Architecture has a powerful role in nation building and identity
formation. Buildings and monuments not only constitute the built fabric
of society, they reflect the intersection of culture, politics,
economics, and aesthetics as these forces are played out in distinct
social settings and distinct times.
This extraordinary anthology traces the interaction between culture
and politics as reflected in Canadian architecture and the
infrastructure of ordinary life, from the first contacts between
indigenous peoples and European missionaries to the construction of
big-box shopping centres in postmodern cities. Whether focusing on
Jesuit perceptions of New France, the construction of Toronto's
St. James Cathedral or Canada's first Parliament, Brutalism in
Canadian architecture, or the ideas of Marshall McLuhan and Arthur
Erickson, these essays showcase ways of thinking about the built
environment that extend beyond considerations of authorship and style
to address the influence of cultural politics and insights from race
and gender studies and from postcolonial and spatial theory.
By coupling a national focus with a wide historical scope,
Architecture and the Canadian Fabric transforms how we see the
role of architecture and in doing so radically questions how we
continue to live in, interact with, and interpret the fabricated
world.
Rhodri Windsor Liscombe is an associate dean of
graduate studies and a professor in the Department of Art History,
Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia.
Contributors: Geoffrey Carr, Richard Cavell, Marc
Grignon, Laura Hourston Hanks, R矇jean Legault, Judi Loach, Barry
Magrill, Alan Marcus, Justin McGrail, Michael McMordie, Daniel
Millette, Lucie Morisset, Nicholas Olsberg, Christopher Thomas, Michael
Windover, and Sharon Vattay.
