Judging from the latest 12 awards, the best of Canadian architecture is well-meaning, moderately attentive to sustainability and maybe – or maybe not – interesting or beautiful
Pumphouse, by Winnipeg’s 5468796, slips two apartment buildings onto the ends of an Edwardian pumphouse, and drops a new office floor onto its steel structure.Canadian architecture has a problem with grade inflation. There are far too many awards programs. Too often our institutions applaud deeply mediocre buildings and then hire those award-winning architects to build more.
But the latest 12 awards, announced last week, bring mixed news. Judging from this lot, the best of Canadian architecture is well-meaning, moderately attentive to sustainability and maybe – or maybe not – interesting or beautiful. The most interesting choice may be a Calgary apartment building, dubbed GROW, by the local office MODA: Though modest, it delivers livable apartment layouts, a sloped rooftop deck and a distinctive zigzag form. It’s slightly rough around the edges, but brimming with spatial imagination.
But there’s a quirky choice, too: the Simon Fraser University Stadium by the Vancouver office of Perkins & Will. This is basically a roof – a sleek, thin, highly engineered blade that reaches out to shelter ranks of seats. It’s a good project. It is also unquestionably a minor one. Is it truly among Canada’s 12 best buildings of the past two years?On the theme of working with existing buildings, there is a similar split.
Building Canada Architecture Award Jury Apartment Pumphouse Buildings Mississauga Nova Scotia Victoria
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