Day 3 - Bus Tour
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
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
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
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
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
(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 John Nugent Studio, Lumsden)
Performed at the MacKenzie Art Gallery
Saturday, June 23rd at 2 p.m.
(based on Silton Chapel)
Performed at the Silton Chapel
Saturday, August 15th at 2 p.m.
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
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.
Symposium Schedule
Lecture
11:00 a.m., RPL Film Theatre
Dr. Serena Keshavjee (Professor of Art History, University of Winnipeg) will give a talk titled Pompidou on the Red: The University of Winnipeg's Centennial Hall.
Tour of R.C.M.P Heritage Centre
2:00 p.m.Exhibition Tour
Opening Reception
7:00 p.m. MacKenzie Art Gallery Tour of 41º to 66º: Regional Responses to Sustainable Architecture in Canada led by Marco Polo (Assistant Professor, Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University and co-curator of 41º to 66º).
8:00 p.m., MacKenzie Art Gallery
Reception for the exhibition TELLING DETAILS: The Architecture of Clifford Wiens, featuring a performance by Robin Poitras, Artictic Director of New Dance Horizons and daughter of Clifford Wiens. Members of the Canada Council for the Arts will also be on hand to bring greetings as we dedicate this reception to celebrating the CCA's 50th anniversary.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Panel Discussion
Re-Use: A Second Life for Modernist Buildings
9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m., MacKenzie Art Gallery
Panelists include:
- Jeannie Mah (Artist and Friends of the Dunlop Art Gallery Liasion, Regina)
- James J. Youck (Architect, P3 Architecture, Regina)
- Bob Ellard (Architect, Stantec Architecture and Interior Design, Regina)
- David W. Edwards (Architect, de Lint + Edwards Architects, Regina)
- Cheryl Cooper (Founding Director + Chair, Arthur Erickson Conservancy, Vancouver)
Moderated by Marco Polo (Assistant Professor, Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University)
Keynote Address11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., MacKenzie Art Gallery
Patricia Patkau (Partner in Patkau Achitects, Vancouver, and professor in the School of Architecture, University of British Columbia)
Lunch
12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m., Regina Public Library Boardroom
Panel Discussion
(Un) Common Spaces: The Cultural Value of Modernist Public Architecture
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., RPL Film Theatre
Panelists include:
- Bernard Flaman (SAA, MRAIC, Heritage Architect, Culture, Youth and Recreation, Province of Saskatchewan)
- Lisa Rochon (Architecture critic, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
- Steven Mannell (NSAA, MRAIC, Professor, School of Architecture & Planning, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia)
- Trevor Boddy (Vancouver-based Art/Architecture critic and historian, exhibition curator of TELLING DETAILS: The Architecture of Clifford Weins)
Moderated by Elizabeth Matheson (Independent Curator, Regina/Saskatoon)
Walking Tour
3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Walking tour of modernist and heritage architecture in the Victoria Park Conservation District led by Bernard Flaman.
Keynote Address
7:30 p.m., MacKenzie Art Gallery
Clifford Wiens (Architect, Vancouver)
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Pre-Bus Tour Coffee
9:30 a.m., CBC Regina
Bus Tour
10:30 a.m., Leaving from CBC Regina
Two buses will depart from the CBC Building - one led by Clifford Wiens and one by Trevor Boddy. Both buses will visit a number of Wiens buildings, including the John Nugent Studio (Lumsden), Silton Chapel (Silton) and the University of Regina Heating and Cooling Plant (Regina).
Registration
Please note that because of space limitations, The Ordinary Amazing Symposium may fill up quickly. Register now to secure your spot. People will be registered on a first come, first serve basis. Your registration will be confirmed once we have processed your payment.
Registration options are as follows:
- Symposium: Friday, May 25 and Saturday, May 26, 2007
(includes lunch on Saturday, May 26, 2007)
Cost: $60 per person
- Bus Tour: Sunday, May 27, 2007
(includes bag lunch)
Cost $40 per person
The Saskatchewan Association of Architects will provide professional core credits to their members who attend The Ordinary Amazing Symposium. To inquire about how to apply for credits, contact the SAA directly at (306) 242-0733.
To receive a registration form or for more information contact:
Marie Olinik
MacKenzie Art Gallery
3475 Albert Street
Regina, SK S4S 6X6
Phone: (306) 584-4281
Fax: (306) 569-8191
Email: mackenzie.admincur@uregina.ca
Keynote Biographies - Clifford Wiens
Keynote Biographies - Patricia Patkau
Credits
The Symposium is being held in conjunction with the exhibition TELLING DETAILS: The Architecture of Clifford Wines, organized and circulated by the Mendel Art Gallery with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the City of Saskatoon and through a contribution from the Museums Assistance Program, Department of Canadian Heritage. At the MacKenzie, TELLING DETAILS is made possible through the generous support of the Donald and Claire Kramer Foundation. CBC Regina is the media sponsor for the Symposium and exhibition.