Tag: books

Posts tagged “books”

Michael McClelland interview (excerpt)

20 July, 2017

Michael McClelland, principal, architect, scholar, holding a copy of the Concrete Toronto book

Visited ERA Architects to interview architect, scholar, and principal of the firm, Michael McClelland. McClelland is a generous person and was kind enough to give a (now treasured) copy of Concrete Toronto: A guide to concrete architecture from the fifties to the seventies. Being from Toronto, I never really paid much attention to how much architecture defines the mood and tone of our city. Toronto has a lot of strange (in a good way) looking, massive concrete buildings. It is great to learn about the ideology and optimism that informs the 'utopian modernist' school of architecture that occurred during the 1950's through to the 1970's. The focal point of our interview is the Ontario Science Centre (OSC), one of the country's best examples of utopian modernist brutalist architecture. I heartily recommend McClelland's overview of brutalist architecture in Toronto that he presented for the ACO 150 Plus symposium at the Ontario Science Centre. McClelland suggests that architecture is similar to people in our society, they become less interesting in middle age. That may explain why the OSC got a facelift to the entrance 'Building A' in it's 30's!

Prof Marco Polo interview (excerpt)

17 July, 2017

Professor Marco Polo holding a copy of Architecture and National Identity: The Centennial Projects 50 Years On

Professor of Architectural Sciences, Marco Polo at Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) is a ‘keeper of the light’ for knowledge on Canadian national identity, something not often considered by Canadians. Canada is mostly a country of immigrants, colonized by French and British empires. Canadian architecture prior to the 1950’s reflects this. With the approach of theCentennial of Confederation in 1967, the government at the time believed Canada must set aside colonialist roots and cultivate its own national identity in the arts, sciences and letters and that architecture can facilitate. Then-Canadian Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, called on architects to build infrastructure unique to Canada, hence the Centennial Projects. This is how the Ontario Science Centre (OSC) came to be. Professor Polo covers all this and more with his surpassing presentation at the 50th anniversary of the OSC, the ACO 150 plus symposium. The presentation caused such a splash with attendees that it rippled into the ongoing documentation that is HeartOSC.

Since the Centennial projects were built, from the 1950’s through to the 1970’s, some remain but other are lost. What became of the Centennial projects since then? This is covered in a book professor Polo co-authored with professor, Colin Ripley: Architecture and National Identity: The Centennial Projects 50 Years On. Here is an interview excerpt with professor Marco Polo on said book and the OSC: