The
architecture of Canada is, with the exception of that of the
First NationsFirst Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada, who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 600 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread all across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia...
, closely linked to the techniques and styles developed in Europe and the United States. However, design has long needed to be adapted to Canada's climate and geography, and at times has also reflected the uniqueness of Canadian culture.
Climate and geography
Canada's geography is highly diverse, and there are thus important differences in architecture. In most of Canada building materials are abundant, and the price of lumber and stone are low. The major exception are the prairie and the far north, where wood is in short supply. In the early history of the prairies the shortage of wood led to farm houses b as in the rest of the country. In the far north transportation costs of all goods are extremely high, and any construction project is expensive.
For the most part Canada is secure from major natural disasters that affect the architecture of other nations. However, the Canadian climate needs to be taken into account for every structure. All buildings need to be well insulated to protect their inhabitants against the extreme cold of the long winters. Buildings must be designed to survive the repeated cycle of freezing and thawing that can shatter stone and move buildings off their foundations. In most of Canada, buildings must also be able to survive the heavy weight of snow, which can collapse certain structures. In coastal British Columbia, the region's heavy rainfall is a factor in weatherproofing buildings, and ignoring it can have expensive consequences.
First Nations
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the
First NationsFirst Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada, who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 600 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread all across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia...
lived in a wide array of structures. The semi-nomadic peoples of the Maritimes, Quebec, and Northern Ontario, such as the
Mi'kmaqThe Míkmaq are a First Nations people, indigenous to northeastern New England, Canada's Atlantic Provinces, and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. The nation has a population of about 40,000 of whom nearly 11,000 speak the Algonquian language Lnuísimk, more commonly known as "Micmac"...
,
CreeCree is one of the largest group of First Nations/Aboriginals in North America, located mainly across Canada and historically in the United States from Minnesota westward but are found today in Montana....
, and
AlgonquinThe Algonquins are aboriginal/First Nations inhabitants of North American who speak Algonquin. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely related to the Odawa and Ojibwe, with whom they form the larger Anicinàpe grouping...
generally lived in
wigwamA wigwam or wickiup is a domed single-room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast...
s. These were wood framed structures, covered with an outer layer of bark, reeds, or woven mats. In the Northeast United States the most common form of the wigwam was a dome, in Canada a cone shape was more common. These groups changed locations every few weeks or months. They would take the outer layer of the wigwam with them, and leave the heavy wood frame in place. The frame could be reused if the tribe returned to the location at a later date.
Further south, in what is today Southern Ontario and Quebec the
IroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an indigenous people of North America. In the 16th century or earlier, the Iroquois came together in an association known as the Iroquois League, or the "League of Peace and Power"...
society lived in permanent agricultural settlements holding several hundred to several thousand people. The standard form of housing was the
long houseLonghouses were built by native peoples in various parts of North America, sometimes reaching over 100 meters long but generally around 5 to 7 meters wide...
. These were large structures, several times longer than they were wide holding a large number of people. They were built with a frame of saplings or branches, covered with a layer of bark or woven mats.
On the
PrairiesThe Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in Western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are much covered by...
the standard form of life was a nomadic one, with the people often moving to a new location each day to follow the
bisonMembers of the genus Bison are large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant species and four extinct species are recognized...
herds. Housing thus had to be portable, and the
tipiA tipi is a conical tent traditionally made of animal skins or birch bark and popularised by Native Americans of the Great Plains. Tipis are stereotypically associated with Native Americans in general but Native Americans from places other than the Great Plains used different types of dwellings...
was developed. The tipi consisted of a thin wooden frame and an outer covering of animal hides. The structures could be quickly erected, and were light enough to transport long distances.
In the
Interior of British ColumbiaThe British Columbia Interior or BC Interior or Interior of British Columbia, usually referred to only as The Interior, is one of the three main regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the other two being the Lower Mainland, which comprises the overlapping areas of Greater Vancouver...
the standard for of home was the semi-permanent pit house, thousands of relics of which, known as quiggly holes are scattered across the Interior landscape. These were structures shaped like an upturned bowl, placed on top of a three of four foot deep pit. The bowl, made of wood, would be covered with an insulating layer of earth. The house would be entered by climbing down a ladder at the centre of the roof. See
Quiggly holeA quiggly hole, also known simply as a quiggly or kekuli, is the remains of an underground house built by the First Nations people of the Interior of British Columbia and the Columbia Plateau in the U.S....
.
Some of the most impressive First Nations architecture was that of the settled people of the west coast such as the
HaidaThe Haida are an indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. The Haida territories comprise the archipelago of the Queen Charlotte Islands, known in the Haida language as Haida Gwaii , and the southern half of Prince of Wales Island in the southernmost Alaska Panhandle, which...
. These people used advanced carpentry and
joineryJoinery may refer to:* Woodworking joints or other types of mechanical joints * The work of the joiner, the fabrication and installation of fittings in buildings with materials such as wood and aluminium * In Australia and New Zealand, a joinery is also the generic term for a business which...
skills to construct large houses of
redcedarWestern red cedar , also Western redcedar, is a species of Thuja, an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae. In the American horticultural trade, it is also known as the Giant Arborvitae, Arborvitae being another name for its genus...
planks. These were large square, solidly built houses. The most advanced design was the six beam house, named for the number of beams that supported the roof. The front of each house would be decorated with a
heraldric poleTotem poles are monumental sculptures carved from large trees, usually cedar, but mostly Western Red Cedar, by cultures of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America...
, the pole and sometimes the house would be brightly painted with artistic designs.
In the far north, where wood was scarce and solid shelter essential for survival, several unique and innovative architectural styles were developed. One of the most famous is the
iglooAn igloo , or snowhouse, is a type of shelter built out of snow, originally built by the Inuit...
, a domed structure made of snow, which was quite warm. In the summer months, when the igloos melted, tents made of seal skin, or other hides, were used. The
ThuleThe Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region...
adopted a design similar to the pit houses of the BC interior, but because of the lack of wood they instead used
whaleWhale is the common name for marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale is sometimes used to refer to all cetaceans, but in more common English usage it generally excludes the members of the Delphinoidea superfamily, such as dolphins and porpoises...
bones for the frame.
Arrival of the Europeans
The first Europeans to inhabit what would become Canada were the French settlers of
New FranceNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763...
and
AcadiaAcadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day New England, stretching as far south as Philadelphia...
. The initial settlements at
Port RoyalPort Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. It was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century. It was one home port of the privateers employed to nip at superpower...
and
Quebec CityQuébec , is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in the province – after Montreal, about to the southwest...
were most concerned with defence, against both First Nations and the English. For most of the early history of Quebec city it was dominated by the large fortress and outer walls. The city was divided into two sections. The Upper Town was home to the fortress, Intendant's house, and churches, these structures were built of stone in imitation of the
Baroque architectureBaroque architecture, starting in the early 17th century in Italy, took the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical, theatrical, sculptural fashion, expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state. New architectural concerns for color, light and...
then popular in France. The Lower Town consisted of densely packed structures on narrow streets, and was the commercial centre and home to the workers.
The settlers of the rural areas along the St. Lawrence largely came from
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
, and the houses they built echoed their roots. The surroundings forced enough differences that a unique style developed, and the house of the New France farmer remains a symbol of French-Canadian nationalism. These were rectangular structures of one storey, but with an extremely tall and steep roof, sometimes almost twice as tall as the house below. This roof design perhaps developed to prevent the accumulation of snow. The houses were usually built of wood, though the surviving ones are almost all built of stone. Landmarks in the rural areas were the churches and the mansion of the
seigneursThe seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...
. The seigneurs built much larger homes for themselves, but rarely were the manors ornate. Each parish had its church, often smaller copies of major churches in Quebec City or Montreal. A unique style of French-Canadian church thus developed.
The first English settlements in what would become Canada were in Newfoundland, growing out of the temporary fishing settlements that had been established in the sixteenth century. The first English settlement in the Maritimes was in Halifax, and then along the
South ShoreSouth Shore may refer to:In Canada:*South Shore , Quebec, the region of the greater Montreal area on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River*South Shore , area of Nova Scotia...
. The style that developed in the Maritimes was very close to the architecture of
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
. Trade links between the two areas were close, and many of the settlers in the Maritimes were from there. Some of the first houses erected in Halifax were actually prefabricated structures assembled in Boston or New York and shipped to the new settlement.
Cape Cod styleA Cape Cod cottage is a style of house originating in New England in the 17th century. It is traditionally characterized by a low, broad frame building, generally a story and a half high, with a steep, perfectly pitched roof with end gables, a large central chimney and very little ornamentation.The...
cottages were built throughout the region. However, the influence of the
Foreign ProtestantsThe "Foreign Protestants" were a group of immigrants to Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century and the ethnonymical basis behind the name "New Brunswick", as well as support behind naming "Prince Edward Island" for a representative of the Braunschweiger dynasty....
was also felt as the architecture of the region also borrowed some techniques and styles from Germany and Switzerland.
Growth and expansion
The English speaking population of Canada grew dramatically with the influx of
United Empire LoyalistsThe name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific name which has been given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the...
after the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution is the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America at first rejected the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and later the British monarchy itself, to become the sovereign United States of...
. This doubled the population of the Maritimes and brought the first significant European population to what was soon
Upper CanadaThe Province of Upper Canada was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario...
. One of the most popular styles in the pre-revolutionary United States was
GeorgianGeorgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the...
, after the revolution this style fell out of favour due to its association with the colonial regime, but the Loyalists embraced the style as an overt symbol of their loyalty. The style had also, however, fallen out of style in Britain, and Canada was alone in embracing Georgian architecture for much of the early nineteenth century.
In Lower Canada the Georgian style was employed by the English minority, but this minority dominated the commercial and political class. French-Canadian architecture kept many of its traditional forms, but also adopted some English styles. Throughout British North America the Georgian style was mostly used by the middle and upper classes, and also for institutional buildings such as churches and government structures. In rural areas, and among the urban poor, simpler styles dominated. In the Maritimes the New England style cottages continued to be popular. For the first settlers in Ontario the
log cabinA log cabin is a small house built from logs. It is a simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." "Log cabin" generally denotes a simple one, or one-and-one-half story structure, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or...
was the standard first house. Logs were a byproduct of the need the clear the land, and log cabins were cheap and easy to build. After a few years of farming it was typical to build a more elegant farmhouse. The most common design was the Ontario Style House, which consisted of a rectangular wood building with the main
gableA gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns...
over the short sides, and a smaller gable over the main entrance.
The pattern of building in the west was very different. The first settlements in much of the West were the forts of the
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world...
and
North West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
and the cabins of the
MetisMetis meant "cunningness" or "craft, skill" in Ancient Greek.Metis may also refer to:* Metis , a Titaness and the first wife of Zeus* Metis , the innermost of Jupiter's known moons...
. The next important presence was that of the
Canadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. Its rail network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City...
. The railway needed to build stations every 13 km of its 4200 km route in order to rewater the steam engines. Many of these stations became a nucleus of towns. These stations were built to standardized designs, with a number of different sizes for stations of differing importance. Other important monuments throughout the prairies were the grain elevators, and the banks which competed with each other by building ever more ornate structures.
While there is little wood native to the prairies, the railway enabled it to be imported at relatively low cost. It was still common to build a first temporary home out of
sodSod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of this material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...
. For those who were unsure of how to build a home, an industry of predesigned and prefabricated homes sold by catalogue developed. A settler could simply order plans for a few dollars, or also order the precut lumber, and premade doors and windows. The
Eaton's catalogueEaton's was once Canada's largest department store retailer. Founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant, Eaton's first advertisement read "We propose to sell our goods for CASH ONLY – In selling goods, to have only one price." In an era where haggling for goods was...
of 1910 offered homes from a shack for $165 to a nine room house for $1,025. These structures were erected across the prairies.
For some immigrants to the prairies, most notably the Ukrainians, there was not enough capital to buy a predesigned home, but since the immigrants were highly experienced with farming on the very similar Ukrainian steppe, houses identical to the peasant cottages of Eastern Europe were built across the prairies. These cottages had characteristic flared thatched roofs and white plaster walls. Even more notable were the
onion domeAn onion dome is a type of uniform architectural dome present across Eastern Europe , Mughal India, the Middle East and Central Asia...
d Ukrainian churches built across the prairies. Other groups such as the Hutterites and Doukhobors also built unique structures. In the long run, however, the second and third generation immigrants tended to embrace the more British styles: the churches remained distinctly Eastern, but the houses largely conformed to the rest.
Victorian architecture
Victorian styles of architecture dominated in Canada from the mid-nineteenth century up to the First World War. Unlike during the previous centuries there was now easy communication between Canada and the architectural centres of the United States and Britain. It was common for Canadian architects to travel, study, and work in these other areas, and it was also increasingly common to hire foreign architects. This meant that ideas and styles developed elsewhere were quickly adopted in Canada. These were diverse styles, but one common element were attempts to revive ideas of the past. The first such style to come to prominence was the Gothic Revival style, which first came to Canada in the 1830s. This became the dominant architectural style for churches, especially Anglican and Roman Catholic ones, which both embraced Gothic Revival as evidence of their conservatism. It also was used for scholastic structures, such as universities and some houses. Some of the most prominent Gothic Revival structures are the original
Parliament BuildingThe Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch represented by her Governor General the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
s in Ottawa, by noted architect
Thomas FullerThomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
who in 1881 was appointed Chief Dominion Architect.
Other revived styles also became prominent. Romanesque Revival buildings such as the British Columbia Legislature,
Old Toronto City HallToronto's Old City Hall was home to its city council from 1899 to 1966 and remains one of the city's most prominent structures. It is at the corner of Queen and Bay Streets, opposite the new City Hall in the centre of downtown Toronto. It has a distinctive clock tower which heads the length of Bay...
, and
Langevin BlockThe Langevin Block is an office building facing Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. As the home of the Privy Council Office and Office of the Prime Minister, it is the working headquarters of the executive branch of the Canadian government...
were erected in this period.
NeoclassicismNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
became popular for banks, and for train station such as Toronto's
Union StationUnion Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Toronto.The station is located on Front Street West and occupies the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in the central business district...
. Several Second Empire Style structures were erected such as the
National Assembly of QuebecThe National Assembly of Quebec is the name for the legislative body of the Canadian province of Quebec. The lieutenant governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.Since the...
,
Manitoba Legislative BuildingThe Manitoba Legislative Building is the meeting place of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, in central Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was originally named the Manitoba Parliament Building, not Legislative. The neoclassical building was completed in 1920 and stands seventy-seven meters tall...
,
Montreal City HallThe five-storey Montreal City Hall is the work of architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and was built between 1872 and 1878 in the Second Empire style. It is located in Old Montreal, between Place Jacques-Cartier and the Champ de Mars, at 275 Notre-Dame Street East...
, and the
Legislative Assembly of New BrunswickThe Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick is located in Fredericton. It was established de jure when the colony was created in 1784, but only came in to session in 1786 following the first elections in late 1785. Until 1891, it was the lower house in a bicameral legislature when its upper house...
. In the 1890s Queen Anne Style architecture became the dominant one for upper and middle class houses across Canada. Early in the twentieth style the Tudor Style became quite popular, especially on the West Coast.
Canadian styles
In the period after the First World War
Canadian nationalismCanadian nationalism is a term which has been applied to ideologies of several different types which highlight and promote specifically Canadian interests over those of other countries, notably the United States...
led to attempts to proclaim a unique Canadian architecture, distinct from that of Britain and the United States. One style promoted as distinctly Canadian was the
Château StyleCanada’s railway hotels are a series of grand hotels across the country, each a local and national landmark, and most of which are icons of Canadian history and architecture. Each hotel was originally built by the Canadian railway companies, or the railways acted as a catalyst for the hotel’s...
, also known as Railway Gothic. This style first appeared in the late nineteenth century with grandiose railway hotels such as the
Château FrontenacThe Château Frontenac grand hotel is a popular attraction in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.it was designed by architect Bruce Price, the Château Frontenac was one of a series of "château" style hotels built for the Canadian Pacific Railway company at the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th...
and
Banff Springs HotelThe Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel constructed in Scottish Baronial style, located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The hotel, designed by architect Bruce Price, was built between spring of 1887 and 1888 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, at the instigation of its...
. It was a mix of Victorian Gothic Revival with castles of the
LoireLoire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when the original department of Rhône-et-Loire was split....
in France. The railways were seen as symbols of Canada, and the mix of French and English ideas was also considered distinctly Canadian . During the Interwar years the Château style was used in several prominent public structures, such as the
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system...
building. Prime Minister
William Lyon Mackenzie KingWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was a Canadian lawyer, economist, university professor, civil servant, journalist, fisherman, waiter, teacher and politician. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921, to June 28, 1926; September 25, 1926, to August 6, 1930;...
was a prominent supporter of the style. The third and current Hotel Vancouver, the last of the great Gothic railway hotels, was also completed after the start of World War II, though it had been under construction until 1929 (its predecessor was Italian Renaissance, a common style in late Victorian and Edwardian British Columbia).
The desire for a unique Canadian style also led to a revival of the Neo Gothic style during the interwar period. In part because of the prominence of the Parliament Buildings and the CPR's "railway Gothic", Gothic architecture had become closely associated with Canada and while the United States embraced
Art DecoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
Canadian architects returned to the Middle Ages for inspiration, by way of John Ruskin's writings on Neo-Gothic, the most Victorian of all styles. Thus, when the Centre Block of the Parliament burnt down it was rebuilt in a similar Gothic style to that that had been used sixty years earlier.
At the same time developments, especially those in United States, were not ignored. Toronto closely followed Chicago and New York as the home of skyscrapers employing new steel framed construction and
elevatorAn elevator or lift is a vertical transport vehicle that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building...
s. Toronto's influence on other Canadian cities, largely because of the control of capital (especially banks) meant that Western Canadian cities, particularly Vancouver, became filled with lesser versions of their counterparts in Toronto (e.g.
TD Tower (Vancouver)TD Tower is located at 700 West Georgia Street in Downtown Vancouver and is connected to part of the Pacific Centre shopping mall.The skyscraper stands at 127 m or 30 stories tall and was completed in 1972...
,
Bentall Centre (Vancouver)The Bentall Centre is the collective name for five office towers, plus the basement mall, located in Downtown Vancouver's financial district. The shopping mall under the complex includes a food court, post office and an office supply store, Grand & Toy. The mall has a direct connection with the...
which displaced the city's older and distinctly Edwardian flavour.
Modernism appeared in a number of guises. In the 1930s and 1920s the banks and insurance companies embraced Modern Classicism. The Prairie Style, well suited to the Canadian terrain, became a popular one for homes and other structures, especially the designs of
Francis SullivanFrancis Conroy Sullivan was a Canadian architect.The only Canadian pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright, Sullivan brought the modernist Prairie School style to Canada, building a number of prominent structures, often in the Prairie Style.He was an architect for the Canadian Department of Public Works from...
. In British Columbia, the
bungalowA bungalow is a type of single-story house that originated in India. The word derives from the Gujarati બંગલો baṅgalo, which in turn derives from the Hindi बंगला baṅglā, meaning "Bengali" and used elliptically for a "house in the Bengal style"...
style popular in British India became a fixture in local house design, and styles such as
Arts and craftsArts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...
,
Queen AnneThe Queen Anne Style is a furniture and decoration style that reached its greatest popularity in the last quarter of the 19th century, manifesting itself in a number of different ways in different countries...
and emulations of Californian Spanish and other distinctly western North America styles were common.
In Vancouver during the 1950s and 1960s, modernist architectures inspired by
Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works....
and fostered by the unique building materials and physical setting resulted in various daring new styles of housing, particularly on Vancouver's ritzy
North ShoreThe North Shore is a term commonly used to refer to several areas adjacent to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada:*the District of West Vancouver;*the City of North Vancouver;*the District of North Vancouver; and...
, featuring open beams, glass walls, and innovative floor plans. Vancouver architect
Arthur EricksonArthur Charles Erickson, CC was an internationally celebrated Canadian architect and urban planner. He studied Asian languages at the University of British Columbia, and later earned a degree in architecture from McGill University.-Biography:Most of his buildings are modernist concrete structures...
, more known for grandiose exercises in instititutional concrete such as
Robson SquareRobson Square is a landmark civic centre and public plaza of modernist concrete, located in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the site of the Provincial Law Courts, UBC Robson Square, government office buildings, and public space connecting the newer development to the Vancouver Art...
and
Simon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser University is a public university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. It was established in 1965 and presently has more than 32,000 students and 900 faculty members. The university was named after...
, pioneered the British Columbia version of the "West Coast style", variations of which are also common in Washington, Oregon and California. Despite the impersonality of his large-scale projects, Erickson-designed houses are prized for their intimacy and taste, as well as their advantageous use of natural settings. A lesser, though much more common, form of modernist architecture developed during the 1960s was the
Vancouver SpecialVancouver Special is a term used to refer to houses built in a particular architectural style in the period from roughly 1965 to 1985 in Vancouver, British Columbia and its suburbs. They are characterised by their "box-like" structure, low-pitched roofs, balconies across the front of the house, and...
, a two-storey stuccoed box which took up most of a city lot, and typically featured two suites, one upstairs and one downstairs.
The movements and styles popular in the United States and Britain were not totally ignored in Canada. Several
Art DecoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
structures were erected, such as the
Vancouver City HallVancouver City Hall is home to Vancouver City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located at 453 West 12th Avenue, the building was ordered by the Vancouver Civic Building Committee, designed by architect Fred Townley and Matheson, and built by Carter, Halls, Aldinger and Company...
and the
Marine BuildingThe Marine Building is a skyscraper located at 355 Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia Canada near the Financial District, designed by McCarter Nairne and Partners. It is renowned for its Art Deco details.The brainchild of Lt. Commander J.W...
also in that city and
Commerce Court NorthCommerce Court is a cluster of four office buildings in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the financial district on King Street and Bay Street...
in Toronto. The Georgian revival that was underway in the United States also made some incursions to Canada, as did diverse styles such as Egyptian Revival and Spanish Colonial styles.
Modern period
After the Second World War, the desire for unique Canadian styles faded as the
International StyleThe International style was a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modernist architecture. The term had its origin from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson written to record the International Exhibition of Modern...
came to dominate the Canadian scene in the 1960s and 1970s. Many of the most prominent Canadian projects of this period were designed by foreigners, who won open contests.
Prominent modernists such as
Ludwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to and addressed by his surname, Mies, by his colleagues, students, writers, and others....
and I.M. Pei designed major works in Canada. At the same time top Canadian architects did much of their work abroad. One of the first and most prominent modernist structures was
Ludwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to and addressed by his surname, Mies, by his colleagues, students, writers, and others....
's
Toronto-Dominion CentreThe Toronto-Dominion Centre, or T-D Centre, is a cluster of buildings in downtown Toronto, Ontario, consisting of six towers and a pavilion covered in bronze-tinted glass and black painted steel, and serving as the global headquarters of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, as well as providing office and...
. The T-D Centre was one of the most prominent of the early glass panelled office towers, which would be imitated around the world. The International Style period coincided with a major building boom in Canada, and few restrictions on massive building projects. International Style skyscrapers came to dominate many of Canada's major cities, especially Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto. In Montreal fewer such buildings were erected, but those that were such as
Place Ville-MariePlace Ville-Marie or 1, Place Ville-Marie is a cruciform office tower built in the International style in 1962, arguably the most distinctive building in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is 188 m in height with 46 stories...
and Place Victoria, were large enough to dominate the skyline.
The modernist styles had even mixed results when applied to residential structures, such as the large housing projects constructed in this era. Massive Canadian housing projects, such as
St. James TownSt. James Town is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It lies in the northeast corner of the downtown area. The neighbourhood covers the area bounded by Sherbourne Street to the west, Bloor Street to the north, Parliament Street to the east, and Wellesley Street East to the south.St...
, were far less disastrous than their counterparts in the United States. The post war period saw the rise of massive and low density suburbs surrounding most Canadian cities, with
Don MillsDon Mills is a residential neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada, and claims to be the first "new town" planned and fully integrated post-war community developed by private enterprise in North America, and the blueprint for post-war suburban development in Toronto and contemporary residential...
being Canada's first community constructed on rigidly modernist lines. One important development was the rise of shopping malls that became the commercial, and often social, centres of these suburban areas.
While the glass boxes of the International Style skyscraper were at first unique and interesting, the idea was soon repeated to the point of ubiquity. Architects attempted to put new twists into such towers, such as the
Toronto City HallThe City Hall of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is one of the most distinctive landmarks of the city. Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell , landscape architect Richard Strong, and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in 1965; its modernist architecture still impresses today...
. By the 1970s a backlash was underway against modernism, and Canada was one of its centres. Prominent anti-modernists such as
Jane JacobsJane Jacobs, OC, O.Ont was an American-born Canadian urbanist, writer and activist. She is best known for The Death and Life of Great American Cities , a powerful critique of the urban renewal policies of the 1950s in the United States...
and
George BairdGeorge Hetzel Baird was an American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x400 m relay at the 1928 Summer Olympics....
were based in Canada.
The new Canadian architecture once again turned to the past. A prominent heritage preservation movement has developed, and most cities today have a heritage district of restored structures. Old factories and warehouses, rather than be demolished, have been refurbished, such as the
Queen's Quay TerminalQueen's Quay Terminal was a cold storage facility, the Toronto Terminal Warehouse, built in 1926 by Moores & Dunford and converted to a condo/mall complex in 1983...
, a former warehouse that was rebuilt into a mix of stores, condos, and a theatre. New buildings have also again begun to echo the past.
Massey CollegeMassey College is a postgraduate residential college of the University of Toronto, established in 1963 with an endowment by the Massey Foundation. All of its members are elected by and as fellows of the college...
's concrete Gothicism is an early example, and other structures have reflected the Chateau Style.
See also
- Society of Architectural Historians
The Society of Architectural Historians is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the study and preservation of the built environment worldwide....
- Examination for Architects in Canada
The Examination for Architects in Canada, or ExAC, is a professional licensure examination for architects in most of Canada. It has been adopted by all of the Canadian Licensing Authorities except for the Architectural Institute of British Columbia...
- Canadian architecture
The architecture of Canada is, with the exception of that of the First Nations, closely linked to the techniques and styles developed in Europe and the United States...
- Gothic Revival architecture in Canada
Gothic Revival architecture in Canada is an historically influential style, with many prominent examples. The Gothic Revival was imported to Canada from Britain and the United States in the early nineteenth century, and rose to become the most popular style for major projects throughout the late...
- List of tallest buildings in Canada
- List of tallest structures in Canada
- List of old Canadian buildings
- List of heritage buildings in Vancouver
- List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto
- Architecture of Toronto
The architecture of Toronto is most marked by its being the financial and cultural capital of Canada, as well as the political capital of Ontario...
- Architecture of Montreal
- Architecture of Ottawa
The architecture of Ottawa is most marked by the city's role as the national capital of Canada. This gives the city a number of monumental structures designed to represent the federal government and the nation. It also means that as a city dominated by government bureaucrats, much of its...
- Architecture of Quebec City
The architecture of Quebec City is characterized by the fact that it is one of North America's oldest cities, being founded in 1608. The original French settlers in the area imported architecture similar to that found in their native country at the time....
- Architecture of St. John's
The architecture of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador has a flavour distinct from that of the rest of Canada, and its major buildings are remnants of its history and prestige as the first British colonial capital. As the oldest English-founded settlement in North America the city of St. John's...
- Canadian Centre for Architecture
The Canadian Centre for Architecture is an architecture museum and research centre located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Phyllis Lambert is the founder and director....