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The exhibition explores one of the most adventurous and influential moments in the history of architecture: the explosion of invention and ideas that followed the October Revolution in Russia. The Soviet avant-garde architects were productivist as much as aesthetic in their concerns; they saw architecture and the arts as one, and they were committed to bringing design(...)
Main galleries
19 June 1991 to 8 September 1991
Architectural Drawings of the Russian Avant-Garde, 1917-1935
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Description:
The exhibition explores one of the most adventurous and influential moments in the history of architecture: the explosion of invention and ideas that followed the October Revolution in Russia. The Soviet avant-garde architects were productivist as much as aesthetic in their concerns; they saw architecture and the arts as one, and they were committed to bringing design(...)
Main galleries
In this lecture, Christophe Girot discusses digital landscape models: A quiet revolution has taken place in digital landscape design and analysis over the past decade, caused by the introduction of digital point-cloud models. The scope and precision of these digital landscape models, created with terrestrial laser scanners and mobile and airborne lidar, lead to new(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
6 October 2016, 6pm
Unravelling the Digital Landscape
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In this lecture, Christophe Girot discusses digital landscape models: A quiet revolution has taken place in digital landscape design and analysis over the past decade, caused by the introduction of digital point-cloud models. The scope and precision of these digital landscape models, created with terrestrial laser scanners and mobile and airborne lidar, lead to new(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
articles
Where Was Not Modernism?
Where Was Not Modernism?
Ikem Stanley Okoye redefines the origins of African modernism
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Sub-series
CI001.S2.D5
Description:
Charles Rohault de Fleury was architect for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1833 to 1862. His work for the Muséum is represented in the CCA collection by a diverse group of prints and drawings. In addition to documenting his built and unbuilt projects, the inclusion of prints and drawings of museum and zoo buildings by other architects record, if only partially, the resources available to Charles in designing his buildings. This reference material provides insight into the influences on Charles' work as well as the nature of the design process itself. His built works, with the exception of the 1854 addition to the greenhouses, are illustrated in a book of prints with a brief accompanying text - "Muséum d'histoire naturelle: serres chaudes, galeries de minéralogie, etc. etc." (published 1837) (DR1974:0002:004:001; a second copy is held by the CCA library) (1). While prints are included for the Galerie de minéralogie et de géologie, the monkey house and the reservoirs, the majority of the prints are of the greenhouses (serres chaudes) begun 1833 (2). Known for their technological innovations in iron construction, these greenhouses utilized the first multi-storey load-bearing cast-iron façades for the central pavilions as well as space frame roof structures and prefabricated parts. This structural system is well documented in the prints in the CCA collection. The design was apparently inspired by the English greenhouses - a plate of which are included in the book - that Charles saw on a tour of England. The use of prestressed beams and curved roofs in the lateral wings attest to this influence. Charles' greenhouses, in turn, influenced the design of other greenhouses in Europe especially those at the Jardins Botanique in Liège and Ghent, Belgium (3). Although Joseph Paxton saw the greenhouses in 1833, it is unclear if they had an impact on the design of the Crystal Palace constructed 1850-1851 (4). The innovations of Charles' greenhouses continued to be acknowledged into the 20th century. Giedion in "Space, Time and Architecture", while erroneously attributing them to Rouhault (5)(6), refers to the greenhouses as "the prototype of all large iron-framed conservatories" (7). In addition to the greenhouses for the Muséum, the CCA collection includes three proposals (dated 1841) for a private greenhouse designed by Charles Rohault de Fleury (DR1974:0002:002:008 - DR1974:0002:002:013). The designs utilize the same curved roofs as the wings of the greenhouses at the Muséum combined with classically detailed stonework. An different aspect of Charles' work for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle is represented in the album of unexecuted proposals -the only design drawings for the Muséum in the collection - for a Galerie de zoologie (DR1974:0002:024:001-079). Building on the typology of his earlier classical Galerie de minéralogie et de géologie (constructed 1833 -1841), the proposals, which date from between 1838 and 1862, illustrate a gradual enrichment of Charles' classical architectural vocabulary (8). They vary in their spatial configurations and façade treatments ranging from austere colonnaded designs with little ornament to more elaborate ones with richly encrusted facades, complex rooflines and more dramatic interior spaces characteristic of the Second Empire. The majority of the proposals consist of preliminary drawings illustrating the essential formal, spatial and ornamental aspects of the building. One proposal, dated January 1846, is substantially more developed than the others; in addition to general plans, sections and elevations, more detailed drawings are included for the layout of spaces, the elaboration of the facades, the configuration of the structure and even the designs for the specimen display cases. It is also worth noting that this album includes several plans outlining Rohault de Fleury's ideas for the overall development of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. In 1846, an album of prints of the Museo di fiscia e storia naturelle in Florence (DR1974:0002:005:001-018) was presented to Charles by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in response to his request for tracings of that building. These prints were probably used as reference material for the design of the new Galerie de zoologie described above. The portfolio of record drawings (ca. 1862) of the zoos in Antwerp, Brussels, Marseille and Amsterdam (DR1974:0002:018:001-027) is probably a dummy for a publication on zoological gardens as well as background documentation for the renovation and expansion of the zoo at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. Both drawings of the facilities for the animals and visitors and general plans of the zoological gardens are included. The Paris zoo project was apparently never undertaken. (1) These prints were reused in the "Oeuvre de C. Rohault de Fleury, architecte" (published 1884) (DR1974:0002:029:001-044). (2) Rohault de Fleury's greenhouses were destroyed in the Prussian bombardments of 1870. The greenhouses, which now stand in their place, are similar in layout and appearance to the original design, but their structural system is different. (3) John Hix, 'The Glass House' (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1981), p. 115. (4) Ibid., p. 115. (5) This error has been repeated by other authors including Henry-Russell Hitchcock, 'Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries' (Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books, 1968), p. 120. (6) Leonardo Benevolo, 'History of Modern Architecture' Volume 1: The tradition of modern architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1971), p. 22. (7) Sigfried Giedion, 'Space, Time and Architecture; the growth of a new tradition' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1941), p. 181. (8) Barry Bergdoll, "Charles Rohault de Fleury: Part two: Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle and Studies on analogous Constructions in Europe", 'CCA Research Report", n.d., p. 1.
[1837-ca. 1862]
Muséum nationale d'histoire naturelle
CI001.S2.D5
Description:
Charles Rohault de Fleury was architect for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1833 to 1862. His work for the Muséum is represented in the CCA collection by a diverse group of prints and drawings. In addition to documenting his built and unbuilt projects, the inclusion of prints and drawings of museum and zoo buildings by other architects record, if only partially, the resources available to Charles in designing his buildings. This reference material provides insight into the influences on Charles' work as well as the nature of the design process itself. His built works, with the exception of the 1854 addition to the greenhouses, are illustrated in a book of prints with a brief accompanying text - "Muséum d'histoire naturelle: serres chaudes, galeries de minéralogie, etc. etc." (published 1837) (DR1974:0002:004:001; a second copy is held by the CCA library) (1). While prints are included for the Galerie de minéralogie et de géologie, the monkey house and the reservoirs, the majority of the prints are of the greenhouses (serres chaudes) begun 1833 (2). Known for their technological innovations in iron construction, these greenhouses utilized the first multi-storey load-bearing cast-iron façades for the central pavilions as well as space frame roof structures and prefabricated parts. This structural system is well documented in the prints in the CCA collection. The design was apparently inspired by the English greenhouses - a plate of which are included in the book - that Charles saw on a tour of England. The use of prestressed beams and curved roofs in the lateral wings attest to this influence. Charles' greenhouses, in turn, influenced the design of other greenhouses in Europe especially those at the Jardins Botanique in Liège and Ghent, Belgium (3). Although Joseph Paxton saw the greenhouses in 1833, it is unclear if they had an impact on the design of the Crystal Palace constructed 1850-1851 (4). The innovations of Charles' greenhouses continued to be acknowledged into the 20th century. Giedion in "Space, Time and Architecture", while erroneously attributing them to Rouhault (5)(6), refers to the greenhouses as "the prototype of all large iron-framed conservatories" (7). In addition to the greenhouses for the Muséum, the CCA collection includes three proposals (dated 1841) for a private greenhouse designed by Charles Rohault de Fleury (DR1974:0002:002:008 - DR1974:0002:002:013). The designs utilize the same curved roofs as the wings of the greenhouses at the Muséum combined with classically detailed stonework. An different aspect of Charles' work for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle is represented in the album of unexecuted proposals -the only design drawings for the Muséum in the collection - for a Galerie de zoologie (DR1974:0002:024:001-079). Building on the typology of his earlier classical Galerie de minéralogie et de géologie (constructed 1833 -1841), the proposals, which date from between 1838 and 1862, illustrate a gradual enrichment of Charles' classical architectural vocabulary (8). They vary in their spatial configurations and façade treatments ranging from austere colonnaded designs with little ornament to more elaborate ones with richly encrusted facades, complex rooflines and more dramatic interior spaces characteristic of the Second Empire. The majority of the proposals consist of preliminary drawings illustrating the essential formal, spatial and ornamental aspects of the building. One proposal, dated January 1846, is substantially more developed than the others; in addition to general plans, sections and elevations, more detailed drawings are included for the layout of spaces, the elaboration of the facades, the configuration of the structure and even the designs for the specimen display cases. It is also worth noting that this album includes several plans outlining Rohault de Fleury's ideas for the overall development of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. In 1846, an album of prints of the Museo di fiscia e storia naturelle in Florence (DR1974:0002:005:001-018) was presented to Charles by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in response to his request for tracings of that building. These prints were probably used as reference material for the design of the new Galerie de zoologie described above. The portfolio of record drawings (ca. 1862) of the zoos in Antwerp, Brussels, Marseille and Amsterdam (DR1974:0002:018:001-027) is probably a dummy for a publication on zoological gardens as well as background documentation for the renovation and expansion of the zoo at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. Both drawings of the facilities for the animals and visitors and general plans of the zoological gardens are included. The Paris zoo project was apparently never undertaken. (1) These prints were reused in the "Oeuvre de C. Rohault de Fleury, architecte" (published 1884) (DR1974:0002:029:001-044). (2) Rohault de Fleury's greenhouses were destroyed in the Prussian bombardments of 1870. The greenhouses, which now stand in their place, are similar in layout and appearance to the original design, but their structural system is different. (3) John Hix, 'The Glass House' (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1981), p. 115. (4) Ibid., p. 115. (5) This error has been repeated by other authors including Henry-Russell Hitchcock, 'Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries' (Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books, 1968), p. 120. (6) Leonardo Benevolo, 'History of Modern Architecture' Volume 1: The tradition of modern architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1971), p. 22. (7) Sigfried Giedion, 'Space, Time and Architecture; the growth of a new tradition' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1941), p. 181. (8) Barry Bergdoll, "Charles Rohault de Fleury: Part two: Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle and Studies on analogous Constructions in Europe", 'CCA Research Report", n.d., p. 1.
File 5
[1837-ca. 1862]
This talk revisits the contested visual legacy of Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1972 documentary Chung Kuo, Cina by placing it within a broader network of Cold War–era encounters between Western filmmakers and a carefully stage-managed People’s Republic of China. Connecting Antonioni’s state-sanctioned visit with projects by Shirley MacLaine, Jean Painlevé, and Canadian(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
22 January 2026, 6pm to 7:30pm
Screening of film excerpts and live annotation: Antonioni’s Chung Kuo, Cina (1972)
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This talk revisits the contested visual legacy of Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1972 documentary Chung Kuo, Cina by placing it within a broader network of Cold War–era encounters between Western filmmakers and a carefully stage-managed People’s Republic of China. Connecting Antonioni’s state-sanctioned visit with projects by Shirley MacLaine, Jean Painlevé, and Canadian(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
Learning from... Caracas
Venezuelan law allows for an entity called the consejo communal (communal council), which empowers citizens to initiate local development projects through neighbourhood-based elected councils. Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler’s film, Comuna under construction (2010), begins with the story of a poor hillside community in Caracas as its inhabitants decide whether they(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
8 May 2014 , 6pm
Learning from... Caracas
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Description:
Venezuelan law allows for an entity called the consejo communal (communal council), which empowers citizens to initiate local development projects through neighbourhood-based elected councils. Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler’s film, Comuna under construction (2010), begins with the story of a poor hillside community in Caracas as its inhabitants decide whether they(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
articles
Journeys and translation
Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture surveys the history and cultural significance of bank architecture, focusing on bank architecture as a building typology rather than in the context of a single architect or architectural firm. Challenging the standard notion that bank buildings are repetitive, dull and conservative, the exhibition reveals banks as(...)
Main galleries
14 November 1990 to 24 February 1991
Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture
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Description:
Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture surveys the history and cultural significance of bank architecture, focusing on bank architecture as a building typology rather than in the context of a single architect or architectural firm. Challenging the standard notion that bank buildings are repetitive, dull and conservative, the exhibition reveals banks as(...)
Main galleries
Hubert Damisch, 2003-2004 CCA Mellon Senior Fellow, examines Blur – the cloud building created by New York architects Diller + Scofidio on lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, which is the most recent and radical expression of the desire for fluidity and evanescence in architecture – and the consequences that it might have on the future of structural thought. Damisch examines(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
8 May 2003
Hubert Damisch: “Effacer l’architecture?”
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Hubert Damisch, 2003-2004 CCA Mellon Senior Fellow, examines Blur – the cloud building created by New York architects Diller + Scofidio on lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, which is the most recent and radical expression of the desire for fluidity and evanescence in architecture – and the consequences that it might have on the future of structural thought. Damisch examines(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre