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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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
Visions and Views combines contemporary photography and engravings from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to establish a dialogue between two different approaches to representing Francesco Borromini’s built work. The photographs, part of a larger commission acquired by the CCA, were taken in Rome by Toronto photographer Edward Burtynsky in 1999. They are presented(...)
Octagonal gallery
15 March 2000 to 7 May 2000
Visions and Views: The Architecture of Borromini in the Photographs of Edward Burtynsky
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Visions and Views combines contemporary photography and engravings from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to establish a dialogue between two different approaches to representing Francesco Borromini’s built work. The photographs, part of a larger commission acquired by the CCA, were taken in Rome by Toronto photographer Edward Burtynsky in 1999. They are presented(...)
Octagonal gallery
Shaping the Great City explores the role of city-building throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire, both before and after its dissolution, and expands architectural history by bringing to the fore a rich variety of modernisms. In the years surrounding World War I, these strains of modernism both reflected and shaped the many national and multinational identities of the(...)
Main galleries and hall cases
14 May 2000 to 15 October 2000
Shaping the Great City: Modern Architecture in Central Europe, 1890–1937
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Shaping the Great City explores the role of city-building throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire, both before and after its dissolution, and expands architectural history by bringing to the fore a rich variety of modernisms. In the years surrounding World War I, these strains of modernism both reflected and shaped the many national and multinational identities of the(...)
Main galleries and hall cases
Meditations on Piero presents contemporary sculptures by British/Canadian artist Geoffrey Smedley alongside over thirty rare books from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The sculptures draw their inspiration from a series of drawings of the human head by the great Italian Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca. The exhibition relates these drawings and(...)
Octagonal gallery
2 May 2001 to 16 September 2001
Meditations on Piero
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Meditations on Piero presents contemporary sculptures by British/Canadian artist Geoffrey Smedley alongside over thirty rare books from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The sculptures draw their inspiration from a series of drawings of the human head by the great Italian Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca. The exhibition relates these drawings and(...)
Octagonal gallery
Architects’ Books
This exhibition presents three phases in the history of the architect’s book: the mid-sixteenth century, when architects first proved themselves in the field; the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries, when architects turned to book design as a serious complement to their professional career; and contemporary times, when architectural firms, in league with their(...)
Octagonal gallery
24 June 2004 to 26 September 2004
Architects’ Books
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This exhibition presents three phases in the history of the architect’s book: the mid-sixteenth century, when architects first proved themselves in the field; the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries, when architects turned to book design as a serious complement to their professional career; and contemporary times, when architectural firms, in league with their(...)
Octagonal gallery
John Soane 1753-1837
Described by Henry James as “one of the most curious things in London,” Sir John Soane’s Museum was built as the picturesque and enigmatic home, office, collector’s trove, and personal showplace of one of history’s most innovative architects. This exhibition is a major re-evaluation of Soane’s career, as well as a reconsideration of his importance to the history of modern(...)
Main galleries
16 May 2001 to 3 September 2001
John Soane 1753-1837
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Described by Henry James as “one of the most curious things in London,” Sir John Soane’s Museum was built as the picturesque and enigmatic home, office, collector’s trove, and personal showplace of one of history’s most innovative architects. This exhibition is a major re-evaluation of Soane’s career, as well as a reconsideration of his importance to the history of modern(...)
Main galleries
Learning from… Ruscha and Venturi Scott Brown, 1962–1977 examines the relationship between the seminal illustrated books by artist Edward Ruscha and architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown that deal with the architecture and urbanism of the everyday in Los Angeles and Las Vegas during the 1960s and 1970s. Ruscha’s Every Building on the Sunset Strip and Venturi(...)
Octagonal gallery
31 March 2004 to 30 May 2004
Learning from… Ruscha and Venturi Scott Brown, 1962–1977
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Learning from… Ruscha and Venturi Scott Brown, 1962–1977 examines the relationship between the seminal illustrated books by artist Edward Ruscha and architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown that deal with the architecture and urbanism of the everyday in Los Angeles and Las Vegas during the 1960s and 1970s. Ruscha’s Every Building on the Sunset Strip and Venturi(...)
Octagonal gallery
Super City
This installation by Canadian writer and artist Douglas Coupland (Generation X) investigates the creative impact of the 1960s explosion of toy building kits, offering a reflection on the profound effect toys can have-not only on how children learn to perceive the world, but also in terms of the kinds of things they produce as adults. Named after Super City, a kit(...)
Octagonal gallery
9 June 2005 to 20 November 2005
Super City
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This installation by Canadian writer and artist Douglas Coupland (Generation X) investigates the creative impact of the 1960s explosion of toy building kits, offering a reflection on the profound effect toys can have-not only on how children learn to perceive the world, but also in terms of the kinds of things they produce as adults. Named after Super City, a kit(...)
Octagonal gallery
Empire
The exhibition presents Empire, a visual essay by American artist John Gossage on the relationship between architecture and power. Gossage’s photographs of government buildings and monuments in Washington, D.C. are juxtaposed with images of Egypt taken by German chemist Hermann Vogel in 1868, exposing the parallel actions of governments, over a century apart, in(...)
Octagonal gallery
8 December 2005 to 12 March 2006
Empire
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The exhibition presents Empire, a visual essay by American artist John Gossage on the relationship between architecture and power. Gossage’s photographs of government buildings and monuments in Washington, D.C. are juxtaposed with images of Egypt taken by German chemist Hermann Vogel in 1868, exposing the parallel actions of governments, over a century apart, in(...)
Octagonal gallery
125 Kilos of Books
125 Kilos of Books presents a selection of printed architectural works from the CCA collection dating from the fifteenth century to the present in order to provoke thought about what seems, at first sight, the most banal fact of any book: its size. With dimensions ranging from 10 centimetres to 1 metre, the works are explored through such themes as Buildings are Bigger(...)
Octagonal gallery
23 March 2006 to 30 April 2006
125 Kilos of Books
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125 Kilos of Books presents a selection of printed architectural works from the CCA collection dating from the fifteenth century to the present in order to provoke thought about what seems, at first sight, the most banal fact of any book: its size. With dimensions ranging from 10 centimetres to 1 metre, the works are explored through such themes as Buildings are Bigger(...)
Octagonal gallery