and

freight, thereby increasing their potential to

generate

profits. The

Canadian

Centre for Architecture's exhibitioncataloguefor

i rport Or ig ins

(1990) states

that

"Only

with the advent

of

a profitable commercial

4 3

W indsorL i scombe ;page 28.

Ibid;page 29-30.

19


29/106

aviation industryinthe

late

1920sdidthe modernairportbecome essential."

45

Hangars,

passengerterminalsandcargo buildings became mandatory to the operation of larger,

heavierandfaster aircraft.

The

roots of commercial

air

transport are found, according to

Edward

Syme and

Alexander

Wells, with pilots trained for

air

combat

duringWWI

who

returned

to

Canada

andworked as bush pilots for small transport companies involvedinthe exploration and

development of remote northern areas. Theystate

These small operators

(often

one pilot, a mechanic,andan airplane) gradually

evolved into small

air

transport companies,

forming

the

basis

of

Canada's

air

transport industry.

46

Despite the creation of theA irBoardin 1919 to regulatecivilaviation, no

equivalent bureaucratic bodyexistedto deal with

airport

facilities.

The

development of

airport

facilities, according to Syme

and

Wells, was a co-operative effort

between

three

levelsof

government: federal,

provincial and municipal.

They

suggest

that federal

government

interestin

the development of

a

national

airmail

service

provoked

policy

changes

inthe

late

1920s. As a result ofthesechanges,financial support was provided to

municipalities to establish acrosscountry network of airports. By 1928 the federal

government

had

decided to construct theTrans-Canada Airway,a chain of airports every

100 miles "to be equipped with runway lights, lighted beacons, radio range

communications, hangars,

and

maintenance facilities."

47

For

increased

safety,

emergency

landing stripswereplanned every 30 miles

between

the main airports. Duringthe

4 3

C C A ;page

3.

4 6

Syme,

Edward

R.and Wells, Alexander

T .;

AirportDevelopment,

Management

and

Operation

in

Canada;Prentice

Hall

CanadaCareer andTechnology;Scarborough,2000;

page

5.

47

Ibid;

page

7'.

20


30/106

Depression, approximately 50 airportswereconstructed

by

the un-employed, under the

supervision

of

the

Corps

of

Royal

Canadian

Engineers as

apart

ofafederal make work

project.

48

The

buildings constructed in

Vancouverin

the

1930sdid

not resemble the

theoreticalairportarchitecture mentioned above.

According

toarthistorian

John

Zukowsky,

many

of

the early

air

terminals built

inNorth America

weredesigned to

resemble railway

stations

in

order

to

assuage

traveler's

feelings

of anxiety

surrounding

the new technology ofairtravel.

49

Earlyluxury

aircraft interiors

also

mimicked

aspects

of

travelby

rail

or cruise ships as

passengers

were

seated

in relatively spacious cabins

fully equipped for finedining.ThetextofaFordMotor

Company

advertisement for

transcontinental

air

transport

in

the October 1929

ScientificAmerican

declared their

concern forpassenger

safety

andcomfort in a combinedrail andflight service

between

New

York and Los

Angeles.

The

dependability

of Fordengines

was emphasized, after

which

they

stated:

.. .never has greater care

and

forethought

gone

into the development ofa

transportation service. Because thevehiclesemployed must lift humanbeingsout

oftheir

element

to fly across the sky, it wasnecessaryto

leave

nothing to

chance... it was vitally important to reduce every

hazard

to a

minimumand

to

insure every possible comfort for travelers...A llmetal construction makes the

planes

durable,

weather-proof, uniformly strong,

and

fire-proof...

.Each

plane is

furnished with wicker chairs. The interior is beautifully decorated. Hot

and

cold

food

and

refreshments are served by

an

attendant. A lavatory with hot

and

cold

running

water is well-planned for the comfort

ofpassengers.

50

The

early association ofairtravel with

rail

travel has re-surfaced at the

currentairport

Ibid;page7.

Zukowsky , J ohn ;Building

forAir

Travel;U niversi ty

o f Ch i cago ; 1996 ;

page 13.

Scientific

American;

October 1929 ;page280.

21


31/106

mostobviously at the FairmontAirportHotelwherea Chateau roofportalhasbeenadded

to the main entrance of an

otherwise

modern,

glass

facade, in an

attempt

to mimic

CanadianPacific Railways luxury resorthotelsbuilt in the

late1800s.

In the retail

corridors of

the

domestic

terminals trestle-like ornamentation has

been

attached to the

ceilingsat regular intervals.

In 1928, due to the increasing popularity of

flying,

the Aero

Club

ofBritish

Columbia

and the municipality of

Vancouver

arranged to

lease

fieldsonLuluIsland, '

where

the current day municipality

of Richmond

is situated, in order to construct the first

airport.

It had two runways, a hangar and a waiting room. By 1929, in order to

accommodate further expansion, a newsitewas purchased on Sea Island and the

VancouverMunicipal Airport

was opened by premier Simon Fraser Tolmie on July 22,

1931. This airport featured one runway, an administration building and two hangars.

51

The

administration building was a multi-storied brick structure with an art

deco

stepped-

facade which was

also

repeated on the power stationacrossthe roadway (figure 6). (The

administration building was destroyed by fire in1949.

52

)

Thegap

between

the

Utopian,

theoretical architectural

designsdiscussedabove

and

whatwas actually built in Vancouver in the

1930s

was bridged by a futuristic

5 1

McGrath, T M ;page242. The name was changed to Vancouver InternationalAirportin 1948,McGrath

page

244.

52

Ibid,page245. Shortly after the 1931 opening

of

the Vancouver International

Airport,

it was clear

that

further

expansion andcostlymaintenanceofthe facility

were

required. As early as 1935 the city of

Vancouver

wanted to relieve itself

of

thehugeexpense

of

runningthe airport andpasseda resolution

requesting the Department

of

Defencetotakeover maintenance and expansion

of

theairport. Atthistime,

the federal governmentpaidfor onethird

of

thecost

of

developing

airport

terminals and the municipalities

and

provinceswereresponsible for therest. Vancouver's airport remained a local venture with the

exception

of

theWWIIperiod, when it was temporarily taken over by the Department

of

Defence, until it

wasfinallysold to the federal government in 1962 for 2.75 million dollars. SeeMcGrath,

T . M . ;

pages243-

244.

22


32/106

sculpture which was installedoutsidetheterminal. Thefirst monument at theairport

was theRocket(figure 7), a fortified

parade

float constructed by

Sheet

MetalWorkers

Local

250

for

the 1936 Pacific

National

Exhibition.

53

Thefloat won'best

of parade'

in

thisExhibition andwaspopularenoughthata localaldermansuggestedthatthe

Rocket

be fortifiedandinstalled permanently at the

airport.

54

This

sculpture, which made

reference topopularsci- fi comicsandspacetravel,was constructed of

sheet

aluminum

with brass detailing.

According

to its makers, theRocketwas created .to illustrate the

valuable

contribution

made by skilled

labour

to the growth ofVancouver.

55

The

industrial

construction materials

and

aerodynamic

formof

the sculpture simultaneously

expressed

the

excitementand

optimism which

surrounded

the potential of aviation and

air

travel,the ultimateextensionof

which

was

space

travel. Mountedon theRocket's

pedestal

werethe

slogans

"Use the

Airlines",

"Look

Ahead",

"Advancewith

Aviation"

and"Vancouver-

Canada's

Pacific

Airport"

all of

which

combined to promoteair

travel

as the transportationofthe future.

The

Rocketwasdesignedinan erawhen, assuggested

above, technological progress was optimistically embraced as thebest

path

to

an

exciting

andprosperous future.

The

efficient linkageof

British

Columbia,on thewestern

periphery of

the country to the

resource-richNorth,

the

west

coast

of

the

UnitedStates

andtoeasternCanadawas

important

to the growth ofVancouver.

From

1937 to 1972,

theRocketwas apopularfeatureofthe

airport. According

toVancouver

Sun

columnist

Rose,Chris;intheVancouverSun,

October

10, 1985.

54

Ibid.

5 5

LetterfromRobertColvin,Business

Manager and

FinancialSecretary forSheetMetal

Workers

International Association,LocalUnion No.280 dated

February

19, 1998.

23


33/106

DennyBoyd,it formed the backdrop forcountlessfamily vacationsnapshots.

56

The '

celebratory quality ofthissculpture emphasized the rolethatindustry,technology,and

aviation would play in theeconomicgrowth of

British

Columbia.

The

Rocket

was removed in 1972whenthe airport was expanded and an anti-

skyjacking

fence

was

erectedaround

the airport perimeter.

57

It was re-located to a

maintenance

hangar forrepair andalteration after removal from the terminal area but

after the planned restoration was not performed, theRocketwas discarded in theTerra

Nova dump.

58

Technological advance and industrial

progresswere

not the only

representations

of Vancouver's identity created at the airport in the

1930s

and1940s. The idea of

Vancouver as a

frontier

settlementincloseproximity tonative

peoples

was

also

utilized

(and has continued to be

used)

as

athematic device.

One representation of the local

nativepopulation

exists

in the form ofaphotograph taken at the airport in 1939 (figure

8). Inthisimage,created at theoccasionof the launch of trans-continental serviceon the

Lockheed 14seriesaircraft,threeMusqueam individuals andateepeeoccupy the

foreground. They look at the plane, thelatestin aviationtechnology. Theviewer surveys

the entirescenefrom the behind the

three

men. The photograph's captionstates

Musqueam Reservation Indians, Basil Point,ChiefSemilhanoandDominic Pint

took part inceremoniesat departure from Vancouver of Lockheed14-H-2-CF-

T C Kon

April1,1939

inaugurating regularpassenger

service

on the

5 6

Boyd,

Denny; in

VancouverSun;July

1985. Boyd's

nostalgic recollectionswere

aimed at jumpstarting a

fundraising campaign

in

order to re-build theRocket.

"Rose.

5 8

TheRocketwas re-built

from

the original blueprints in 1986 after a publicity campaigngenerated sufficient

interest

in a restoration project. In addition to funding, considerable

time

and materials

were

donated by the

SheetMetalWorkersthemselves

to aid in the re-construction of the symbol of their contribution to the

growth of Vancouver.

24


34/106

transcontinental.

59 ;

This

image records the employment by the

airline,Trans-CanadaAirways,

of

a

non-band

specific "Indian-ness" as the individuals are dressedinboth Musqueamandwestern

clothing

and

are posed with

atepee,a

housing type not normally used on the Northwest

coast. This

photographsuggests

a

multi-valent identity for

Vancouver,

as a city where

technological progressanda colonial frontierhadco-existed. It foreshadows the design

of

the

thirdphaseof

the

airport,

a design which has taken

maximum

advantage of native

cultures. The 'tradition' of appropriating the symbolsandart of theFirstNations by non-

native Vancouverites for their own use

in

representing

westcoast

identity was not new,

eveninthe

late

1930s. Aldona

Jonaitis'

work on the appropriation of Northwest Coast

cultural

signifiers by the non-native population of thewest

coast locates

the beginnings

ofthis

pattern as early as the

1880s.

60

Nor is the visual representation

ofFirst

Nations

culture without corresponding political or social recognition unique to

British

Columbia.

(The adoption

of

the totem pole as a

'Canadian'

icon is

part

of

a

larger discussion of

Canadian

identity formation beyond the

scope

ofthisessay.

61

)Fromthe1930sto the

1960s,the display of Native art works by

European

colonizers illustrated that

cultural

difference could be absorbed into the dominant mainstream without constituting

a

threat.

In the

1990s

the active promotion of native art at the

airport

still represents something

other than the native cultures

themselves.

It has

becomea

representation of

Vancouver

which

denies

the reality of globalizationandthe internationalization of the city. In

5 9

National Archives of

Canada;

R G

12; File1980-206,negative82.

6 0

Aldona

Jonaitis, "Northwest CoastTotemPoles", inUnpacking Culture:Art and

Commodity

inColonial

andPostcolonialWorlds,eds.RuthPhillips and ChristopherSteiner, Berkeley, 1999;pages 104-121.

6 1

Fora detailed investigation

of

the

appropriation of

the totem pole as a symbol by non-natives seeKim

Phillips

(2000) M A . ThesisMakingMeaninginTotemland:Investigatinga

Vancouver

Commission.

25


35/106

Chapter3,1will

expand

the

argument

thatinthecurrent airportextensiveuse is

made

of

this

trope

in orderto

individuate

Vancouver, British Columbiaasa North American

destination

and' Y V R 'as a'unique' airport.

26


36/106

C H A P T E R

2

The

art

work, aboveall,won't

be

parochial.

There'll

benofalling

logs,

or

fish

heads,or

mining

shafts

or

signs.Theidea is not to forget that Vancouver'sairportis international.

ReporterJack McCaugherty

inthe

VancouverProvince,June 13, 1968.

If

greater

Vancouver and

British

Columbia

citizensdonot scream,thenwewill

deserve

what we

surely

get, a 1966 or '67 edition

of

the

awesome

andabstruse internationalairterminal at

Toronto..

.Why

should wehaveto accept atwisted tangle

of

meaningless

shapes

andcolours

recommended

by a committeeoffar-out artists?

...

Wewant anairportso designed that when

people deplanefromEurope or

the

Orient orany otherpart oftheworldtheywill

know

beyond a

shadow of a

doubt

thatthey

are

inBritishColumbia.

Tourist Bureau ManagerHaroldMerileesintheVancouverSun,December 15, 1964

If

anyone

arriving

by

air

heredoesn't

see the beauty

of

thearea,its staggering

view

and

know

it's

B.C.-orisn't told by the

friendly

captain - then he'seitherblind orabsolutelygassed.

.

Tony Emery,VancouverArtGalleryDirector and

member

ofnational advisory committee on

air

terminal

artquotedintheVancouverProvince,June 13, 1968.

The

firstphaseofairportdevelopment describedinthe previous chapter

emphasizedanidentity forVancouverin which technologicaland industrialprogress

were

the dominant motifs

and

colonization

and

the

appropriation

of

local

native cultures

was a

less

significant one. The

themeof

technological progress was not limited to

Vancouver. It wasalsorecognized as a characteristic feature of

early

to mid-twentieth

centuryurbandevelopment.

The

secondphaseofairportdevelopment, which began in

the

late

1950s,continued to emphasize thethemeoftechnological progress and

modernity. It presented a

Canadian

national identitylinkedto the growth of

urban

centers

as international destinations. Thischapter will examine the Department of

Transport'sroleinthe modernizationofurban

airportsfrom

thelate1950sto

1980s.

It

will

also

consider the divergent reactions ofartcriticsandtheCanadianpublicto the

modern artinstalled atairportterminals aspart ofthisdevelopmentprogram.

27


37/106

The

re-development of airportsinthe1960shadapracticalbeginning. Inpart,

the federal government's growing

interest

in

airport

infrastructure was motivated by

political concerns about

American

economic encroachment that could have anegative

impact on

Canadian

sovereignty.

Evenin

the

1920s

it was recognized that to avoid

complete

American

domination

of

the aviation industry,

ground

facilities would have to

be maintained on the

Canadian

sideof theborder.

62

In order for aviation to play a role in

national economic development, co-ordinated service was

required.

Syme

and

Wells

identify federal government policies which allowed for the creation of the

Trans Canada

Airwayin 1928, the Department ofTransportin 1936and Trans Canada Airlinesin 1937,

andprovided the foundation for a successful civilaviationprogram.

63

During

World War

II

the federal government took over financial responsibility

(either

by

lease

or purchase) for

civilianairportsin

Canada

and

made infrastructure

improvements to the 62

municipal

facilities. Following the war, work toward

establishing a more coherent policy for

airport

development across

Canada

commenced.

The

Department of

Transport

continued to develop major airports to accommodate

modern aircraft which became progressively faster

and

heavier. A

minimum

number of

international airportsweredeveloped tomeetCanada's international obligations. The

Department of

Transport

provided financial

assistance

to municipalities to further

develop their

airportsand

established landing strips in remote

areas

to facilitate resource

extraction. To increase air

safety,

the Department provided funding for aids to

6 2

Feldman,ElliotandMilch.Jerome;ThePolitics

of

Canadian AirportDevelopment;

Duke

University

Center

for Commonwealth and Comparative Studies;Durham,1983,

page

30. Also Syme and

Wells;

page

6

"Signswereevident thatAmericanairtransport companies wanted to tap traffic in the

main

centersof

Canadianpopulation and industry, all

of

which lie adjacent to the international boundary."

6 3

Syme and

Wells;

page

8.

28


38/106

navigation such as landing

systems,

radio ranges,weathermonitoringservicesandair

traffic

control for all

airports. After

the war, municipalities

were

given the opportunity to

re-assume control over their airports while receiving financial

assistance

andall but three

chose

to do so.

Funding

for airports became a federal policy where grants of up to

$25,000were

available for each

site

per year.

64

The

A ir

TerminalBuilding program,

which was implemented

in

the 10 years

immediately following the war, resultedinthe construction of new larger, modernairport

facilities

inGander, Halifax, Montreal,

Ottawa,

Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton.

65

Vancouverwas oneofthe laterurbanairportsto be modernizedunderthe federal

initiative as re-development was begun on theeast

coast

at

Gander

andmoved across the

country fromeasttowest.

The

construction of new, modern

airports

across the country was specifically

identified as a national policy objectiveinthe

Governor

General's 1958

Throne

Speech.

66

Since their inception, the

cost

of maintaining

and

operating airports has steadily

increased.

The

greatexpenseof up-grading facilities tokeeppace with aviation

technology

and

increasing

passenger

demand became prohibitive for municipalities to

bear alone, and, as a result,massiveamounts of moneywere

spent

by the federal

government

from

the

1950s

to the

1980s

tokeepairports operational.

67

6 4

McGrath, T . M . ;pages 18-19.

65

Ibid;

page

51.

6 6

"Inparticular,a large expansioninthe construction and equipment

of our

systems

of

airports and airways

willbe proposed..."fromHouse ofCommonsDebates;Session1958;ThroneSpeech; Volume

1;

Queen's

Printer and Controller

of Stationary; Ottawa, 1958;page25.

6 7

Syme

and Wells;

pages11-12 "Cities, mainly for

financial

reasons, opted out

of airport

operation by

selling them to the federal government. Developments

in

the international aviationfieldthat

gave

rise to the

need for larger,betterequipped, and more

expensive

airports further involved the federal government."

29


39/106


40/106


41/106

o ffiveartists. Other panels chargedwithselecting artworks were formed by

B a l dw i n

to

coincidewiththe expansion of

Toronto,

Edmonton and

Winnipeg

airports.

7

' This airport

art program has subsequently beenassessedby architect BernardFlaman,as the largest

publicart project ever in Canada

76

. Lowewrote (in 1964)o fthe program

It provided a handful of establishedartistswiththe biggest commissions they had

ever had.

A n d

it touched off a public brawlaboutartwhichdisproved forever the

plaint

thatthis country was indifferent to what was being painted and sculpted

byits native sons.

77

Further details o fthe Department of Transport's efforts topresentCanada as a

sophisticated nation were provided in a 1964

Canadian

Architectarticle entitled

TorontoAirportInterior

Design .

WriterLynr iFerrabee described the terminalitselfas

anoriginaland

exciting

building and identified the furniture as imaginative because

it admirably maintain[ed] the efficiencyo fthe machine while the interiors [were]

perfectly integratedwiththetemperamento fthebuilding.

78

Referringspecificallyto the

furniture, Ferrabee notedthatthe Department of Transport purchased onlythato fthe

best

quality, not stooping to buy Canadiani fthe quality was too l ow .

7 9

The Department of Transport planned to illustrate regional difference through

abstractart and the modern quality ofCanadiancities through aunifiedarchitectural

i d iom.Although

the federal government was responsible for a l lairports in Canada, it

chose to develop the larger urbancentersdifferently from the smaller,lowtraffic

75

ibid.

7 6

Interview

with

Bernard Flaman, March 31, 2001 andalso

quotediriWestern

Living

Summer2000.

7 7

Lowe,

Frank;page144.

7 8

Ferrabee,

Lynn;"Toronto

Airport

Interior Design";

in

CanadianArchitect,Volume

9,

Number

2;

February 1964; page63.

19

Ibid;page

63.

32


42/106

facilities, whichdidnot tend to haveartprograms. In1963,

Yvonne

McWilliam

outlined the Department's

aestheticobjectives

in a lengthy, well-illustrated article

entitled

"FromRailway Prints

to

Riopelle"

published

in

News

on the

D 'oT.

McWilliamdescribed the

pre-1960s

stateofairportarchitecture in

Canada

as relatively

uninspired.

WhenCanada's

first transcontinental airline was established

in

the

late

1930s,

terminalswerehomey, blueandwhite

frame

buildings surrounded by picket

fences...

Inside artworks usually consisted of

large

sepia prints

ofLake

Louise or

Jasper scrounged

from

the railways.

81

This

assessmentof early terminals, which was inaccurate withrespectto Vancouver's

buildings, was likely motivated by the need

to

justify a new architectural

style

which was,

by 1963, receiving

some

criticism. McWilliamcontinued to illustrate that the purposeof

displaying abstract art at airports was to represent regional difference.

Documents

Constructed destinations: Art at airports