On the final day of the symposium we had the opportunity to get on a bus and tour around Regina and area looking at some of the buildings that Clifford Wiens designed throughout his career. The best part of this tour was that we were accompanied by Mr. Wiens and had a chance to hear him talk about the thoughts that went through his head while designing. He pointed out some features he designed into his buildings that I'm sure would have been missed by almost anyone else who did not have the benefit of the architect himself giving the tour. One of the highlights for me were the stories that Clifford had about each and every building we visited, and his sense of humor. The buildings we visited on this tour included the University of Regina Heating and Cooling plant, the Silton Chapel/Church, the John Nugent studio in Lumsden, and the Grace Presbyterian Church in Regina.
We first stopped at the Heating and Cooling plant at the UofR -- a building I have driven by a number of times but never really stopped to look at it closely. The thing I liked the most was that Clifford designed the one wall so that it can be taken apart fairly easily and quickly to make room for a new boiler to go into the plant. With this feature as part of the original design it means that once you put the wall back together, you can't even tell it had been taken apart. Those sort of ideas are one of Mr. Wiens best attributes. As a designer he is able to look far ahead to the future and anticipate what sort of challenges a building might face, such as needing a new boiler, and then he incorporates features into the design to help overcome those challenges.
The second place we stopped was the John Nugent studio in Lumsden. At this site we were able to tour around and were also the audience for a plaque unveiling by the minister of Culture Youth and Recreation, Warren McCall. For those who don't know, the Nugent Studio is the first modernist building to be designated a Provincial Heritage Property in Saskatchewan. To learn more about it you can go to www.cyr.gov.sk.ca. The Nugent Studio is very interesting for the unique shape of the dome as well it's construction method. This building was built by John Nugent and many of his friends in the art and design community, including Clifford, who also designed it. It was built for very little money and the thing I found most interesting is that the concrete was put on by the dome by hand using no forms. If you look closely you can see what appear to be rings or layers on the dome. According to Clifford those rings are as far as he and the other workers could reach in one weekend. It was these kinds of stories that filled up the whole tour and made it so interesting.
Our next stop was the Silton Chapel/Church. This is a very unique structure as it has no walls, and the roof is supported but a series of beams and 4 concrete pilings. It is really an incredible structure and anyone who has a chance should stop and see it. The thing that stuck out for me were the chains that were used as part of the rain gutters. Instead of using a traditional downspout, Mr. Wiens hung a set of chains down from the gutters so the water would run down these chains. One things I would really like to experience is being inside this structure during a heavy rain -- I think it would be incredible.
The last place we stopped was the Grace Presbyterian Church in Regina. This is another building that shows Clifford's attention to detail, such as how he designed the walls to slant out near the pews so even though you are up against the wall you still have elbow and head room and don't feel crowded. If you ever have a chance stop by and see what I am talking about it will probably become clearer.
During the bus tour we also were given quick notes as we drove past other Clifford Weins buildings that we did not have time to stop at. These comments were provided both by Mr. Wiens himself and also by Trevor Boddy, the curator of the Telling Details exhibition. I was very impressed with how Mr. Boddy explained the buildings, and some of their history. I was also very impressed all weekend with his immense knowledge of everything Clifford and everything Architecture. He gave a very nice tour on the bus and all weekend during the symposium he was very personable and always fun to talk to or listen to. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for creating this wonderful exhibition and helping introduce me to the work of Clifford Weins. I also want to thank every body at the MacKenzie and Dunlop for putting on this symposium and allowing me to write this blog.
Written by Scott Dean.
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
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
Blog- day two, part 1
Today, the Symposium started at the MacKenzie Art Gallery with a panel discussion. The panel was comprised of people from a number of different backgrounds including a number of Architects, an Artist and a Conservationist (a full list is provided below in the schedule). This diversity made for interesting presentations and discussions. The main topic for the panel was the re-use of modernist buildings that are nearing the end of their life cycle. The presentations from the three Architects focused on case studies of buildings that had been renovated around Regina. I found it interesting to be able to look at the different ideas and visions that the different firms had and as a result the very different finished products that emerged. One point I found very intriguing was brought forward by James J. Youck from P3 Architecture. He talked about how if at any particular intersection of Regina's ridged east-west and north-south streets downtown, all four of the buildings use slightly pulled back, large corner entrances you can create a sort of park like area in the sense that it is very pedestrian friendly and inviting. Another topic that was touched on by a number of the panelists and during the discussion afterwards was the old Regina city hall building, and the loss of that structure. Looking at pictures I personally think it would be an amazing structure to still have and think it is a shame it was torn down. Also, I would encourage anyone who is not sure what I am talking about to go to the Sask Archives, or on the internet, find a photo and take a look at the amazing structure, even though it is not a modernist building. Another building that was mentioned by Cheryl Cooper was the Evergreen Building by Arthur Erickson in Vancouver. I thought this was an incredible building -- the way he stepped and sloped the building made it very functional and gave most tenants very nice balconies. Also, by using vegetation he made a very sharp building appear very soft and the vegetation also really tied it into the landscape surrounding it. I think a very great piece of work.
After the panel we had our first Keynote speaker, Patricia Patkau from Vancouver. The main focus of her talk was on libraries and this seemed very fitting to me, and I'm sure was intended by the planners, as a good portion of this symposium is being held in the Regina Public Library downtown. She mentioned how there are some libraries that can have an appearance that makes them seem very connected with the surrounding community or in contrast how they can stand apart as iconic structures. This got me thinking about some of the libraries I have seen around many different centers and which category they fit into. I was most interested when she talked about her personal experiences designing two libraries, one in Winnipeg and one in Montreal. The topic of the flow of people into and around the building was a main focus, and rightly so as it is a public building. With a library you have two types of people, the quick in and grab a book then out as fast as possible type and then there are the casual make-a-day-of-it type of people. Her solution to this problem was having elevators and also a very long and
open stair case with reading spaces all along the sides a very good way of handling things. I would recommend stopping by the Centennial Library in Winnipeg if you have a chance (which Patkau designed). Later on in the day we had our second panel discussion which was titled Uncommon Spaces: the Cultural Value of Modernist Public Architecture. One of the things that stood out was the mention about how, in Nova Scotia, the modernist movement was never really accepted to begin with and that now, due to the need to attract tourism by selling the area a "folk" culture site, modernism is being pushed down even further. I found this troubling --architecture, in my opinion, should reflect what is happening in the world around it and it's time period. What seems to be happening in Nova Scotia is that things are being built that are not doing this and are instead being designed only to attract tourists with a product that is not necessarily authentic. One other things that was brought up was about Clifford Weins; Trevor Boddy suggested that Clifford was one of the very few true modernist Architects. Now I'm not familiar enough to give an opinion yet but after his talk this evening and another viewing
of the exhibition I am hoping to be able to.
We finished off this afternoon with a quick walk around Victoria park led by Bernie Flaman. This was a very nice experience, and it was great to learn about the buildings you see every day and take for granted. As Bernie pointed out, in just the few blocks you have numerous buildings of great historical value, some modernist and some not. These buildings have also been designed by some of the best architects from here in Regina as well as from New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and a other places. It is an exquisite site to check out and I would encourage anyone who has the means to do so. You can learn more about some of these buildings by going to the Culture, Youth and Recreation website and click on the heritage link, or go to the national registry online at Canada's Historic Places.
Written by Scott Dean
After the panel we had our first Keynote speaker, Patricia Patkau from Vancouver. The main focus of her talk was on libraries and this seemed very fitting to me, and I'm sure was intended by the planners, as a good portion of this symposium is being held in the Regina Public Library downtown. She mentioned how there are some libraries that can have an appearance that makes them seem very connected with the surrounding community or in contrast how they can stand apart as iconic structures. This got me thinking about some of the libraries I have seen around many different centers and which category they fit into. I was most interested when she talked about her personal experiences designing two libraries, one in Winnipeg and one in Montreal. The topic of the flow of people into and around the building was a main focus, and rightly so as it is a public building. With a library you have two types of people, the quick in and grab a book then out as fast as possible type and then there are the casual make-a-day-of-it type of people. Her solution to this problem was having elevators and also a very long and
open stair case with reading spaces all along the sides a very good way of handling things. I would recommend stopping by the Centennial Library in Winnipeg if you have a chance (which Patkau designed). Later on in the day we had our second panel discussion which was titled Uncommon Spaces: the Cultural Value of Modernist Public Architecture. One of the things that stood out was the mention about how, in Nova Scotia, the modernist movement was never really accepted to begin with and that now, due to the need to attract tourism by selling the area a "folk" culture site, modernism is being pushed down even further. I found this troubling --architecture, in my opinion, should reflect what is happening in the world around it and it's time period. What seems to be happening in Nova Scotia is that things are being built that are not doing this and are instead being designed only to attract tourists with a product that is not necessarily authentic. One other things that was brought up was about Clifford Weins; Trevor Boddy suggested that Clifford was one of the very few true modernist Architects. Now I'm not familiar enough to give an opinion yet but after his talk this evening and another viewing
of the exhibition I am hoping to be able to.
We finished off this afternoon with a quick walk around Victoria park led by Bernie Flaman. This was a very nice experience, and it was great to learn about the buildings you see every day and take for granted. As Bernie pointed out, in just the few blocks you have numerous buildings of great historical value, some modernist and some not. These buildings have also been designed by some of the best architects from here in Regina as well as from New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and a other places. It is an exquisite site to check out and I would encourage anyone who has the means to do so. You can learn more about some of these buildings by going to the Culture, Youth and Recreation website and click on the heritage link, or go to the national registry online at Canada's Historic Places.
Written by Scott Dean
Blog - Day 1
The day started out at the Regina Public Library and Dunlop art gallery, with a lecture from Dr. Serena Keshavjee. The lecture was really an introduction on just what is “modernist architecture” and how it is partly a breakaway from the “revival” styles, such as Classical or Gothic Revival, that had been popular in the years preceding the mordernist era. Not being as well versed in styles and techniques as a number of the other fully trained architects in the crowd I found this information quite interesting, and something I’m sure to use in the future. Now as indicated in the title of the lecture, the main focus was on the University of Winnipeg’s Centennial Hall building. Although I do attend school in Winnipeg I must say that I am not familiar with this particular piece of work and have never in fact been down to the U of W campus. However Dr. Keshavjee did a good job in explaining the history of the U of W and explained very well the circumstances surrounding and leading up to the building of the Centennial Hall. It was very interesting to listen to her explain how the current building is really not at all like how it was first designed, it has been modified and renovated extensively and as Dr. Keshavjee pointed out it is partly the buildings own fault. Now what I mean by that is, she explained how when the building was first designed and built there was designed into it features that purposely made the building easy and cheap to renovate so that it would be able to suit the clients needs throughout the years to come. It was this very feature that caused the building to be found in it’s current state, very different from what it originally was. I found that art very interesting how what was mean to be a feature to increase the buildings functionality could eventually be detrimental to the buildings overall look and feel. Now I’m sure that most people who are currently familiar with the building are familiar with it only in its current state, I was actually very surprised to see how much it had changed from the original. The original building extensively used out door court yards and had a very open and transparent entrance area, a trademark of modernist buildings, however now those have all been closed due to the spatial needs of the university. One of the things that I like about this and other modernist buildings is that most of the mechanical and structural elements on the interior have been left exposed and there is an emphasis on large open spaces which I also like. So overall The lecture was very well done and informative and the Q and A period after was also very interesting.
After lunch we moved to out tour of the new RCMP Heritage Centre. This is a building that while not %100 finished has been opened to the public and is a very nice addition to the RCMP depot training grounds. The big things that jumped out at me about the building was of course the exterior design and the roof lines of the structure which according to our guide are partly influenced by the appearance of snow drifts found on the prairies during winter, that I found very interesting. The building was in part designed by Arthur Erickson a very accomplished architect and as we moved inside I was just as impressed. The building uses a lot of tyndall stone from Manitoba, which I have some to be a big fan of, as well is incorporates large windows and glass partitions. The part I really found interesting is that they also use a sizable amount of vertical cedar siding. Apparently this is to emulate the construction of the original forts that the RCMP built on the prairies, having always been a big fan of cedar I found this very interesting. One of the other things that I noticed was the large amount of use of natural light, through the use of sky lights and large windows, this I found gives the building a much more comfortable atmosphere and makes it seem more connected to the landscape around it, which was a goal of the design team. One of the really nice features was the columns along the front of the building while this area is not yet complete it promises to be a very picturesque location. Just as a note there are still a number of stages left to be done on the building over the next I assume years, which will tie the center to the space across the road near the creek, which was actually the original suggested site for the current building. Personally I can’t wait to see how things will turn out.
Our night finished off at the MacKenzie Art Gallery with a tour of the 41 to 66: Regional Responses to Sustainable Architecture in Canada. The exhibition looks at how buildings have to differ to be able to be sustainable in the different Canadian climates, such as the artic of the mountains. Marco Polo did a very nice introduction and there to many great things for me to describe and I would strongly recommend that you go and take a look for yourself. Attached and along with the 41 to 66 exhibition were a number of others including Telling Details which focuses on the architecture of Clifford Wiens a great Saskatchewan Architect. There are so many excellent buildings featured there, so of them you probably know, it was very interesting to learn some of the story behind the buildings that I have seen on the prairies. Again everyone should head down there a see for themselves, weather you are a big architecture fan or not, I think every one will enjoy it. We were also privileged to watch a interpretive dance performance done by Clifford’s daughter Robin Poitras who is also the Artistic director at New Dance Horizons. This performance was very good, I’m usually a big fan of things of this nature I think because they go over my head, but this I found very nicely done. Also in the evening we got to hear a few words from Clifford himself and that was very interesting and I am really looking forward to hear more from him, to me he seems like a very interesting and amazing man who I would like to know more about. So overall today was very good and very busy and I am really looking forward to tomorrow.
Written by Scott Dean
After lunch we moved to out tour of the new RCMP Heritage Centre. This is a building that while not %100 finished has been opened to the public and is a very nice addition to the RCMP depot training grounds. The big things that jumped out at me about the building was of course the exterior design and the roof lines of the structure which according to our guide are partly influenced by the appearance of snow drifts found on the prairies during winter, that I found very interesting. The building was in part designed by Arthur Erickson a very accomplished architect and as we moved inside I was just as impressed. The building uses a lot of tyndall stone from Manitoba, which I have some to be a big fan of, as well is incorporates large windows and glass partitions. The part I really found interesting is that they also use a sizable amount of vertical cedar siding. Apparently this is to emulate the construction of the original forts that the RCMP built on the prairies, having always been a big fan of cedar I found this very interesting. One of the other things that I noticed was the large amount of use of natural light, through the use of sky lights and large windows, this I found gives the building a much more comfortable atmosphere and makes it seem more connected to the landscape around it, which was a goal of the design team. One of the really nice features was the columns along the front of the building while this area is not yet complete it promises to be a very picturesque location. Just as a note there are still a number of stages left to be done on the building over the next I assume years, which will tie the center to the space across the road near the creek, which was actually the original suggested site for the current building. Personally I can’t wait to see how things will turn out.
Our night finished off at the MacKenzie Art Gallery with a tour of the 41 to 66: Regional Responses to Sustainable Architecture in Canada. The exhibition looks at how buildings have to differ to be able to be sustainable in the different Canadian climates, such as the artic of the mountains. Marco Polo did a very nice introduction and there to many great things for me to describe and I would strongly recommend that you go and take a look for yourself. Attached and along with the 41 to 66 exhibition were a number of others including Telling Details which focuses on the architecture of Clifford Wiens a great Saskatchewan Architect. There are so many excellent buildings featured there, so of them you probably know, it was very interesting to learn some of the story behind the buildings that I have seen on the prairies. Again everyone should head down there a see for themselves, weather you are a big architecture fan or not, I think every one will enjoy it. We were also privileged to watch a interpretive dance performance done by Clifford’s daughter Robin Poitras who is also the Artistic director at New Dance Horizons. This performance was very good, I’m usually a big fan of things of this nature I think because they go over my head, but this I found very nicely done. Also in the evening we got to hear a few words from Clifford himself and that was very interesting and I am really looking forward to hear more from him, to me he seems like a very interesting and amazing man who I would like to know more about. So overall today was very good and very busy and I am really looking forward to tomorrow.
Written by Scott Dean
Architecture Blogger
The weekend has finally arrived for the opening of TELLING DETAILS: The Architecture of Clifford Wiens and the Ordinary Amazing Symposium at the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
We are very pleased to have a guest blogger to keep you in the loop about all of the events of the weekend. Meet Scott Dean....
Scott is currently employed as a summer student with Heritage Resources for the Province of Saskatchewan. He was born and raised in Saskatchewan I attended high School at Winston Knoll Collegiate in Regina. He is 21 years old and is currently a student at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, having completed three years there. Scott is studying to eventually become an architect and hopes to return to Saskatchewan when he has finished his degree.
Check into the Ordinary Amazing Blog throughout the weekend to get the scoop on the who, what, when, where and why...
We are very pleased to have a guest blogger to keep you in the loop about all of the events of the weekend. Meet Scott Dean....
Scott is currently employed as a summer student with Heritage Resources for the Province of Saskatchewan. He was born and raised in Saskatchewan I attended high School at Winston Knoll Collegiate in Regina. He is 21 years old and is currently a student at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, having completed three years there. Scott is studying to eventually become an architect and hopes to return to Saskatchewan when he has finished his degree.
Check into the Ordinary Amazing Blog throughout the weekend to get the scoop on the who, what, when, where and why...
BUILT: a sheltering mirage performance series by Robin Poitras
triangle, circle and square comprise this trilogy of performances in sequence. Each performance is created in conjunction with the exhibition TELLING DETAILS: The Architecture of Clifford Wiens and with one of the architect's original buildings.
triangle
(based on the University of Regina Heating and Cooling Plant)
Performed at the MacKenzie Art Gallery
Friday, May 25th at 8 p.m.
Created in collaboration with Chiyoko Szlavnics, triangle began and ends in sound. The dance disappears or falls away, leaving a sonar impression. What started as a dance remains a song. triangle is a sound poem for one pair of bouncing knees and the memory of a building.
(based on the University of Regina Heating and Cooling Plant)
Performed at the MacKenzie Art Gallery
Friday, May 25th at 8 p.m.
Created in collaboration with Chiyoko Szlavnics, triangle began and ends in sound. The dance disappears or falls away, leaving a sonar impression. What started as a dance remains a song. triangle is a sound poem for one pair of bouncing knees and the memory of a building.
circle
(based on John Nugent Studio, Lumsden)
Performed at the MacKenzie Art Gallery
Saturday, June 23rd at 2 p.m.
(based on John Nugent Studio, Lumsden)
Performed at the MacKenzie Art Gallery
Saturday, June 23rd at 2 p.m.
circle, the second in the trilogy, is a solo sance in a round of sorts and will be performed outside with live cello by Cameron Lowe.
square
(based on Silton Chapel)
Performed at the Silton Chapel
Saturday, August 15th at 2 p.m.
(based on Silton Chapel)
Performed at the Silton Chapel
Saturday, August 15th at 2 p.m.
The final work in the trilogy is a musical without words that engages the sounds of the little stones on the floor and the many other acoustic delights of the chapel without walls. square features an original sounds score created in collaboration with Jeff Morton.
Robin Poitras is a Regina based dance and performance artist. Actively engaged in contemporary dance practice since the early 80's, she co-founded New Dance Horizons in 1986, where she continues to act as Artistic Director. Her artistic practice is centered in movement and dance. With an interest and research in diverse fields of artistic and somatic practice she has developed a unique multi-dimensional approach. Robin's works have been presented across Canada, in Spain, Germany and in Mexico. At home in Regina she has developed several multi-disciplinary and community performance works. A recipient of the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2006 Mayor's Awards for Business & the Arts in Regina, Robin has received many grants and awards including the 2004 Women of Distinction Award for the Arts.
Chiyoko Szlavnics is a Canadian composer based in Berlin. She has extensively performed in and composed for experimental contemporary music ensembles and projects in Europe and North America. Szlavnics has collaborated with Robin Poitras since 1995, and composed music and installation/soundscapes for numerous of her pieces, including Sailor (1995); The Picture Garden (1998); Memex Ovum (2001); and Ursa Major (2002). After having studied composition privately with James Tenney in Toronto, Szlavnics received a Fellowship Grant from the Akademie Schloß Solitude in 1997, when she moved to Germany. Her compositions have been performed in concert and on radio by such ensembles as Arraymusic, Ensemble Zwischentöne, Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, New Music Concerts, Quatuor Bozzini, Surplus, and Wandelweiser, at festivals such as MaerzMusik, Interface Festival, Ostrava New Music Days, and the Darmstadt Ferienkurse.
Chiyoko Szlavnics is a Canadian composer based in Berlin. She has extensively performed in and composed for experimental contemporary music ensembles and projects in Europe and North America. Szlavnics has collaborated with Robin Poitras since 1995, and composed music and installation/soundscapes for numerous of her pieces, including Sailor (1995); The Picture Garden (1998); Memex Ovum (2001); and Ursa Major (2002). After having studied composition privately with James Tenney in Toronto, Szlavnics received a Fellowship Grant from the Akademie Schloß Solitude in 1997, when she moved to Germany. Her compositions have been performed in concert and on radio by such ensembles as Arraymusic, Ensemble Zwischentöne, Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, New Music Concerts, Quatuor Bozzini, Surplus, and Wandelweiser, at festivals such as MaerzMusik, Interface Festival, Ostrava New Music Days, and the Darmstadt Ferienkurse.
The Ordinary Amazing Symposium: The Cultural Value of Modernist Architecture
May 25 to May 27, 2007 in Regina, Saskatchewan
Spurred on by a growing awareness that an astounding chapter in the history of architecture is at risk—with modernist buildings routinely being demolished and abandoned—architectural heritage groups are realizing that there is something amazing in these seemingly ordinary buildings. The Ordinary Amazing Symposium intends to address this situation both as a question of cultural values and as a very real issue for the local and national community.
Clifford Wiens’ intelligent and elegant buildings present a compelling case for the continuing importance of modernist buildings, while the buildings presented in 41° to 66°: Regional Responses to Sustainable Architecture in Canada demonstrates the viability of modernism in relation to questions of regionalism and sustainability. The understanding of modernist architecture’s distinctiveness within place experience will be further explored in Foreign and Familiar: A Selection of Place Experience from the Permanent Collection at the Dunlop Art Gallery in the spring 2007. The Dunlop has already set the stage for this discussion with its 2005 fall lecture series Visual Culture, Community and Citizenship, which examined the role of built spaces in Regina’s downtown area and which attempted to define an understanding of the Regina Public Library’s modernist building – its social cohesion, openness and adaptability as a multifunctional and democratic meeting place. Lastly, the series will coincide with the official opening of the latest contribution to Regina’s architectural mosaic, the R.C.M.P Heritage Centre, representing another giant of modernist architecture, Arthur Erickson.
The Ordinary Amazing Symposium will bring together these threads by examining two key questions. The first revolves around the general cultural value of modernist built spaces. What standards and values should we use in evaluating a style of architecture which has often been associated with an alienating disregard for context, and, on the other hand, what values do modernist spaces contain that have been lost in more recent architectural enterprises? The second question revolves around re-use and sustainability; through case studies with practicing architects we will examine recent attempts to re-use modernist architecture from the standpoint of practicality, ethics and aesthetics. Finally, recent debates over the future of the Regina Public Library building will be informed by keynote speaker Patricia Patkau in relation to her recent library projects. It is our hope that this symposium will bring local and national attention to the architectural value of our existing built environment in Regina, and will encourage a discussion of the importance of public space and public libraries.
Spurred on by a growing awareness that an astounding chapter in the history of architecture is at risk—with modernist buildings routinely being demolished and abandoned—architectural heritage groups are realizing that there is something amazing in these seemingly ordinary buildings. The Ordinary Amazing Symposium intends to address this situation both as a question of cultural values and as a very real issue for the local and national community.
Clifford Wiens’ intelligent and elegant buildings present a compelling case for the continuing importance of modernist buildings, while the buildings presented in 41° to 66°: Regional Responses to Sustainable Architecture in Canada demonstrates the viability of modernism in relation to questions of regionalism and sustainability. The understanding of modernist architecture’s distinctiveness within place experience will be further explored in Foreign and Familiar: A Selection of Place Experience from the Permanent Collection at the Dunlop Art Gallery in the spring 2007. The Dunlop has already set the stage for this discussion with its 2005 fall lecture series Visual Culture, Community and Citizenship, which examined the role of built spaces in Regina’s downtown area and which attempted to define an understanding of the Regina Public Library’s modernist building – its social cohesion, openness and adaptability as a multifunctional and democratic meeting place. Lastly, the series will coincide with the official opening of the latest contribution to Regina’s architectural mosaic, the R.C.M.P Heritage Centre, representing another giant of modernist architecture, Arthur Erickson.
The Ordinary Amazing Symposium will bring together these threads by examining two key questions. The first revolves around the general cultural value of modernist built spaces. What standards and values should we use in evaluating a style of architecture which has often been associated with an alienating disregard for context, and, on the other hand, what values do modernist spaces contain that have been lost in more recent architectural enterprises? The second question revolves around re-use and sustainability; through case studies with practicing architects we will examine recent attempts to re-use modernist architecture from the standpoint of practicality, ethics and aesthetics. Finally, recent debates over the future of the Regina Public Library building will be informed by keynote speaker Patricia Patkau in relation to her recent library projects. It is our hope that this symposium will bring local and national attention to the architectural value of our existing built environment in Regina, and will encourage a discussion of the importance of public space and public libraries.
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