Day 2 - Part 2

Tonight was the lecture that I have been really been looking forward to since I heard about it. Clifford Wiens is one of the best architects to ever come out of Saskatchewan and to hear him speak was something I was excited for. He did not disappoint; his lecture was far from Ordinary and defiantly Amazing, a cheesy thing to say I know but I couldn't stop myself.

He started off his talk by discussing his work on the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, which I found very interesting as due to my summer job with Heritage (at the Department of Culture, Youth and Recreation) and the fact that I am somewhat familiar with the building. Despite my familiarity, I didn't know much about the work that has been done to it in the past, so hearing Clifford talk and looking at the exhibition really opened my eyes to the tremendous work he accomplished there.

Moving on past the Legislative Building, he talked about a number of his other works around the province, country and globe. Some of the different structures he designed blew me away, and if you are not familiar with his work, go to the MacKenzie and check some of it out because it is really impressive. One of the things I really found great about Clifford is that he slowly worked his way up, from being a carpenter to an architect. I think this and also his immense intelligence gave him a great understanding of the materials and physics that surrounded his projects, helping him to come up with some ingenious solutions to design challenges. There is an amazing amount of attention to detail that all of Clifford's projects. The exhibition is very properly titled in this respect -- Telling Details. Clifford's attentionto detail is amazing and nothing is overlooked. The most impressivepart is that he is able to both keep the big picture and overall design in sight and at the same time also focus on the smallest details of the project. This I think has helped make his work incredible. In my opinion, and I'm sure many will agree with me, Clifford is a world renowned architect and yet he still maintains his Saskatchewan roots and his down-to-earth composure -- a quality I find very admirable.

Clifford Wiens has designed many incredible projects provincially, nationally, and even globally and not only are his buildings wonderful and memorable, but as a person, so is he.

Written by Scott Dean