Canadian Museum of Civilization
Canada's motto "from sea to sea" is being considered for a change to "from sea to sea to sea" at the request of the northern territories (which are predominantly Indian).
This third "sea" includes the Artic Ocean, which is now probably going to hold the same position as the other two - the Pacific and the Atlantic - in defining the "Canadian landscape", both geographically and culturally.
I don't know if this is such a great idea, but here is a very clear instance of what we should expect of the future of Canada.
During a wonderful hiatus in Ottawa, I visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization twice. Each time, I was overwhelmed by the architecture and the location.
What struck me here was not the three seas, as much as three peoples - the French, the English and the Indian - which the museum tries to depict (or better incorporate). Unfortunately, though, at the rate all this is going, there is going to have to be many other "seas" created to accommodate what we've seen of the Haitian, the Chinese, the East Indians, and the list goes on.
The building itself is a unique, almost incongruent, mass. It looks like moulded, rounded hills, all white and textured and beautiful. Douglas Cardinal, the architect, who is part native Indian, said his intention was just that: to bring out the natural elements of rock and erosion into a symbolic building.
Sitting in Hull, Quebec, facing the Parliament Hill, this imposing building tries to unite these three elements of Canadian life (the Indian, the French and the English) in a forceful way.
Yet, there is little, really, joining these distinctly three "solitudes".
Each is imposing in its own way, but a simple bridge from Hull to Ottawa while sitting on Quebec land does not merge these three, and the museum's "organic" structure is just as alien to the Parliament Hill’s pinnacled rooftops as it is to the artificial bilingualism enforced in its interior - how does that let the real Quebec inside?
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Parliament Hill from Musuem ...............Bridge across the Ottawa River
............................[click images to view enlarged photos]
Nonethelss, it is a brave project, which has given us a uniquely beautiful and imposing building.
Unlike the new Toronto opera house's architect, this one is certainly no weak character.