BLAIR CRAWFORD, OTTAWA CITIZEN
Twelve of Canada’s finest architects will offer a lightning-quick explanation of their prize-winning designs at a public talk Monday night on the eve of the Governor General’s Gold Medal in Architecture awards.
In a sort of speed-dating for builders, the 12 winners will each give a five-minute talk on their structures and what makes them unique.
Like the knee-buckling, glass-floored Glacier Skywalk in Jasper, Alta., that is cantilevered over the floor of a glacial valley, 280 metres below. The design by Calgary’s Sturgess Architecture “makes you feel safe and frightened at the same time,” according to one jury member.
And the elegant nine-storey Wood Innovation and Design Centre in Prince George, B.C., which holds the record as the world’s tallest all-wooden structure.
Of particular interest to Ottawa residents is the Halifax Central Library, a bold design of three stacked glass cubes with a commanding view of the Atlantic Ocean designed by Fowler Bauld & Mitchell Ltd. / Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. The library “combines the best of a traditional library with new and innovative programs and facilities and it provides free public space in the heart of the city,” according to the Royal Architect Institute of Canada, which is sponsoring the lecture.
The $57-million Halifax Central Library opened in 2014 and has been cited as an example of successful civic architecture as Ottawa sputters along with plans to replace its own central library.
Of the 12 winning designs, four are in Ontario (all in Toronto), three in B.C., two in Quebec, and one each in Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.
It’s been four years since an Ottawa building was honoured with a gold medal. That was the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat on Sussex Drive near the Lester B. Pearson Building.
The gold medals are awarded every two years in conjunction with the RAIC and the Canada Council for the Arts.
The Architects on Architecture lecture takes place on Monday, Sept. 19 from 6-8 p.m. at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau. Admission is free. It is hosted by the RAIC and the Carleton University Forum Lecture Series.
