Marking the 10th anniversary of the CCA’s public opening, the exhibition spotlights and juxtaposes acquisitions from its first decade. Over 350 prints, drawings, photographs, rare books, manuscripts, toys, and models spanning five centuries of architectural history reflect how the built world has been imagined, conceived, and reflected upon. Dedicated to the many donors(...)
Main galleries and hall cases
24 November 1999 to 30 April 2000
En chantier: The Collections of the CCA, 1989-1999
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Description:
Marking the 10th anniversary of the CCA’s public opening, the exhibition spotlights and juxtaposes acquisitions from its first decade. Over 350 prints, drawings, photographs, rare books, manuscripts, toys, and models spanning five centuries of architectural history reflect how the built world has been imagined, conceived, and reflected upon. Dedicated to the many donors(...)
Main galleries and hall cases
Elevation of a palace façade
DR1970:0003
Description:
This drawing shows an exterior of a residential building. The artist uses color to suggest the materials used in construction; blue-grey for the pitched slate roof, brown for masonry details and architectural sculpture, and red striations for brickwork. This combination of materials was common in early modern France, where a play on color and materiality enlivened the façades of well-known royal edifices including the chateaux of Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye. As with the construction technique that interwove stone with brick, the architectural style depicted in the drawing combines traditional French ideas about building with classicizing elements imported to France via Italian artists and architects as well as through printed translations of Vitruvius’s 'De architectura' and Sebastiano Serlio’s architectural treatise. The inclusion of masonry rustication and the decorative urns that punctuate the roofline suggest a knowledge of classicizing trends in architectural ornament and a familiarity with the œuvre of artists working in the circle of the first and second Écoles de Fontainebleau. The structure’s elongated form suggests a gallery and the organization of the façade borrows the combination of slightly protruding vertical bays and long horizontal registers that characterizes Pierre Lescot’s wing of the Louvre, a project that would have been well-known in court circles in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Similarly, the two winged allegorical figures flanking the central pediment are reminiscent of Jean Goujon’s sculptural additions to the Lescot wing. In the Canadian Centre for Architecture’s drawing both figures hold palms, but the artist omitted any further identifying attributes, perhaps – along with the empty niches – as an invitation for the patron to imagine his or her own thematic program for the project.
first quarter of the 16th century
Elevation of a palace façade
Actions:
DR1970:0003
Description:
This drawing shows an exterior of a residential building. The artist uses color to suggest the materials used in construction; blue-grey for the pitched slate roof, brown for masonry details and architectural sculpture, and red striations for brickwork. This combination of materials was common in early modern France, where a play on color and materiality enlivened the façades of well-known royal edifices including the chateaux of Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye. As with the construction technique that interwove stone with brick, the architectural style depicted in the drawing combines traditional French ideas about building with classicizing elements imported to France via Italian artists and architects as well as through printed translations of Vitruvius’s 'De architectura' and Sebastiano Serlio’s architectural treatise. The inclusion of masonry rustication and the decorative urns that punctuate the roofline suggest a knowledge of classicizing trends in architectural ornament and a familiarity with the œuvre of artists working in the circle of the first and second Écoles de Fontainebleau. The structure’s elongated form suggests a gallery and the organization of the façade borrows the combination of slightly protruding vertical bays and long horizontal registers that characterizes Pierre Lescot’s wing of the Louvre, a project that would have been well-known in court circles in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Similarly, the two winged allegorical figures flanking the central pediment are reminiscent of Jean Goujon’s sculptural additions to the Lescot wing. In the Canadian Centre for Architecture’s drawing both figures hold palms, but the artist omitted any further identifying attributes, perhaps – along with the empty niches – as an invitation for the patron to imagine his or her own thematic program for the project.
textual records
DR2012:0015:022:015
Description:
File containing documents in English (predominant), with Dutch and French, including press clippings and reference materials related to the following projects and/or events: - Royal architectural institute of Canada, honorary fellows induction; - Un dictionnaire; - Aux portes du jardin; - 7th Venice Biennale international architecture exhibition; - Melvin Charney's honorary Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University; - Canadian tribute to human rights; - Commandeur de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres; - Melvin Charney: oeuvres, 1970-1979; - Exhibition at Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, 2006; - About memory and archive [Autour de la Mémoire et de l'Archive] exhibition; - Skyscraper, waterfall, brooks - a construction; - Visions of the temple; - Parable series; - CCA garden; - Montréal, plus ou moins?; - Corridart. Original folder inscribed in graphite: MC DOSSIER DE PRESSE + WEB
1977, 1994-2009
Press clippings and reference material related to Melvin Charney's projects
Actions:
DR2012:0015:022:015
Description:
File containing documents in English (predominant), with Dutch and French, including press clippings and reference materials related to the following projects and/or events: - Royal architectural institute of Canada, honorary fellows induction; - Un dictionnaire; - Aux portes du jardin; - 7th Venice Biennale international architecture exhibition; - Melvin Charney's honorary Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University; - Canadian tribute to human rights; - Commandeur de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres; - Melvin Charney: oeuvres, 1970-1979; - Exhibition at Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, 2006; - About memory and archive [Autour de la Mémoire et de l'Archive] exhibition; - Skyscraper, waterfall, brooks - a construction; - Visions of the temple; - Parable series; - CCA garden; - Montréal, plus ou moins?; - Corridart. Original folder inscribed in graphite: MC DOSSIER DE PRESSE + WEB
textual records
1977, 1994-2009
Series
Projets et réalisations
AP066.S2
Description:
Issue de la pratique professionnelle de Jacques Rousseau, cette série regroupe les documents illustrant quatre-vingt-trois projets et réalisations conçus, soit de façon autonome ou en collaboration, entre 1973 et 1997. Ces projets se distinguent autant par leur degré d'achèvement (de l'esquisse préliminaire au dessin de construction), par leur échelle (du mobilier au projet urbain), que par leur programme (commercial, domestique, social). Dans l'ensemble, tous les thèmes qui sont explorés, tels l'architecture du bar, le décor de la boutique, l'habitation individuelle et collective, le lieu de travail, et l'image publique des institutions, s'ancrent dans une pensée spéculative sur la ville comme processus de reconstruction et de refondation. Parmi les quatre-vingt-trois projets, vingt datent d'avant 1980, date à laquelle Jacques Rousseau est devenu membre de l'Ordre des architectes du Québec. Ces projets ont donc été réalisés soit pour le compte d'agences pour lesquelles Jacques Rousseau travaillait ou effectuait son stage professionnel, soit à titre officieux en offrant vraisemblablement ses services à ses connaissances. Dans ce dernier cas, il s'agit alors de projets de plus petite envergure pour des rénovations ou agrandissements de résidences. Par ailleurs, un certain nombre de nouveaux projets n'ont pas abouti et sont constitués seulement de dossiers préliminaires qui nous renseignent toutefois sur les démarches entreprises par l'architecte, parfois de sa propre initiative, pour amorcer des projets. La variété de ces derniers montre les multiples intérêts de Jacques Rousseau. Toutefois, trois d'entre eux émergent de sa pratique : l'architecture de bar et de restaurant, le logement collectif coopératif et la morphologie urbaine pour lesquels il consacre de nombreux projets et études. On trouvera aussi d'ailleurs dans la série 9 - Enseignement des documents relatifs à ses travaux sur la morphologie urbaine.
1973-1997
Projets et réalisations
Actions:
AP066.S2
Description:
Issue de la pratique professionnelle de Jacques Rousseau, cette série regroupe les documents illustrant quatre-vingt-trois projets et réalisations conçus, soit de façon autonome ou en collaboration, entre 1973 et 1997. Ces projets se distinguent autant par leur degré d'achèvement (de l'esquisse préliminaire au dessin de construction), par leur échelle (du mobilier au projet urbain), que par leur programme (commercial, domestique, social). Dans l'ensemble, tous les thèmes qui sont explorés, tels l'architecture du bar, le décor de la boutique, l'habitation individuelle et collective, le lieu de travail, et l'image publique des institutions, s'ancrent dans une pensée spéculative sur la ville comme processus de reconstruction et de refondation. Parmi les quatre-vingt-trois projets, vingt datent d'avant 1980, date à laquelle Jacques Rousseau est devenu membre de l'Ordre des architectes du Québec. Ces projets ont donc été réalisés soit pour le compte d'agences pour lesquelles Jacques Rousseau travaillait ou effectuait son stage professionnel, soit à titre officieux en offrant vraisemblablement ses services à ses connaissances. Dans ce dernier cas, il s'agit alors de projets de plus petite envergure pour des rénovations ou agrandissements de résidences. Par ailleurs, un certain nombre de nouveaux projets n'ont pas abouti et sont constitués seulement de dossiers préliminaires qui nous renseignent toutefois sur les démarches entreprises par l'architecte, parfois de sa propre initiative, pour amorcer des projets. La variété de ces derniers montre les multiples intérêts de Jacques Rousseau. Toutefois, trois d'entre eux émergent de sa pratique : l'architecture de bar et de restaurant, le logement collectif coopératif et la morphologie urbaine pour lesquels il consacre de nombreux projets et études. On trouvera aussi d'ailleurs dans la série 9 - Enseignement des documents relatifs à ses travaux sur la morphologie urbaine.
Series
1973-1997
Nuit Blanche 2025: 38%
It is time for a systemic change in the way we design and value the built environment. The way we build is not ecologically sustainable. The building industry is responsible for 38% of the worlds annual production of greenhouse gases. During the Nuit Blanche at the CCA, we invite you to come and discuss, reflect and be inspired by the actions of the German architecture(...)
Nuit Blanche 2025
1 March 2025 to 2 March 2025, 7pm to 1am
Nuit Blanche 2025: 38%
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Description:
It is time for a systemic change in the way we design and value the built environment. The way we build is not ecologically sustainable. The building industry is responsible for 38% of the worlds annual production of greenhouse gases. During the Nuit Blanche at the CCA, we invite you to come and discuss, reflect and be inspired by the actions of the German architecture(...)
Nuit Blanche 2025
Project
Quinta da Bela Flor, Lisboa
CD034.S1.1976.PR01
Description:
This project series contains one reproduction of a photograph displayed in the exhibit to document the Quinta da Bela Flor neighbourhood, in Lisbon, Portugal. The exhibit text explained that: Artur Rosa's project in the neighbourhood grew out of a shanty town, built on a difficult site, dating back to the 19th century, with reports of families living in hillside caves that today flank the entrance to a nearby highway. The process was based on voluntary work, and its ending presented a huge disappointment to the local brigade. In 1976 and 1977, Artur Rosa, also a practicing artist, produced three works that reflected on SAAL, its failure and the subsequent sense of persecution felt by many brigade leaders. The decision not to present the project but rather the artistic interventions aims at revealing the performative nature of the process, its poetic intensity and the way it related to its protagonists. In 1977 the architect presented a performance at the Fine Arts Society in Lisbon in which he closed the documentation of the project in a darkened room. The following year, he presented a structure with the documentation closed inside, and finally he used the project drawings in a collage with photographs on the occasion of the first public tap in Quinta da Bela-Flor. Those poetic artistic interventions are his form of publicly mourning the end of the SAAL process. (The SAAL Process, Housing in Portugal 1974–76) Artur Rosa worked for SAAL/Lisbon and Central South with Etelvina José, Hélio Oliveira, José Luís Teles Rebolo, José Miguel Fonseca, Luís Pereira, Manuel Coutinho Raposo, Maria Fernanda Carvalho, Maria Isabel Rodrigues Lobo, Nuno Blanco Bártolo, Nuno Martins and the residents' association Cooperativa de Habitação Económica Bela Flor, that was founded on February 13th, 1976. The project included 288 dwellings. The operation began in September 1976, with a construction date in December 1976. This project series contains a reproduction of a photograph of a model. The original photograph was produced around 1976 and was reproduced in 2015 for the exhibit.
circa 1976
Quinta da Bela Flor, Lisboa
Actions:
CD034.S1.1976.PR01
Description:
This project series contains one reproduction of a photograph displayed in the exhibit to document the Quinta da Bela Flor neighbourhood, in Lisbon, Portugal. The exhibit text explained that: Artur Rosa's project in the neighbourhood grew out of a shanty town, built on a difficult site, dating back to the 19th century, with reports of families living in hillside caves that today flank the entrance to a nearby highway. The process was based on voluntary work, and its ending presented a huge disappointment to the local brigade. In 1976 and 1977, Artur Rosa, also a practicing artist, produced three works that reflected on SAAL, its failure and the subsequent sense of persecution felt by many brigade leaders. The decision not to present the project but rather the artistic interventions aims at revealing the performative nature of the process, its poetic intensity and the way it related to its protagonists. In 1977 the architect presented a performance at the Fine Arts Society in Lisbon in which he closed the documentation of the project in a darkened room. The following year, he presented a structure with the documentation closed inside, and finally he used the project drawings in a collage with photographs on the occasion of the first public tap in Quinta da Bela-Flor. Those poetic artistic interventions are his form of publicly mourning the end of the SAAL process. (The SAAL Process, Housing in Portugal 1974–76) Artur Rosa worked for SAAL/Lisbon and Central South with Etelvina José, Hélio Oliveira, José Luís Teles Rebolo, José Miguel Fonseca, Luís Pereira, Manuel Coutinho Raposo, Maria Fernanda Carvalho, Maria Isabel Rodrigues Lobo, Nuno Blanco Bártolo, Nuno Martins and the residents' association Cooperativa de Habitação Económica Bela Flor, that was founded on February 13th, 1976. The project included 288 dwellings. The operation began in September 1976, with a construction date in December 1976. This project series contains a reproduction of a photograph of a model. The original photograph was produced around 1976 and was reproduced in 2015 for the exhibit.
Project
circa 1976
Project
AP178.S1.2002.PR05
Description:
This project series documents the Parque de Vidago in Vidago, Portugal. While the records were held in the office’s archives this project was assigned the number 49/00. The office assigned the dates 2002-2010 to this project. This project consisted of extensive modifications to the spa resort Parque de Vidago Palace Hotel for owner VMPS - Águas & Turismo, S.A, part of Unicer (now Super Bock Group). The Palace Hotel and its surrounding nature park were originally proposed by King Carlos I at the beginning of the 20th century in order to create a luxurious resort around the famous Vidago mineral springs. In 2006, the resort was temporarily closed for the work to begin. For Siza, this primarily consisted of the construction of a new thermal spa, the conversion of rural buildings into vacation homes, and the building of a new clubhouse for the golf course. These three aspects of the project were divided as three subprojects by the office and have been arranged under AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS1, AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS2 and AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS3, respectively. While the spa and clubhouse were both built, the vacation homes were not realized. The resort reopened in 2010. Several smaller buildings were also realized as part of this project including the Fonte Salus (spring), the Fonte de Vidago (spring) and the Portaria (gatehouse). Materials for these three building are arranged in AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS1. Also included were several buildings that were not realized such as the Academia de golfe and the Edifício da manutenção (arranged in AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS3), and the Espaço Serralves (arranged in AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS1). This project was realized in tandem with another similar project by Siza, the Parque de Pedras Salgadas (AP178.S1.2002.PR06), also owned by Unicer. For this reason, the materials for both projects are mixed together. Files in this project series that contain materials for the Pedras Salgadas project have been identified at the file level.
2002-2012
Parque de Vidago [Vidago Palace], Vidago, Portugal (2002-2010)
Actions:
AP178.S1.2002.PR05
Description:
This project series documents the Parque de Vidago in Vidago, Portugal. While the records were held in the office’s archives this project was assigned the number 49/00. The office assigned the dates 2002-2010 to this project. This project consisted of extensive modifications to the spa resort Parque de Vidago Palace Hotel for owner VMPS - Águas & Turismo, S.A, part of Unicer (now Super Bock Group). The Palace Hotel and its surrounding nature park were originally proposed by King Carlos I at the beginning of the 20th century in order to create a luxurious resort around the famous Vidago mineral springs. In 2006, the resort was temporarily closed for the work to begin. For Siza, this primarily consisted of the construction of a new thermal spa, the conversion of rural buildings into vacation homes, and the building of a new clubhouse for the golf course. These three aspects of the project were divided as three subprojects by the office and have been arranged under AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS1, AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS2 and AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS3, respectively. While the spa and clubhouse were both built, the vacation homes were not realized. The resort reopened in 2010. Several smaller buildings were also realized as part of this project including the Fonte Salus (spring), the Fonte de Vidago (spring) and the Portaria (gatehouse). Materials for these three building are arranged in AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS1. Also included were several buildings that were not realized such as the Academia de golfe and the Edifício da manutenção (arranged in AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS3), and the Espaço Serralves (arranged in AP178.S1.2002.PR05.SS1). This project was realized in tandem with another similar project by Siza, the Parque de Pedras Salgadas (AP178.S1.2002.PR06), also owned by Unicer. For this reason, the materials for both projects are mixed together. Files in this project series that contain materials for the Pedras Salgadas project have been identified at the file level.
Project
2002-2012
DR1974:0002:003:001-105
Description:
- This album consists primarily of design development drawings and the architect's copies of the working drawings for Hôtel Soltykoff. The hôtel consisted of a single rectangular pavilion with a central porte cochère and a rear courtyard with an outbuilding. The principal façade facing rue Saint-Arnaud (now rue Volney) and the interior were lavishly decorated. The structure of the hôtel consisted of load-bearing masonry combined with cast-iron columns, iron beams, and interior wood framing. The exterior was finished with cut stone. The album contains plans, elevations, details and sections, and full-scale drawings of the architectural elements, ornamentation, as well as joinery. Many of the drawings and transfer lithographs are inscribed with both the date of the drawing/original and the date of contract. Revisions, which are also often dated, have been made either directly on the drawing or on pieces of paper attached to the sheets. Inscriptions indicate that in some cases these revisions were added after the construction of the building. Also included are preliminary drawings (DR1974:0002:003:028 R/V), and detailed interior views, some of which are partially coloured with watercolour (DR1974:0002:003:049, DR1974:0002:003:069, DR1974:0002:003:078). The drawings and transfer lithographs have been grouped, possibly by the compiler of the album, according to the part of the building represented, and by the type of construction: stonework, woodwork, framework, and ironwork. Unbound material inserted into the album includes four large unbound full-scale preliminary sketches for architectural ornament, possibly for Hôtel Soltykoff (DR1974:0002:003:061 - DR1974:0002:003:064) and two drawings for a terrace and staircase, apparently not for Hôtel Soltykoff (DR1974:0002:003:003 and DR1974:0002:003:042).
architecture
1854-1858, printed 1854-1858
Album of prints and drawings for Hôtel Soltykoff, rue Saint-Arnaud, Paris
Actions:
DR1974:0002:003:001-105
Description:
- This album consists primarily of design development drawings and the architect's copies of the working drawings for Hôtel Soltykoff. The hôtel consisted of a single rectangular pavilion with a central porte cochère and a rear courtyard with an outbuilding. The principal façade facing rue Saint-Arnaud (now rue Volney) and the interior were lavishly decorated. The structure of the hôtel consisted of load-bearing masonry combined with cast-iron columns, iron beams, and interior wood framing. The exterior was finished with cut stone. The album contains plans, elevations, details and sections, and full-scale drawings of the architectural elements, ornamentation, as well as joinery. Many of the drawings and transfer lithographs are inscribed with both the date of the drawing/original and the date of contract. Revisions, which are also often dated, have been made either directly on the drawing or on pieces of paper attached to the sheets. Inscriptions indicate that in some cases these revisions were added after the construction of the building. Also included are preliminary drawings (DR1974:0002:003:028 R/V), and detailed interior views, some of which are partially coloured with watercolour (DR1974:0002:003:049, DR1974:0002:003:069, DR1974:0002:003:078). The drawings and transfer lithographs have been grouped, possibly by the compiler of the album, according to the part of the building represented, and by the type of construction: stonework, woodwork, framework, and ironwork. Unbound material inserted into the album includes four large unbound full-scale preliminary sketches for architectural ornament, possibly for Hôtel Soltykoff (DR1974:0002:003:061 - DR1974:0002:003:064) and two drawings for a terrace and staircase, apparently not for Hôtel Soltykoff (DR1974:0002:003:003 and DR1974:0002:003:042).
architecture
drawings
Quantity:
2 presentation drawing(s)
AP140.S2.SS1.D9.P1
Description:
one drawing shows plans, elevations, cross sections and longitudinal sections for terraces of staggered houses, cross sections for houses, plans for a large detached house, plans for a typical three-bedroom house, a diagrammatic cross section for a house showing the 10 1/2 feet and 7 feet horizon tall modules, the 7 feet vertical modules, and the 30 degrees sloped roofs, a diagrammatic cross section for the structure, a diagrammatic plan for grouped houses, a sequence of two axonometric drawings representing the system of construction, from the parallel load-bearing walls to finished building, and explanatory typescript texts; a hand-coloured drawing shows a roadside elevation and a sectional elevation for a terrace of staggered houses and was probably part of a no longer extant final presentation drawing for the CIAM X Congress
1955
Plans, elevations, cross sections and longitudinal sections for terraces of staggered houses
Actions:
AP140.S2.SS1.D9.P1
Description:
one drawing shows plans, elevations, cross sections and longitudinal sections for terraces of staggered houses, cross sections for houses, plans for a large detached house, plans for a typical three-bedroom house, a diagrammatic cross section for a house showing the 10 1/2 feet and 7 feet horizon tall modules, the 7 feet vertical modules, and the 30 degrees sloped roofs, a diagrammatic cross section for the structure, a diagrammatic plan for grouped houses, a sequence of two axonometric drawings representing the system of construction, from the parallel load-bearing walls to finished building, and explanatory typescript texts; a hand-coloured drawing shows a roadside elevation and a sectional elevation for a terrace of staggered houses and was probably part of a no longer extant final presentation drawing for the CIAM X Congress
drawings
Quantity:
2 presentation drawing(s)
1955
textual records, born digital
Quantity:
3 file
ARCH252182
Description:
ANY (files last modified 1991-1997) - contains file folders for Conference Journals (Anyone, Anywhere, Anyway, Anyplace), Any Magazine (issues 0-18), Applications (including illustrations), Correspondence, Ideology Seminar, Mottos, John Rajchman's book (Constructions), and Systems Folder Anyway Book (files last modified 1996-1997) - contains file folders for A- book (Anyway Conference Journal), Ads and money, Any Magazine 0-13, Any (magazine) 90, Correspondence, Distribution, General Business, Ideology, Lotus Project, [John] Rajchman Book (Constructions), [Ignasi] Solà-Morales [Rubio] Backups, TdeM--translation and other…, Timesheets, Writing A[rchitecture] Anyone - Louise's Computer Backup
1991-1997
Anyone Corporation, Computer Hard Drive Cartridges, 1991-1997
Actions:
ARCH252182
Description:
ANY (files last modified 1991-1997) - contains file folders for Conference Journals (Anyone, Anywhere, Anyway, Anyplace), Any Magazine (issues 0-18), Applications (including illustrations), Correspondence, Ideology Seminar, Mottos, John Rajchman's book (Constructions), and Systems Folder Anyway Book (files last modified 1996-1997) - contains file folders for A- book (Anyway Conference Journal), Ads and money, Any Magazine 0-13, Any (magazine) 90, Correspondence, Distribution, General Business, Ideology, Lotus Project, [John] Rajchman Book (Constructions), [Ignasi] Solà-Morales [Rubio] Backups, TdeM--translation and other…, Timesheets, Writing A[rchitecture] Anyone - Louise's Computer Backup
textual records, born digital
Quantity:
3 file
1991-1997