A Brief History of Recent Canadian Architecture

Canadian Modern Architecture: 1967 to the Present (Princeton Architectural Press, 2019) is a bulky little tome that is neither a directory nor a considered history but rather a survey of hundreds of buildings, large and small, public and private, important and obscure. The book is organized chronologically, thematically, and regionally, and includes essays by 17 different authors: academics, critics, and journalists. This large squad of scribblers is necessary because Canada is simply too large geographically, and too diverse culturally, to have a single coherent architectural story.

With so many authors, the coverage is necessarily uneven, and although the book claims to be comprehensive, its selections can be quirky: Ray Affleck’s superb Alcan headquarters in Montreal, an early exercise in historic preservation that combined several Victorian mansions, a 1928 hotel, and new construction, merits only a postage-stamp-size photo; Moshe Safdie, FAIA’s masterly National Gallery of Canada gets no more than a passing nod, and his Library Square in Vancouver is not mentioned at all, nor is Arthur Erickson’s excellent Bank of Canada in Ottawa. At the same time, unbuilt projects intended for the Canadian North are covered in dutiful detail, and some private residences receive more attention than major civic landmarks. It makes for a somewhat perplexing bouillabaisse—like leafing through back issues of a magazine.