Vol35 No1 Final PDFA1b

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Andrew wAldron Parks Canada 5th Floor, 25 Eddy Street Gatineau, QC K1A 0M5 t : (819) 953-5587 / f : (819) 953-4909 e : andrew.waldron@pc.gc.ca
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the society for the study of Architecture in cAnAdA
is a learned society
devoted to the examination of the role of the built environment in canadian society. its membership includes structural and landscape architects, architectural historians and planners, sociologists, ethnologists, and specialists in such fields as heritage conservation and landscape history. founded in 1974, the society is currently the sole national society whose focus of interest is canadas built environment in all of its manifestations.
Peter coffMAn Department of History, Dalhousie University 6135 University Avenue, McCain 3164 Halifax, NS B3H 4P9 e : petercoffman@dal.ca lucie k. Morisset Dpartement d'tudes urbaines et touristiques Universit du Qubec Montral C.P. 8888, succ. Centre-ville Montral, QC H3C 3P8 t : (514) 987-3000 x 4585 / f : (514) 987-6881 e : morisset.lucie@uqam.ca
the Journal of the society for the study of architecture in canada, published twice a year, is a refereed journal.
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nicolAs Miquelon Parks Canada 5th Floor, 25 Eddy Street Gatineau, QC K1A 0M5 e : nicolas.miquelon@pc.gc.ca
lA socit Pour ltude de lArchitecture Au cAnAdA est une socit savante qui se
consacre ltude du rle de lenvironnement bti dans la socit canadienne. ses membres sont architectes, architectes paysagistes, historiens de larchitecture et de lurbanisme, urbanistes, sociologues, ethnologues ou spcialistes du patrimoine et de lhistoire du paysage. fonde en 1974, la socit est prsentement la seule association nationale proccupe par lenvironnement bti du canada sous toutes ses formes.
provincial rEprEsEntativEs | rEprsEntant(E)s dEs provincEs

heAther bretz Stantec Inc. 500-404 6th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2P 0R9 t : (403) 262-5511 / f : (403) 262-5519 e : heather.bretz@stantec.com GeorGe chAlker Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador PO Box 5171 St. Johns, NF A1C 5V5 t : (709) 739-1892 / f : (709) 739-5413 e : george@heritagefoundation.ca bernArd flAMAn PWGSC TPSGC 201-1800 11th Avenue Regina, SK S4P 0H8 t : (306) 780 3280 / f : (306) 780 7242 e : bernard.flaman@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca thoMAs horrocks ADI Limited 300-1133 Regent Street Fredericton, NB E3B 3Z2 t : (506) 452-9000 / f : (906) 452-7303 e : thd@adi.ca / horto@reg2.health.nb.ca Ann howAtt-krAhn 31 Victory Avenue Charlottetown, PEI C1A 5E9 t : (902) 368-1532 e : ahowatt@upei.ca dAniel Millette 511-55 Water Street Vancouver, BC V6B 1A1 t / f : (604) 642-2432 e : lucubratio@yahoo.com kAyhAn nAdji 126 Niven Drive Yellowknife, NT X1A 3W8 t / f : (867) 920-6331 e : kayhen@nadji-architects.ca MAthieu PoMerleAu 379, rue de Lige Montral, QC H2P 1J6 e : mathieu.pomerleau@umontreal.ca toM urbAniAk Department of Political Science, Cape Breton University 1250 Grand Lake Road Sydney, NS B1P 6L2 t : (902) 563-1226 e : tom_urbaniak@cbu.ca shAron VAttAy 43 Bushnell Avenue Toronto, ON M4W 3B8 t : (416) 406-6148 e : svattay@hamilton.ca
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The Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada is produced with the assistance of the Canada Research Chair on Urban Heritage and the Institut du patrimoine, UQAM. This issue was also produced with the financial assistance of the Canadian Forum for Public Research on Heritage. Le Journal de la Socit pour ltude de larchitecture au Canada est publi avec laide de la Chaire de recherche du Canada en patrimoine urbain et de lInstitut du patrimoine, UQAM. Ce numro a aussi bnfici de lapport financier du Forum canadien de recherche publique sur le patrimoine.
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Editing, proofrEading, translation | rvision linguistiquE, traduction
Micheline Giroux-Aubin
Journal Editor | rdactEur du Journal

luc noPPen Chaire de recherche du Canada en patrimoine urbain Institut du patrimoine, Universit du Qubec Montral C.P. 8888, succ. centre-ville Montral, QC H3C 3P8 t : (514) 987-3000 x 2562 / f : (514) 987-6881 e : noppen.luc@uqam.ca
assistant Editor | adJoint la rdaction

MArtin drouin e : drouin.martin@uqam.ca
assistant Editor | adJoint la rdaction

Peter coffMAn e : petercoffman@dal.ca
WEb sitE | sitE WEb

lAnA stewArt Parks Canada 5th Floor, 25 Eddy Street Gatineau, QC K1A 0M5 t : (819) 997-6098 e : lanastewart@mac.com
graphic dEsign | concEption graphiquE

MArike PArAdis
Editor of nEWs & viEWs | rdactEur dE nouvEllEs Et coups dil

ruPert Allen e : news@canada-architecture.org
pagE makE-up | misE En pagEs

b GrAPhistes
printing | imprEssion covEr | couvErturE
administrativE assistant | assistantE administrativE

heAther McArthur Julian Smith Architects 206 James Street Ottawa, ON K1R 5M7 e : heather@juliansmitharchitects.ca
marquis imprimEur inc., montmagny (qc)
Memorial Tower National Historic Site, Halifax (photo : Peter Coffman).
contents | table des matIRes
a n a lY s e s | a n a lY s e s
> Elsa lam

A Fertile Wilderness
The Canadian Pacific Railways Ready-made Farms, 1909-1914
> Paul Christianson

St. Marks Anglican Church, Barriefield, and the Gothic Revival in Canada West
17 31
> lEsliE maitland

Architecture for Nation and Empire
The Memorial Tower National Historic Site of Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia e s s aY s | e s s a I s
> rhodri Windsor lisCombE

The Imperial American Campus
Designing the University of British Columbia, Canada, 1912-1914
47
> Franois raCinE

Lapport de la morphologie urbaine dans une perspective dintervention sur un secteur historique
Le quartier ouest de larrondissement de Ville-Marie Montral RepoRt | RappoRt
57
> niColas miquElon

John M. Lyle (1872-1945)
67
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analYsIs | analYse
A Fertile Wilderness the Canadian Pacific railways ready-made Farms, 1909-1914

ELSA LAm is a PhD candidate in architectural history and theory at Columbia University. Her research examines the Canadian Pacific Railways development and promotion of Western Canadian landscapes at the turn of the century. She holds a bachelor in architecture from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and a master in architectural history and theory from mcGill University, Canada.
> Elsa lam
uring the last decades of the nineteenth century, the federal government and several railway companies collectively promoted the Canadian Prairie West, encouraging agricultural settlement and development of the vast grasslands that extended across Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, and the former Northwest Territories. A large portion of one of the most intractable regionsa semi-arid zone known as Pallisers Triangle stretching some three hundred and seventy-five miles from present-day Saskatoon to Calgary became exclusively owned and marketed by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Their development and promotional efforts centred on creating a massive irrigation project and hundreds of ready-made farms, which together recast the desert wasteland as a fertile wilderness (fig. 1). Geared to attract novice British settlers, each farm was equipped with farm buildings and pre-seeded land, and was ready for occupation and first harvest. British rural ideals were harnessed throughout the planning, construction, and marketing of the farms. Reinforcing emerging regional and national identities, the CPR depicted the farms as civilized communities in contrast to the supposedly primitive frontier developments associated with the American West. In doing so, they created the image of an ordered agricultural society and contributed to a new vision of a major Canadian landscape.
pRaIRIe settlement and cpR IRRIgatIon

As early as the seventeenth century, explorers and traders described the
fig. 1. CPR Ready-made faRm Colonies in albeRta and CPR iRRigation distRiCt, 1914. note that faRm Colonies at CaiRnhill (10 faRms, 1910, 1913) and glenRose (10 faRms, 1911) aRe not shown. | gRaPhiC by James mallinson.
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E lsa lam > AnAlYsis | AnAlYse
Prairie West as a desert wasteland. The beginnings of a marked perceptual shift in viewing the territory can be traced to the late nineteenth century. Following Confederation in 1867, the new Dominion of Canada began re-evaluating the territories in the Northwest section of the continent, then held by the Hudsons Bay Company. A group of Canadian expansionists led the identification and depiction of the former wasteland as a promised landan untouched, fertile wilderness for both agricultural production and social renewal. Engaging this vision of the areas potential, they pressured the newly created Canadian government to purchase the Northwest Territories in 1869. Subsequently, the Canadian government, along with western railways and other prairie boosters, developed and propagated the image of a fertile Prairie West to inspire a transformation of the region from a fur-trading hinterland into an agricultural homeland.1 The settlement of the Last Best West was well underway by the turn of the century. However, the region west of modern-day Moose Jaw and extending into Southeastern Alberta, identified in John Pallisers 1857-1859 surveys as an extension of the American desert to the south, remained virtually unsettled during that period. Initial government surveys had planned to route the transcontinental railway through the future site of Edmonton and across the Yellowhead Pass to the north, avoiding Pallisers Triangle altogether and traversing a fertile parkland belt. In 1881 the privatized CPR, which had recently taken over responsibility for the railway construction, decided on a flatter and more direct southern route that traversed the semi-arid region. This new route would forestall incursions by American railroads, and significantly reduce
fig. 2. CPR Ready-made faRm, 1913. | Canadian PaCifiC aRChives, a12028.
construction costs and transcontinental transit times. Nonetheless, the railways income depended on land sales and future revenue from agricultural freight transport. The company thus had significant incentive to encourage settlement of the territories along its entire lengthincluding the unpromising Pallisers Triangle. In order to prepare the region for agriculture, the CPR acquired a solid block of land and planned a series of irrigation projects. 2 The venture was massiveone of the worlds largest irrigation undertakings of its time. Its western and eastern sections each comprised over one million acres, and a planned Central District occupied the remainder of the 3.3-million-acre territory. Through a series of dams, reservoirs, and canals, the CPR anticipated irrigating just under half of that area, creating irrigated and mixed irrigateddry land farms throughout.3 Construction of the western section launched in 1904, and as the infrastructure neared completion in 1909, the CPR began a settlement phase.
a FeRtIle WIldeRness
The essential basis for marketing the region was a vision of naturally productive agricultural land. In describing the broader Prairies, expansionist Allan Macdonell boldly asserted that the lands unexploited fecundity created an imperative for occupation. No power on earth can close upon the immigrant that fertile wilderness which offers resources to all industryan oasis and refuge from all want, he wrote.4 In the case of Pallisers Triangle, the image of a fertile wilderness took on even greater importance. The act of irrigation, the CPR asserted, would activate the latent productivity of the apparent wilderness, resulting in land that demanded agricultural use. Instead of being a condition to be feared, the wilderness aspect of the Southern Prairies was thus celebrated insofar as it represented unexploited, rich land. Early CPR promotional brochures for the irrigation district, including the aptly if erroneously titled Facts Concerning the Bow
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River Valley, emphasized the untapped natural wealth of the soil. It is a fact that the richest lands in America lie in the vicinity of the 100 th Meridian, where the rainfall is the lowest, it informed readers. In humid countries, the soil is continually subjected to leaching by heavy rains [] The soil of the Irrigation Block [] retains all the valuable constituents that nature has stored up during past centuries. It only awaits the plow to yield up its treasures.5 The territory was celebrated as fertile land, poised to blossom when irrigated and cultivated.
and prepare his land in his first year while he would rather be attending to his crops, the Canadian Pacific Railway has prepared a number of Ready-Made Farms, noting in bold type, they are reserved for British Settlers.6 Such marketing was consonant with an Eastern Canadian vision of the West as an extension of the British Empire and combated a perceived cultural threat posed by an influx of Slavic immigrants into Western Canada at the turn of the century.7 The idea of ready-made farm colonies also targeted their intended audience. Raymond Williams has observed that an image of the country is periodically advanced as a compensatory cultural ideal against a contrasting idea of the city, including at the turn of the twentieth century. As Britain became predominantly industrial and urban, domestic agricultural production declined and colonial territories abroad began functioning as the empires food sources. One of the effects of this developing global landscape, Williams noted, was the midnineteenth-century idea that emigration would solve rural displacement and urban overcrowding in England. Characters in popular novels escaped to distant lands such as Canada to realize a countryside ideal that had become ever more elusive in England.8 Within England itself, prototypes of smallscale rural existence persisted in the village typology, in which small, independent cottages were arrayed along a main road or around a park-like green. The first planned villages were eighteenth-century settlements at the gates of large British domains, created when older hamlets were removed from within estate boundaries. By the late nineteenth century, the village was considered an appropriate form for emerging charitable institutions such as orphanages, which hoped to achieve moral reform by
agRaRIan Ideals and the ReadY-made FaRm concept

Although constructing irrigation infrastructure comprised the bulk of the CPRs financial investment in the area, the showpiece of its marketing campaign was a series of ready-made farms. The farms were grouped in colonies and each was to be equipped with a house, barn, implement shed, and fencing, as well as fifty acres of ploughed and sowed land (fig. 2). The form of the individual farmsteads, their envisaged grouping in rural communities, and the promotional depiction of the farms and surrounding lands advanced a vision of the region related to British picturesque aesthetics, reflecting the values of its prospective audience and supporting an Anglo-Canadian vision of the West as an imperial domain. The ready-made farm colonies were intended for a specific type of settler: married, British, with a moderate amount of capital and, preferably, previous agricultural experience. In 1909, the CPR launched the twenty-four farm Nightingale Colony with an upbeat advertising campaign in British newspapers (fig. 3). One early ad proclaimed: In order to save the settler the inconvenience of having to build his house, fence,
fig. 3. adveRtisement foR Ready-made faRms. | manChesteR guaRdian, novembeR 30, 1910.
fig. 4. a Cottage of the smallest tyPe. | loudon, John

Claudius, 1826, enCyCloPdia of agRiCultuRe, london, P. 418. CouRtesy of aveRy libRaRy.
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offering sanitary environments composed of family-like living units.9 In parallel with these social reform movements, British architects and designers became increasingly concerned with rural aesthetics. This interest was linked to the growing popularity of a picturesque style of landscaping and building, which valued visual intricacy and stood in opposition to formal, symmetrical designs. Horticulturalist and landscape planner John Claudius Loudon, one of the movements key proponents, hoped on the one hand to improve farm workers living conditions; on the other, his rural designs tracked a broader change in the status of the countryfrom a site of labour to a place of potential leisure and escape from the city. The practice of agriculture, from having been chiefly confined to men of humble station, who pursued it as a matter of business or profit, has of late years been engaged in by men of rank, and other opulent or amateur practitioners, as a matter of taste and recreation, explained the introduction to an 1844 edition of his Encyclopdia of Agriculture. The upper classes interest conferred new importance to the aesthetics of farmsteads, which Loudon saw as a direct measure of an areas success:
How much of the beauty of a country, and of the ideas of the comfort and happiness of its inhabitants, depends on the appearance of its farmhouses and cottages, every traveler is aware; and every agriculturist who has traveled through the British Isles can recognize at once a well cultivated district by the forms of the farm-yards and the position of the farmers dwelling-house.
a low state of culture, and an ignorant tasteless set of occupiers.10 By lending an increased level of aesthetic sophistication to rural landscapes, he proposed that the countryside might become cultivated in more than one sense (fig. 4). Farms grouped in social colonies, at the heart of the CPR ready-made farms, recall Loudons designs, striking a balance between his simple farm workers dwellings and his more lavish freestanding villas for landowners. In contrast to the makeshift sod huts common as pioneer Prairie dwellings, the farms promised fully-built homes, paired with colour-coordinated barns and outbuildings. This strategy resonates with Loudons idea of a coherent farm community aesthetic, signalling a civilized refinement possessed by the inhabitants of this rural environment. The alignment of the Canadian readymade farm program with British ideals of neat, village-style developments is especially apparent when contrasted to rural ideals in the United States, which emphasized self-sufficiency. As described by historian Henry Nash Smith, a Jeffersonian ideal of the free yeoman farmer became one of the dominant symbols of nineteenth-century America. Moral value was assigned to agricultural labour, transforming the farmer into a heroic figure and a paragon for the nation. Frederick Jackson Turner famously celebrated this aspect of the agricultural frontier as formative of a common American character: that dominant individualism [] that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom [] these are traits of the frontier, or traits called out elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier, he noted in his speech at the Worlds Columbian Exhibition in 1893.11 In terms of architecture, this attitude of independence was manifested in a genre
of rural self-building manuals particular to the United States. One manual for new agriculturalists, Todds Country Houses, and How to Save Money, is an early example of the type, with a central chapter dedicated to a first-hand house-building account. Todds narration stressed the savings obtained by relying on the farmers own labour. Emphasizing physical as well as psychological independence, Todd recommended locating new farmhouses at the centre point of the site, for convenience of access to the fields and to protect the inhabitants from ill ways, ill markets, and ill neighbors. If situated on the main highway, Todd warned, every itinerant interloper that travels the streets, by raising on tip-toe, may peep into the parlor or bed-room windows.12 In comparison, British manuals from the same period presumed that landowners would hire builders. Loudons Encyclopdia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture included detailed specifications for the work to be completed by various specialized trades. Decades later, John Scotts Farm Buildings: A Practical Treatise cautioned: it is not [] recommended to agriculturists to become their own architects and builders, and included a complete specification for the work to be completed by outside labour.13 Aligning the program with British ideals, CPR president Thomas Shaughnessy contrasted the ready-made homesteads to self-built American farms. The American, even the wealthy American, will build himself a rough hut and live in it for a season or two while making a start, he explained, invoking a generalized image of the American frontier. The Englishman does not like this, yet he wants land.14 Within the ready-made-farm concept, the use of a village typology with its implicit community structure was balanced by the promise of individual land ownership. This
Loudon proposed grand farmhouses and clean-lined labourers cottages to replace the scattered straggling hovels of all sizes and shapes, monstrous barns, and ricketty shapeless farm-houses that would indicate
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mix of ideals was clear in Shaughnessys reaction to a 1907 version of the British Small Agricultural Holdings Act, which enabled county councils to acquire land subdivided from large estates to rent to men desiring to establish independent small farms. An enthusiastic response testified to the programs appeal: in the final round of distributions, thirty-five thousand applicants vied for leases on one thousand and six hundred plots. Shaughnessy believed that the failed applicants were potential ready-made farmers. We propose to prepare land for this class of small holder, he announced. We will build his house, fence his holding, break part of the soil, and sow it, so that he can come down and find all ready for him to settle down.15 As originally formulated, the concept of pre-built farm colonies thus tapped into the aspirations of a certain class of British farm labourer for land ownership, coupled with the convenience and familiarity of a pre-made farm.
fig. 5. Photo of nightingale, albeRta fRom CPR album. | glenbow aRChives, lsdf Pd-31, vol. 8, P. 34.
assets and pay interest on the outstanding debt. In all three cases, construction was of a very low standard, with no interior finishes.16 As early as 1885, the CPR considered entering the ready-made farm market. Company records from that year include a circular sent by Keewatin Lumbering & Manufacturing to CPR vicepresident William Cornelius Van Horne, explaining their portable house system. Correspondence in 1894 between Van Horne and P.J. Hamilton, a Winnipegbased CPR land commissioner, pointed to a more serious research on ready-made farms. In one letter, Hamilton estimated the cost for establishing a settler in a fully-equipped, company-built house, including items such as furnishings, livestock, and farm tools. Hamilton ultimately recommended against a ready-made farm scheme. I do not think it possible for the farmer to start on a homestead saddled with a debt of $1500.00 with the view of ultimately discharging the loan with interest, he wrote.17
begInnIngs oF the cpR ReadY-made FaRm pRogRam

Prior to the C PR p ro gram , s everal commercial colonization companies at tempted to create pre - built ten ant farms on the Prairies. In the early 1880s, the QuAppelle Valley Farming Company acquired sixty-four thousand acres to establish three hundred farms each with a house, stable, and shed although in the end they constructed only one model farm and twenty-two cottages. Another effort sponsored by the Anglican Churchbridge Colonization Land Society in 1887 offered prospective British colonists rudimentary two-room wooden houses on forty-acre land tracts. Their nearby Commercial Colony furnished pre-built houses with the requisite supplies to start farming; settlers were obliged to post bonds on these
Several factors entered in the CPRs decision to produce ready-made farms a decade later. A twin impetus for the program came from the Salvation Army of Englands announced intention, in the spring of 1909, to sponsor a program of assisted land settlement in Canada, along with a contemporaneous proposal for a Dutch settlement on irrigation farms improved with a house and cultivated land.18 On October 9, 1909, the Strathmore Standard reported that the Salvation Army had purchased land for one hundred and twenty British settlers and planned to sponsor a settlement colony similar to those it already had created in other parts of the world. Work was contracted out to the Canadian Pacific Irrigation Colonization Company (CPICC), a CPR subsidiary that since the previous year had initiated development of farms for absentee clients from England and North America. In 1909, they took on over one hundred contracts to break and seed some twelve thousand acres of land, erect one hundred and twenty-five miles of fence, and build nine
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fig. 6. albeRta ConstRuCtion Co., Plan foR Ready-made faRm in sedgewiCk, albeRta, 1910. | sedgewiCk museum, albeRta.
fig. 7. Ready-made faRm Plan fRom PResentation book, 1912. | glenbow aRChives, lsdf m2381.
houses. The enterprise took the Salvation Army settlement in its stride. Fences and buildings have already been erected by the company, land plowed and sown with fall wheat, the Standard reported that winter.19 By March of the following year, the Salvation Army had apparently relinquished interest. The CPR accordingly took up the role of marketing and settling the twenty-four-quarter section farms already prepared in the Irricana district. However, rather than simply selling the two dozen improved farmsteads, it used them as the springboard for a much broader campaign, which would last almost a decade,
surpassing previous short-lived schemes for pre-built Canadian farms in scope and scale.
the englIsh colonY nIghtIngale, albeRta

Rathe r than p ro du cing patchwo rk developments on conventional agricultural land, the CPR intended to settle thousands of British farmers in stable, high-density communities on irrigated lands in the Alberta dry belt. 20 Targeting buyers of moderate means, the farms would be secured with a two-hundredand-fifty-pound downpayment and paid off, with interest, over ten years. 21
On March 26, 1910, nineteen farm families set sail from Liverpool, England, en route to the first CPR ready-made farms in the Irricana district of Alberta, Canada. The head of each family possessed from five hundred to one thousand pounds, or roughly two thousand five hundred to five thousand Canadian dollars, a fact that for the local paper demonstrated that these settlers are of a very good class.22 In addition to capital, farming experience was another prerequisite for the program, and the CPR vowed to only select experienced yeoman agriculturalists. However, descriptions of the first party indicate that the required farming experience was interpreted very
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broadly: the party included an engineer, a former innkeeper, a retired civil servant, an army pensioner, a builder, a coachman, a dairy farmer, and a veterinary surgeon.23 Nevertheless, the local press welcomed the newcomers as seasoned agriculturalists who have spent a lifetime tilling the soil in the old country and simply lacked experience in the particular terrain of the Canadian West.24 Subsequent ready-made farms would continue to attract a broad spectrum of settlers, who were often less than prepared for irrigation farming. The first colonyknown locally as the English Colony, and later rechristened Nightingale consisted of relatively simple, box-like houses of two or threerooms, each on a twenty-eight by twelve foot floorplate (fig. 5).25 A single door was centrally set on the long side of the dwelling, and small, square windows pierced the back wall and each of the end walls. A metal pipe chimney marked a stove that would have served for both cooking and heating the home. A small barn and a storage shed accompanied the houses. While illustrations of box-like houses similar to those at Nightingale initially appeared in ready-made farm publicity, they were replaced with more elaborate renderings as the CPR expanded the program. In 1910, farms were added at Cairnhilll, Crossfield, and Sedgewick. Each development was assigned to a local contractorthe Alberta Construction Company built the farms at Sedgewick, while the Crown Lumber Company was responsible for fourteen farms at Crossfield.26 The designs presented modest improvements: plans from the Sedgewickbased Alberta Construction Co. show a gabled three-room house on an L-shaped plan, with some interior spaces for a storage closet and pantry (fig. 6). Despite their more refined aesthetics and the avowal of a local paper that the new buildings are
substantially erected according to artistic designs,27 inhabitants reported that the houses were flimsy constructions. Settler Edwin Snowsell complained that these CPR cottages were frame structures, no insulation of any kind, 2 by 4 joists, tarpaper and drop siding on the outside; inside, laths and plaster directly on the joists. The thin walls provided little protection against the harsh winters, when water would freeze inside kettles. As a consequence, recalls Snowsells son Frank, the family, like most settlers, banked the house outside up to the level of the windows with barnyard manure to help keep out the frost.28 The next year, the CPRs architecture offices in Calgary prepared their own set of house designs, engaging local contractors to realize construction to the railways higher standards. The Calgaryand Sedgewick-based contractors Hayden & Skeene built ninety-nine of the one hundred and fifty ready-made farms completed in 1911. Each included a fourroomed house with porch and a saltbox barn, both finished with coordinated trim and siding colours. The following year, these more elaborate designs appeared in a presentation book for the ready-made farm program, which included five different house plans, two barn layouts, and two exterior colour schemes (fig. 7). The dwellings were detailed with columns topped by simple capitals and framed dormer windows. Inside, kitchens were finished with wainscoting and equipped with storage cupboards. Contrasting shingles and wood siding distinguished the ground and loft levels of houses and barns, while a choice of colour schemes proposed matching trim, wall, and shingle tones. An articulated roof profile on both the houses and barns gave an additional level of detail and variety to the structures. Each house
fig. 8. the JaCkson, fRom Canadian aladdin Co. ComPaRe to figuRe 2. | aladdin homes: ComPlete Cities oR single
homes, toRonto, Canadian aladdin Co., 1919.
featured a central hearth, brick chimney, and roofed verandah. The colourful presentation of an array of house plans, in blueprints and photographs, shared its format with the mailorder house catalogues of contemporary companies including B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Co. of Vancouver, Eatons, and the Canadian Aladdin Company. The latter, the most active of these companies, offered mail-order houses from 1905 to 1952. CPR ready-made farmhouses were remarkably similar to some of Aladdins arts-and-crafts-styled houses, which were precut at the factory and shipped to the customers nearest railway station, accompanied by a set of blueprints and a construction manual (fig. 8). From 1910 to 1932, Eatons free plan books presented dozens of houses through artists sketches, floor plans, and information on lumber, doors, windows, flooring, and hardware. Blueprints could be purchased for between $1 and $2.50, and customers
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fig. 9. CoveR of Canadian PaCifiC Railway ComPany. | iRRigation faRming in sunny albeRta, ChiCago,
m. kallis & ComPany, 1921.
position that the whole irrigation project is designed to secure the highest possible amount of traffic. This involves the densest possible settlement, reasoned CPICC manager C.W. Peterson. I like the improved farm program and think it would be the means to that end. In this way we can settle families on eighty acre tracts and make sure that this land is not being bought merely for speculative purposes.31 In its publicity material, the railway company rationalized the small farms by explaining that, compared with the standard one hundred and sixty acres allocated for dry farms, eighty acres would suffice to sustain an irrigated farm, with its propensity for consistently yielding more crops than dry land farms. This denser development may also have alleviated a fear of isolated homesteading on vast prairie landscapes. The terror of isolation held particularly true for British settlers accustomed to urban environments or tight rural development on rolling, treed parklands. A 1921 CPR brochure on irrigation farming (fig. 9) thus depicts an irrigated landscape with two farmsteads within view of each other, while its text reassures readers that:
The irrigation farmer has greater community advantages [] The settlement is confined to certain definite areas, instead of scattered over the country. Consequently, there are neighbors close at hand; schools, churches, telephones, mail deliveries, and all community organizations flourish as is not possible under other conditions.32
fig. 11. CPR Ready-made faRm PosteR, 1912. | glenbow

aRChives, PosteR ColleCtion.
In the initial years of the program, the CPR moved increasingly to a model of standardized houses, adopting a similar attitude to companies such as Aladdin and Eatons in marketing designed homes as consumer objects. Moreover, the CPRs program expanded the mail-order house concept by offering entire farms, complete with land, outbuildings, and the prepared fields necessary to ensure a first harvest.
fig. 10. maP of CaiRnhill Ready-made faRm Colony, 1910 . | glenbow libRaRy, a92.052 1910 C.2133.
densItY, IRRIgatIon, and socIetY

Beyond the design and sale of individual farms, a broader impetus for creating the ready-made farms was the need to occupy the massive irrigation district, assuring future income from freight traffic and water fees. From the Companys standpoint, ready-made farm colonies based on small land holdings would ensure the most profitable settlement of the territory. I take the
could order lumber and supplies based on the blueprints. The most popular type of Eatons housea one-and-a-half-storey bungalow dubbed the Earlsfieldwas listed for $696.50 in the 1912 catalogue. 29 A ready-made CPR farmhouse with similar dimensions retailed for $950. While CPR houses were somewhat more expensive, the premium secured the convenience of a turnkey dwelling.30
British journalists sponsored by the CPR guardedly acknowledged the effectiveness of this planning. Nightingale [...] was not nearly such a lonely place as I pictured it to be, reported Eldred Walker, who toured the colony soon after its founding. Ones nearest neighbour is generally half a mile distant, but that is not far on these open, rolling prairies.33
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Although no early maps of Nightingale exist, plans of improved farms for colonies at Cairnhill (1910), Namaka (1911), and Irricana (1911) indicate attempts to group farm dwellings near to one other. In Cairnhill, at least ten farms are situated along a common main road, with houses, barns, and wells located close to the roadway and within sight of at least one neighbour (fig. 10). Ready-made farms at Namaka and Irricana were likewise situated on common roads, and in several cases pushed to the corner of their eightyacre lots, closer to the houses of adjacent ready-made farms. On a practical level, building standardized houses and barns in close proximity led to economies associated with mass construction. For instance, delivery of materials could be streamlined and construction delegated to a single contractor. Settlers also arrived in larger groups who could be attended to collectively. At times, these practicalities seem to have taken precedence over the initial imperative to settle irrigation lands per se. This was apparent when a shortage of contiguous irrigated lands from 1910-1911 led to the construction of the Sedgewick colony on non-irrigated lands. Although these were larger one-hundred-and-sixty-acre farms, at greater distances from one another than irrigated farms, promotional literature continued to emphasize the sociability of the ready-made colonies. A series of 1912 advertisements in the Manchester Guardian noted: the farmer can start his farming at once with congenial neighbours of the same British stock as himself, instead of having to rough it alone under primitive conditions, even while the CPR ready-made farm campaign of the time promoted farms from eighty to as large as three hundred and twenty acres. A 1912 promotional poster encapsulates the image of sociable, civilized readymade farm colonies (fig. 11). A well-
dressed farmer and his wife converse by the house, in mid-ground a young man sits on a horse, and in the foreground, a young woman holds a pail, perhaps to feed the chickens pecking by her feet. The corner of a fenced-in garden is seen in front. The broad expanse of a wheat field can be glimpsed behind the house, whose chimney is topped with a wisp of smoke, a stock compositional element for a scene in the picturesque tradition. The group constitutes a working family unit, the ideal settlers sought by CPR campaigns. The text points to a broader network of social connections: the farm is close to the railway, schools, markets, and churches. At the same time, harking back to the idea of a fertile wilderness, the unexploited potential of the land itself is emphasized on the posterthese are not farms on established agricultural land, but rather special farms on virgin soilthe units that through hard work and social cooperation would comprise a new, ideal settlement. As such, the depiction reinforces the Dominions reputation as a new society in the making. Although only a single farm is portrayed in the poster, it is inhabited by a full family and balanced by a text indicating the farms place in a larger social structure. The poster thus suggests that a broader community of like-minded individuals supports the independent family life of a ready-made farm. The CPRs farms also reflected British ideals of civilized rural life by engaging pic turesque landscaping principles. Although the ready-made farms did not come with landscaping in place, free trees were available to settlers and British aesthetic ideals were manifest in the farm layouts suggested by the CPRissued Settlers Guide to homesteading in the irrigation district and contemporary newspaper articles (figs. 12-13). Rejecting formal, symmetrical layouts, these guides suggested that trees were to be deployed
in sheltering lines on the periphery, then distributed in picturesque groupings within the farm enclosure. 34 In the ideal farmstead, clumps of various shrubbery have been scattered about the lawn, a neat little dairy house has been tucked in the shade and shelter of the trees and shrubs convenient to the well, and beautiful flower beds add to the effect.35 This suggested arrangement of vegetal clumps alongside folly-like outbuildings on a neat lawn recalled the landscapes introduced by English landscape designer Capability Brown a century earlier. Only later in the manual was the practical importance of the trees as windbreaks discussed, along with recommendations for planting density and species choice. It will be found a splendid plan to plant a double row of white or blue spruce in the wind break, the guide stated, noting the sheltering advantages of their dense needles, then adding another aesthetic note: There is nothing prettier than a substantial wind break of such evergreens.36 When laid out in the correct manner, trees not only served practical purposes as protective windbreaks, but created visual variation in the monotonous grassland, recalling the aesthetics of British picturesque landscapes.
ReadY-made FaRms and VaRIants, 1912-1914

An enthusiastic response at the beginning of the ready-made farm program indicated its appeal, and building quickly accelerated to meet the demand. After the initial twenty-four farms of 1909, the CPR created an additional seventy-eight farms in 1910, one hundred and seventyseven farms in 1911, and fifty-seven in 1912. However, with a rapidly growing stock of ready-made farms, maintaining sales became difficult: at the end of 1911, one hundred and ninety-three readymade farms were unsold (69.2 percent of
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fig. 13. ReCommended faRm Plan. | Canadian PaCifiC Railway ComPany, 1911, settleRs guide: a handbook of infoRmation foR settleRs in the
Canadian PaCifiC Railway iRRigation bloCk, CalgaRy, Canadian PaCifiC Railway Colonization dePaRtment. Canadian PaCifiC aRChives, id 5303-13
muskrats, which slowed the flow of water. Large tracts of land were spoiled by salinization, which occurred when minerals were drawn up through the soil following irrigation. 38 Low precipitation levels in 1910 likely overwhelmed the capacities of the irrigation system, resulting in crop failures and disillusioned farmers. Perhaps in an attempt to recapture the programs early success, the CPR readymade farm policy took on increasingly broad-based tactics. By 1912, the program had shifted from establishing coherent ready-made farm colonies in blocks to the improvement of more scattered properties. Under its improved farms policy, the Company selects certain areas within the Irrigation Block upon which an expenditure of some $2500 is made in the way of buildings and other improvements and the land is then sold to the settler
on ten yearly payments, explained a CPR memorandum addressed to its land surveyors.
You will, therefore, whenever you have established a unit of, at least, average quality, mark this on your map as being specially set apart for development as a ready made farm and proceed to lay out building site, breaking, etc. in accordance with special instructions.
fig. 12. examPles of good and bad Planting. | eRwin, a.t. Planning the home gRounds,
stRathmoRe standaRd, may 7, 1910
the total then existing), and at the end of 1912, one hundred and forty-six farms (43.7 percent) were still unsold.37 Several factors may have contributed to sluggish sales and the cancellation of contracts. Irrigation canals were regularly clogged by weeds and invaded by
The direc tive continued: It is the Companys desire to develop as much as possible of the vacant lands as ready made farms and it is not desirable that too much descrimination [sic] should be exercised in selecting these farms.39 At this time, the CPR also began taking up custodianship of abandoned ready-made and regular farms, restoring and reselling them as improved farms.
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In the following year (1913) the readymade farm program expanded its mandate yet again, accepting clientele from a larger geographic base. This new effort appeared to target settlers with more extensive agricultural experience than the former recruits. Eligible applicants were accepted from Northern Europe, with fliers reaching out to potential Dutch settlers, a group who had earlier expressed an interest in ready-made farms.40 A group of sugar beet farmers was persuaded to migrate from Arkansas, apparently to take up ready-made farms prepared by the CPR in the irrigation district.41 At the same time, the CPR created a parallel program encouraging American farmers to independently occupy lands in the irrigation district. The 1912 loans-tosettlers policy lent up to two thousand dollars toward basic preparations for irrigation farming. The developments covered by the loan closely parallel the ready-made-farm program, except in this case the farmers were to make the improvements themselves. These included providing a house and barn, digging a well, and fencing the land. The criteria for selectiona practical farmer, a married man who has a thorough knowledge of farm work [] and who has sufficient capital to make his first payment and provide for himself and family for the first yearalso mirrored the ready-made farm programs call for stable yeoman farmers. 42 The scheme directly reused ready-made farm designs, inviting settlers to select the type of house and barn they desired from Company-furnished blueprints, which plans are the result of many years knowledge of conditions in this country and the requirements of the settlers.43 While many of the programs participants took up these designs, others modified the blueprints or constructed houses from their own plans.44
Unlike some mail-order houses of the era, the CPRs ready-made farms were never prefabricated on a remote site. Rather they were built on-site to predetermined specifications. In what was perhaps an effort to increase the programs efficiency, the CPR briefly considered using prefabricated buildings. In the spring of 1913, they enquired about knock-down houses provided by Prudential Builders in Vancouver, among others.45 However, soon after these initial inquiries, the decision was made to continue with contractbased construction of farm buildings along the ordinary lines.46
two hundred and twenty-five cancellations had been recorded. At the end of the year, one hundred and seventy-five of the ready-made and loan farms were unsold (26.8 percent of the total), becoming the responsibility of the CPR to maintain and market. CPR records from a year later show that only a handful of the readymade farms had not defaulted or fallen behind in their payments by that time. While the CPR had collected $196,266 in principal and interest payments, they were owned $366,333 in arrears.50 Peter Naismith, general manager of the CPRs Department of Natural Resources, later summarized the course of the program from the Companys perspective:
These farms we sold on a very small first payment, and ultimately found that the result of the purchaser not having sufficient equity in them, did not warrant him in sticking and overcoming the obstacles due to all new settlers in a new country, nearly so well as if he had a larger interest in the property. We found that instead of the farms being sold as we thought, they had to be sold in some cases a half a dozen times before we got a purchaser who would stick, and the result was that there was considerable depreciation, and in a good many cases some writing off before final sale was made.51
suspensIon oF the ReadYmade FaRm pRogRam, 1914

Despite the close oversight of company officials, the ready-made farm programs high turnover rate ultimately made it unprofitable, reflecting the economic and agricultural challenges of farming in the semi-arid Prairies. 47 The program was effectively discontinued in 1914. Although appropriations were made for preparing one hundred and thirty farms that year, 48 a management directive in March instructed that no new readymade farms were to be created. Farms already under construction would be finished through that year and the next. The onset of World War One gave reason for an official, public suspension of the program. The Development Branchs Advisory Committee stated: as the primary object of the Companys improved farm project was to provide ready-made homes for settlers coming out from Great Britain and Europe, it has been decided to discontinue the development of any additional farms until after the War.49 By December of 1915, five hundred and twenty-one ready-made farms and one hundred and sixty-five loan farms had been created, and an aggregate of over
Moreover, many farmers complained of CPR mismanagement, or felt deceived by false promises of easy agricultural conditions. Dr. C.S. Longman was appointed by the Alberta government in 1931 to study the experience of farmers in the CPR irrigation districts, many of whom had taken up ready-made farms. In a later interview, he reported hearing from the farmers:
The same story over and over [] It was a heart breaking thing in a way [] Usually the procedure was that as soon as we would get talking and they would see that I was
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sympathetic to what their problem was out would come the literature that the C.P.R. had scattered about the old country and elsewhere to induce them to come in here [] It showed the irrigation water running downthe crops responding, and other literature [] of farmers who had written up testimonials and that sort of thing. These people were green grocer trademen [ sic ] and what have you, but very few farmers actually who came out to irrigation in this country. They came out here to the ready made farms; settled down on them and of course everything was new [] You see in the homes lovely furniture, know that they had seen better days and then you could tell how disappointed they were.52
Longman concluded that the CPR was essentially sympathetic to the settlers difficulties, adjusting contracts periodically to try and respond to problems such as crop failures. Nonetheless, by 1931, three waves of settlers had come and gone from the farms. After decades of financial loss, the CPR negotiated to transfer the Eastern and Western irrigation districts to farm-owned cooperatives in 1935 and 1944, respectively. The CPRs abandonment of the readymade farm program and irrigation districts reflected their failure to live up to promised hopesthe familiar theme of many utopian ventures. However, through its massive publicity campaigns as well as its completed constructions, the CPR established the tenuous foundations for irrigation farming in Pallisers Triangle. While the most obvious legacy of the CPRs involvement in the region is the physical infrastructure and the farms themselves, arguably no less important are the images and ideals that the Company projected onto this region. The ready-made farm program prepared environments that would be aesthetically
and socially familiar to their British audience, venturing that this would mitigate the uncertainties of a new landscape, facilitating the establishment of thriving communities. By doing so, it proposed a crucial link between the aesthetics of a colony and its success. As the Settlers Guide emphasized, the appearance and comfort of the rural farm was seen by the CPR as being of foremost importance: However important the business side of the farm may appear, it is not more important than the creation of an attractive and comfortable home, surrounded by tasteful grounds and garden and sheltered by beautiful trees and shrubs.53 By attempting to create such environments, the ready-made farm colonies contributed toward promoting a vision of Canadian Prairie landscapes as prosperous and civilized settingsa fertile ground for establishing idyllic farms as well as model societies.
3.
Mitchner, A., 1984, The Bow River Scheme: the CPRs Irrigation Block, In Hugh A. Dempsey (ed.), The CPR West: The Iron Road and the Making of the Nation, Vancouver, Douglas & McIntyre, p. 264.
4. Public Archives of Canada, Macdonell Papers, vol. 40, undated manuscript on the subject of Confederation, quoted in Owram, p. 102. 5. Canadian Pacific Railway Company Colonization Department, 1909, Facts Concerning the Bow River Valley, Calgary, Canadian Pacific Railway Company, p. 7.
6. C a n a d i a n P a c i f i c R a i l w a y C o m p a n y , Emigration: Ready-made Farms in Western Canada, Manchester Guardian, November 30, 1910. 7. See Owram, p. 125-148.
8. Williams, Raymond, 1973, The Country and the City, New York, Oxford University Press, p. 280-281. 9. Darley, Gillian, 1975, Villages of Vision, London, Architectural Press, p. 54.
10. Loudon, John Claudius, 1844 [3 rd ed.], An Encyclopdia of Agriculture, London, printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, p. 453. 11. Tu rn e r, Fre d e rick Ja ck s o n , 19 9 8 , T h e Significance of the Frontier in American His tor y, In John Mack Faragher (ed.), Rereading Frederick Jackson Turner: The Significance of the Frontier in American History, and Other Essays, New Haven (CT), Yale University Press, p. 60. While later historians have debated the factual accuracy of Turners view, they have widely acknowledged the impact of its symbolism in the development of America. See Smith, Henry Nash, 1950, Virgin Land; the American West as Symbol and Myth, Cambridge, Harvard University Press; White, Richard, Patricia Limerick, and James Grossman, 1994, The Frontier in American Culture: an Exhibition at the Newberry Library, Berkeley, University of California Press. 12. Todd, Sereno Edwards, 1876, Todds Country Homes and How to Save Money. A Practical Book by a Practical Man, Philadelphia, Bradley & Company, p. 38-39, 73. Other examples of this genre include: Hill, George, 1901, Practical Suggestions for Farm Buildings, Farmers Bulletin, Washington, US Department of Agriculture; Fiske, George B., 1902, Poultry Architecture: A Practical Guide for Construction of Poultry Houses, Coops and Yards, New York, Orange Judd Company; Ekblaw, Karl John Theodore, 1914, Farm Structures, New York, The MacMillan Company; Rober ts,
notes
1. For more on the Canadian Expansionist Movement, see Owram, Doug, 1980, Promise of Eden: the Canadian Expansionist Movement and the Idea of the West, 1856-1900, Toronto, University of Toronto Press. An excellent documentary anthology focused on changes in the perception of the Prairies can be found in Francis, R. Douglas, 1989, Images of the West: Responses to the Canadian Prairies, Saskatoon, Western Producer Prairie Books. In principle, the Canadian Pacific Railways twenty-five-million-acre land grant from the Canadian government occupied alternate six hundred and forty-acre sections, extending back twenty-four miles deep on each side of the railway. However, the CPR was only obliged to accept lands deemed fairly fit for settlement, with the remaining lands to be made up from other tracts. Because of this proviso, the Company was still due an area of 3.3 million acres by 1896. In 1903, they negotiated with the federal government to complete their land grant by accepting a solid block of land between Medicine Hat and Calgary. The acquisition of a contiguous land block allowed for their planned irrigation scheme to proceed.
2.
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H. Armstrong, 1918, The Farmer his Own Builder: a Guide and Reference Book for the Construction of Dwellings, Barns and Other Farm Buildings, Philadelphia, D. McKay. Related books emphasize practicality by compiling actual construction by actual men, in contrast with the model dwellings proposed by Loudon; see for example The Breeders Gazet te, 1911, Farm Buildings, Chicago, Sanders Publishing Company. 13. Scott, John, 1884, Farm Buildings: A Practical Treatise, London, Crosby Lockwood and Co., p. v-vi. Other examples include Stephens, Henry and Robert Scott Burn, 1861, The Book of Farm-buildings: their Arrangement and Construction, Edinburgh, W. Blackwood and Sons; Clarke, A. Dudley, 1895, Farm Buildings: Their Construction and Arrangement, London, B.T. Batsford; Taylor, Samuel, 1905, Modern Homesteads: A Practical and Illustrated Treatise on the Designing of Farm Buildings, Farm Houses and Cottages, London, The Land Agents Record, Limited; Lawrence, Charles P., 1919, Economic Farm Buildings, London, The Library Press Limited. 14. Ready-made Farms, The Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1910. 15. Ready-made Farms, op. cit. 16. Mills, G.E., 1991, Buying Wood & Building Farms: Marketing Lumber and Farm Building Designs on the Canadian Prairies, 1880 to 1920, Ottawa, National Historic Sites, p. 54-55. 17. L e t t e r f r o m H a m i l t o n t o Va n H o r n e , October 25, 1894, CP Archives. 18. Hedges, James Blaine, [1939] 1971, Building the Canadian West; the Land and Colonization Policies of the Canadian Pacific Railway, New York, Russell & Russell, p. 223. 19. Farm Development, Strathmore Standard, January 8, 1910. 20. Hedges, p. 224. 21. The cost of work was added to the sale price of the farm; the buyer paid one-tenth of the price down, then the balance in nine equal instalments with six percent annual interest. In 1913, payment terms for the farm were extended from a ten- to a twenty-year contract to relieve the financial burden of crop losses in 1911 and 1912; in the wake of another period of drought in 1923 the terms were extended to thirty-four years. (Letter from Naismith to Murray, March 15, 1913, Glenbow Archives, Canadian Pacific Railway Land Settlement and Development Fonds (LSDF), M2269-18.)
22. From the Old Country, Strathmore Standard, April 10, 1910. 23. 30,0 0 0 English Farmers Embarking for America, Atlanta Constitution, May 1, 1910. 24. From the Old Country, op. cit. 25. Binnie-Clark, Georgina, Ready-made Farms, Why the Settlers are So Content, Overseas Daily Mail, reprinted in the Strathmore Standard, October 29, 1910. 26. More Ready-made Farms, Strathmore Standard, September 3, 1910. 27. Ready-made Farms Completed, Strathmore Standard, October 10, 1910. 28. Snowsell, Frank and Edwin, 1982, Starting Over on a Ready-made Farm, 1911-1916, Western People, no. 14. 29. Eatons houses were not true prefab houses in that the lumber was shipped uncut. The house elements traveled by boxcar to the nearest railway station and were delivered by horse-and-wagon to the site. 30. Henry, Les, Mail-order Houses, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, [www. civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/catalog/ cat2104e.shtml#1222116]. 31. Quoted in Hedges, p. 223. 32. Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 1921, Irrigation Farming in Sunny Alberta, Calgary, Department of Colonization and Development, p. 1-3. 33. Walker, Eldred G.F, 1912, Canadian Trails: Hither and Thither in the Great Dominion, Toronto, Musson Book Co. 34. Many promotional illustrations of the farms included established trees, even though the ready-made farms did not come with them contrary to claims for the natural fertility of the soil, trees demanded settlers to look after them. However, CPR nurseries distributed fastgrowing poplar trees and cuttings to settlers at no cost. (P.L. Naismith to Hart, January 27, 1913, LSDF, M2269-9.) 35. Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 1911, Settlers Guide: A Handbook of Information for Settlers in the Canadian Pacific Railway Irrigation Block, Calgary, Canadian Pacific Railway Colonization Department, p. 14. 36. Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 1911, p. 15.
37. Even assuming that the farms created in one year were not sold until the next year, this meant that sixteen existing farms were unsold in 1911, and ninety-two existing farms were unsold at the end of 1912, almost a third of the total ready-made farms at that time. (Data from Canadian Pacific Railway Department of Natural Resources, Development Branch Annual Repor t, 1923, p. 5, LSDF, M2263 vol. 8.) 38. Eve n d e n , M a t th ew, 2 0 0 6 , P re c a rio u s Foundations: Irrigation, Environment, and Social Change in the Canadian Pacific Railways Eastern Sec tion, 190 0 -1930, Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 76-77. 39. LSDF, M2269-577 b, 169-170 (emphasis in original). 40. See a Dutch-language brochure that includes ready-made farmhouse plans: Canadian Pacific Railway Company, n.d., Hoe een landbauwer gelukken kan in Canada [How an agriculturalist can succeed in Canada], University of British Columbia Chung Collection, 0002-07. 41. Arkansas Farmers Migrate, Wall Street Journal, October 2, 1913. 42. Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 1921, p. 37-38. 43. Ibid. 44. See, for example, the Development Branch Annual Reports from 1920 and 1923, both of which document a mix of houses erected under the loan policy in those years. Some of these follow ready-made farm designs, and others feature divergent designs, possibly inspired by plan-books readily available in both the United States and Canada at the time. (LSDF, M2263, vol. 8.) 45. Naismith to Hart, January 15, 1913, LSDF, M2269-9. 46. Naismith to Hart, January 27, 1913, LSDF, M2269-9. 47. Naismith to Mead, February 8, 1921, LSDF, M2269-138. 48. Attracting Farm Settlers, New York Times, January 25, 1914, p. 236.
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49. A d v i s o r y c o m m i t t e e d o c u m e n t , 1916 . (Glenbow, LSDF, M2269-430.) Although the original program was officially suspended, the development branch continued to restore and resell abandoned farms as ready-made farms until at least 1923. A related initiative during the war years created three ready-made farm colonies for returned veterans, a subject which deserves its own research. Nevertheless, the fact that these soldier settlements were opened some years later for general purchase indicates probable difficulties with sales to their intended audience. 50. Standing of Ready Made Farm Contracts up to 31st December, 1916, LSDF, M2269 File #381. Also see Canadian Pacific Railway Department of Natural Resources Development Branch Annual Report 1923, LSDF, M2263 vol. 8. 51. Naismith to Elwood, February 8, 1921, LSDF, M2269-138. 52. Interview with W.L. Jacobson conducted on April 14, 1959, Edmonton. Transcript in Glenbow Archives, W.L. Jacobson project, CPR Western Section General History, folder 32, 631.7 J14A. 53. Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 1911, p. 11.
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analYsIs | analYse
st. MArks AngliCAn ChurCh, BArrieField, And the gothiC revivAl in CAnAdA West 1
PAUL CHRISTIANSON is an emeritus professor of history at Queens University who has shifted his research interests from sixteenth and seventeenth-century Britain to nineteenth-century Canadian architecture.
> Paul Christianson
fig. 1. baRRiefield, st. maRks angliCan fRom noRthwest. | Paul ChRistianson, 2008.
uring the summer of 1843, a startling new profile began to arise on the heights above the Cataraqui River to the east of Kingston. Built of local stone to the design of Alfred Varnell Brunel (1818-1887), a recent immigrant from England, St. Marks Anglican, Barriefield, transplanted a dramatic English style of historically-derived Gothic Revival church architecture to British North America. 2 Brunels detailed two-page plan for the exterior and interior of St. Marksfor which the Building Committee paid him seven pounds ten shillings on September 18, 1843combined a number of typical Georgian arrangements with more recent ones supported by the Church Building Commission (18181856), Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852), and the Cambridge Camden Society (1839-1868). 3 Apart from the gallery, most of the work on this new gothic edifice was complete, according to the Daily British Whig of June 28, 1844 (fig. 1). This plan or a copy of it was also used for the construction of St. Georges Anglican Church in Port Trent, Trenton, in 18 45. Like many other churches, St. Marks has witnessed a number of changes over the one hundred sixtyfive years since it was built, including the addition of a large, Ecclesiological style chancel in 1897.4 However, with the help of the surviving architects plan, some written records, and aspects of the fabric of the building, one can reconstruct a reasonably accurate account of how it looked in 1843-1844 and of the contribution that Brunel made to the development of Gothic Revival styles of church architec ture in nineteenth - centur y Canada (figs. 2-3).
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Paul Christianson > AnAlYsis | AnAlYse
fig. 2. baRRiefield, st. maRks, bRunels Plan. angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2007.
fig. 3. baRRiefield, st. maRks, bRunels Plan, angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2007.
While a number of excellent studies of Canadian Gothic Revival churches have appeared, the chronology and spread of different styles of this genre have only recently started to receive sufficient attention to allow firm generalizations. In Hallowed Walls: Church Architecture of Upper Canada, Marion MacRae and Anthony Adamson brought forward a good deal of material and organized it into sensible categories, but their study dealt only briefly with the British sources of Canadian buildings. In Two Worlds: The Protestant Culture of Nineteenth-Century Ontario, William Westfall noted that Gothic Revival became the almost universal style of Protestant church buildings in Ontario during the nineteenth century.5 In two joint articles, William Westfall and Malcolm Thurlby have demonstrated how and where the Goths triumphed over the Classicists in the building of Anglican and Protestant churches; in addition Thurlby has published a number of valuable studies that record the arrival of Ecclesiological Gothic in Canada West and describe the spread of Gothic Revival styles among Protestant denominations in the province.6 Harold Kalman has examined the impact of English Ecclesiological ideology
on the building of Gothic Revival churches in Canada, while Vicki Bennett and Peter Coffman have carried out detailed studies of this in the Ottawa region and in Newfoundland.7 One of the problems with these excellent studies, however, stems from their tendency to use the very partisan views of Pugin and the Ecclesiologists as a measure for evaluating all Gothic Revival churches. Along with my ow n re s earch into St. Marks and its context, the evidence presented in these studies suggests that several styles of Gothic Revival church architecture both coexisted and succeeded each other in Upper Canada and Canada West (1791-1867): (1) Georgian Gothic applied Gothic decorative details to Georgian auditory churches and began in Upper Canada in the early nineteenth century and continued well into the 1830s; (2) historically-derived Gothic built upon historical studies and illustrations of medieval churches (as mediated, in part, by the churches built with the support of the Church Building Commission) from the 1830s until into the 1850s and beyond; (3) historically-derived Gothic informed by Pugin and the Ecclesiologists commenced
in the early 1840s and continued into the following decades; and (4) strictly Ecclesiological Gothic started in the early 1850s and became dominant in the 1860s until challenged by the Romanesque Revival. 8 Individual churches, such as St. Mary Magdalens Anglican, Picton, St. Marks, Barriefield, and St. Georges Anglican, Trenton, while built in an earlier style, had Ecclesiological additions especially lengthened chancelsadded at a later date and now reflect at least two of these categories. The earliest Gothic churches in British Nor th America drew upon medieval motif s from dif ferent centuries as decoration, but did not display an especially informed knowledge of the stone churches constructed in Britain during the Middle Ages. For example, they did not attempt to reconstruct the stainedglass fenestration of medieval churches, but used clear windows with small square panes like their classical contemporaries, topped by a lovely intertwining of glazing bars to form pointed arches. Their interiors, with gated box or slip pews, classical pillars supporting galleries, a communion table, no separate chancel
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or a shallow one, and often the pulpit in the centre of the nave near the east end, mirrored the arrangements of many late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century parish churches in England.9 Examples from eastern Upper Canada include the stone St. Jamess Anglican, Maitland (1826), the brick St. Mary Magdalens Anglican, Picton (1834), and the stone Apostolic Catholic (Irvingite) Church, Kingston (1837) (figs. 4-6). For the most part, these dressed the proportions of Georgian classical churches with pointed windows and other Gothic details. Historically informed reconstruction had not yet begun in earnest in British North America. A more historically-derived approach reached a wide audience, however, with the publication in 1817 of Thomas Rickmans, An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture. On the basis of multiple criteria, Rickman divided English medieval church architecture into a series of styles, which he termed Norman, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular, and included an extensive list of churches that illustrated his interpretation. Rickman also put his learning into use by designing Gothic Revival churches (some Early English and others Decorated or Perpendicular) for a variety of patrons, including the Church Building Commission.10 His historical studies and such contemporary works as Matthew Holbeche Bloxam, The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture Elucidated by Question and Answer, first published in 1829, fed back into the designs of Gothic Revival churches, initially in Britain and then in the Empire.11 Even the early editions of Rickman and Bloxam contained a number of illustrations that could help architects with details, while the excellent plates of such antiquarian collections as those of John Britton provided detailed plates of surviving medieval buildings.12 These sources, plus sophisticated surveys
of remaining medieval buildings, made possible a more historically-derived style of Gothic Revival churches that paid more attention both to the overall spatial arrangements of medieval churches and to the details of their furnishings, fenestration, and mouldings. The revival of Gothic church architecture in England commenced in earnest with the building of hundreds of Anglican churches throughout much of England from 1818 onward, many supported by funds from parliamentary grants administered by the Church Building Commission. Of the ninety-seven churches built between 1818 and 1829 with the aid of these funds, some thirty-three were Classical versus sixty-four Gothic in style.13 From 1827 to 1856, over five hundred additional churches, overwhelmingly Gothic Revival in style, were built with the aid of funds granted by a second Parliamentary grant.14 The Commissioners who approved all of these designs favoured a number of internal arrangements. These included a shallow chancel, elevated by three steps, in the east end; an altar and panels printing the Lords Prayer, Ten Commandments, and Apostles Creed located in the chancel; slip pews of a uniform low height, facing east (except in galleries), which allowed worshipers to view the altar and texts; and a central aisle or aisles (sometimes containing smaller free pews for the poor).15 Disapproving of the ubiquitous central three-decker pulpit, reading desk, and clerks desk because it blocked the view of the altar, the Commissioners insisted on separating the reading-desk [for reading the liturgy] and the pulpit, and placing one on each side of the nave just in front of the chancel.16 They also supported the placement of the baptismal font at the west end, near the entrance, and the construction of galleries as a means of economically using the space, the latter hardly a medieval
fig. 4. maitland, st. Jamess angliCan. |

Paul ChRistianson, 2006.
fig. 5. PiCton, st. maRy magdalens angliCan. |

fig. 6. kingston, CatholiC aPostoliC (iRvingite). |

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fig. 7. PeteRboRough, st. Johns angliCan. |

Jones, saint Johns, PeteRboRough, P. 28.
arrangement! As with the early work of Pugin, churches built with the support of the Commissioners were erected in a variety of Gothic styles (rarely, but sometimes in the same building), including the Perpendicular, later attacked by the Ecclesiologists. The unprecedented building of over six hundred Commissioners churches in less than half a century helped to train a new generation of architects, builders, and craftsmen in the complexities of designing and assembling increasingly historically-derived Gothic Revival structures. Some of these skilled men sought their fortunes in British North America. The early his toric s t yle s of Gothic Revival favoured by the Church Building Commissioners appeared in such Canadian churches as the stone St. Johns Anglican, Peterborough (1837), by William Coverdale of Kingston, flaunting a lofty tower with battlements, striking pinnacles, and Perpendicular windows (all illustrated in early drawings of St. Johns), and various churches by such architects as John George Howard and Henry Bowyer Joseph Lane, who worked out of Toronto17 (fig. 7). Howards Christ Church Anglican, Tyendinaga, started in 1843 under the super vision of George Browne, created a stunning, stone example of early Commissioners Gothic, featuring a central aisle, a separate, shallow chancel, a pulpit and a reading desk on the north and south sides of the chancel, relatively shallow buttresses that reached from the ground to the roofline along the sides, a relatively low-pitched roof, a very high steeple, and pointed windows divided by a Y frame into double lancets, with exterior drip rails (a feature on most of Howards churches) (fig. 8). Lanes Little Trinity Anglican, Toronto (1843), employed lovely red brick, with stone and white brick trim to create a warm Tudor style Perpendicular church with a lofty tower,
wide windows with exterior drip rails, a flat east wall, a communion table, a separated pulpit and reading desk on either side of the chancel area, and a plain, plaster interior18 (fig. 9). These churches not only reflected contemporary English trends, they also helped to buttress feelings of continuity by transplanting the shapes of medieval and Tudor England to the towns and countryside of British North America. It has become customary for scholars of Gothic Revival churches to trace the revival of correct Gothic church architecture to the works of Augustus Welby Pugin, the Ecclesiologists, and the Oxford Movement.19 These men made important contributions, but it took some time before these became dominant either in Britain or in the British North America. The direct impact of Ecclesiological ideas started in New Brunswick as early as 1846, with St. Annes Anglican Chapel, Fredericton (fig. 10). This richly decorated stone church and the early portions of the stunning Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, Fredericton, were designed by the English architect Frank Wills under the patronage of another recent English immigrant, John Medley, the first bishop of New Brunswick, whose Elementary Remarks on Church Architecture (Exeter, 1841) showed a strong and educated interest in architecture.20 Wills later introduced a pure Ecclesiological style to Canada West with St. Pauls Anglican, Glanford (ca. 1851), and especially St. Peters Anglican, Bar ton (1852), which was modeled on the medieval St. Michaels, Long Stanton, Cambridgeshire. 21 These pioneering efforts received considerable support from the arrival of William Hay, first as clerk of works supervising the construction of the nave of George Gilbert Scotts design for the splendid Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. Johns, Newfoundlandunder the
fig. 8. tyendinaga, ChRist ChuRCh angliCan. |

fig. 9. toRonto, little tRinity angliCan. |

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ettml/2136656011/in/set-72157600457339777
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fig. 10. fRedeRiCton, st. annes angliCan. | Coffman, 2008, P. 56 fig. 3-2.
fig. 11. islington, st. Pauls angliCan. | PhotogRaPh by fin fahey,

httP://www.fliCkR.Com/Photos/albedo/417914778
patronage of Bishop Edward Feildand later as an architect in Toronto. 22 As early as 1853, Hay published a glowing but critical article on the contribution of Pugin to the revival of Christian church architecture; a second, anonymous article on church architecture followed in 1854; and a third on the type of church architecture appropriate for the climate of Canada appeared in 1856. 23 By then, Hay had designed St. Michaels College with the attached St. Basils Catholic, Toronto (1856), in an Ecclesiological style.24 During his ten-year sojourn in Canada West, he would design numerous churches, including the Anglican St. Georges, Pickering, St. Georges, Newcastle, and St. Lukes, Vienna. This lay more than a decade in the future, however, when Alfred Varnell Brunel drew his plans for St. Marks. In Barriefield, no parish existed, no nurturing bishop lived nearby. Anglican settlers in Pittsburgh Township attended services either at the Naval Dockyard Chapel or at St. Georges in Kingston. However, the reduction of the Naval Dockyard (including the removal of the position of naval chaplain) combined with increased settlement in the 1830s, the lack of space at
St. Georges to hold all who wished to worship there, and the perceived need for an more visible Anglican presence led a committee of dedicated laymen to bring into existence both the church and the parish of St. Marks. 25 Although the Building Committee probably had discussions with the architect over the general nature of the design (a stone Gothic church of specified dimensions and seating capacity, the inclusion of a lofty tower, and space for an organ and choir) and perhaps some of its details (the construction of a three-tiered pulpit, reading desk, and clerks desk, or the eastern location of the font), they left no trace in the records of the Building Committee. Members of the Building Committee may very well have held strong views on the nature of Anglican worship. Still, much of the responsibility for the plan of St. Marks must have rested in the hands of the young English architect. Since considerable discussion about the revival of medieval church architecture had taken place before Brunel left England, as seen in the books of Thomas Rickman, Matthew Holbeche Bloxam, and John Britton published
from 1817-1841, the first publications of the Cambridge Camden Society, the second edition of Pugins Contrasts, and the first edition of his True Principlesall from 1841Brunel had some opportunity to absorb these messages before he arrived in Upper Canada. 26 He probably also had examined some of the churches built in England with the support of the Church Building Commissioners in the 1820s and 1830s, and medieval churches, as well. Like other English architects, Brunel accepted aspects of these works, while ignoring or rejecting others. The exterior of St. Marks reflected in stone a late medieval shape probably mediated through, but not entirely copying the profile of three brick Commissioners churches: St. Pauls, Balls Pond Road, Islington (1826-1828), St. Johns, Waltham Green, Fulham (1827-1828), and St. Pauls, Cambridge (1840-1841)27 (fig. 11). From these models, Brunel took a strongly buttressed, tall tower without a steeple. However, he cut the number of bays in the nave to three per side, beefed up the side buttresses, and increased the slope of the roof, all moves that reflected the strictures of Pugin and the Ecclesiologists. Drawing upon traditional and more
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fig. 15. baRRiefield, st. maRks, south side, detail of bRunels Plan, angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2007. fig. 12. baRRiefield, st. maRks, south side. |
fig. 13. Pugin, tRue PRinCiPles of Pointed, Plate 2.
fig. 16. tRenton, st. geoRges angliCan, exteRioR detail, east end of the ChanCel. | Paul ChRistianson, 2006.
surfaces, but the top stage has few large stones, in part probably for visual purposes. In contrast to the fabric of the walls and lower stages of the tower, the narrow bands of stone employed for horizontal emphasis used similar sized stones of the same width. Unfortunately, recent repairs to portions of the towerespecially the south facehave used rectangular stones of a uniform size, which contrast with the early masonry. In 1841, Pugin noted that in the ancient masonry, the smallness of the stones employed added considerably to the effect of the building by increasing its apparent scale. Large stones destroy proportion, a point he illustrated with two representations of the same piece of architecture differently joined (fig. 13). He also stressed that the stones used in ancient buildings were not only exceedingly small, but they are also very irregular in size, so that the jointing might not appear a regular feature, and by its lines interfere with those of the building.28 Although the drawings in the plan did not fill in the nature of the stonework in detail, the masons followed Pugins principles 29 (fig. 14). As a result, the walls of St. Marks contrasted sharply with the large and uniform ashlar masonry of the classical St. Georges, the only Anglican Church in Kingston in 1843. The tall tower of St. Marks stands at the west end, set with one-third of its depth within the body of the church, an unusual configuration, probably derivedalong with its heavy buttresses set at forty-five-degree angles to the wallsfrom St. Pauls, Islington, or a similar Commissioners church. The north and south walls have four sturdy buttresses at right angles to the walls, reaching up to the top of the windows, and even more substantial buttresses running up to the roof at forty-five degrees to the walls in the corners (fig. 15). The wall and corner
recent trends of design, Brunel produced a Gothic Revival church of considerable charm and integrity. The stone exterior of St. Marks has several striking features. The fabric consists of lightly dressed smaller stones; larger stones are scattered in the walls for emphasis, placed on surfaces over which water would flow in the buttresses, and used (in irregular sizes) for the jambs of the windows and the door (fig. 12). The lower stages of the tower have similar
fig. 14. baRRiefield, st. maRks, detail of south side. |

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buttresses have the solidity and shape of those at St. Michaels, Long Stanton, Cambridgeshire, the iconic model that the Cambridge Camden Society advocated for colonial churches. 30 The side walls of St. Marks each contain three windows set into deeply cut, bevelled surrounds and with wooden frames with Y tracery that subdivides the space into two lancets, with a quatrefoil in the shape of Latin cross between their peaks. 31 These follow an Early English pattern, but lack authenticity by being too broad for their height. Horizontal bands of narrow, more finished stone run along the base of the sills and above the peak of the keystones of the side windows and continue around the west elevation, while the lower band was drawn as continuing around the eastern exterior of the nave and around the chancel. As on the tower, these horizontal bands of stone protrude from the wall enough to catch light and create shadows, so that they are clearly visible. Overall, St. Marks displays that higher proportion of wall to window advocated by the Ecclesiologists and a lovely balance between the verticality of the tower, buttresses, and windows, and the horizontal emphasis of the narrow bands of finished stone and the roofline. In Brunels plan, the chancel extended approximately five feet beyond the east end of the main structure much too shallow for the Ecclesiologists, who advocated a chancel one-third the length of the naveand the fairly high pitched roof measured nearly as high (sixteen feet) as the lowest point on the south wall (eighteen feet), with the tower extending even higher (twenty feet) above the crest of the roof. As built, the roof was five feet higher, but because St. Marks was not built on level land, the foundations of the sides at the west end and of the tower also have a greater height than drawn by the architect, so the proportions remain similar.32 The roofline
of St. Marks answered some of the criticisms of the Ecclesiologists and Pugin without becoming as exaggerated as those on later Ecclesiologist churches.33 The west front has a central tower protruding westward flanked by the west end of the nave which features lancets set between the narrow bands of finished stone and with blind quatrefoils above.34 The smooth band of stone and octangular caps drawn as finishing the west and east walls were either not built or no longer remained by ca. 1875, the date of the first known photograph of the exterior. 35 An east elevation was not included in Brunels plan, but can be reconstructed from it. It consisted of the east wall of the nave, with buttresses reaching from the ground to the roof at a forty-five-degree angle to the walls, and a narrower and shorter extension for the chancel. The latter was shown as about half the width and three-quarters of the height of the nave (five feet deep by seventeen feet wide by twenty-eight feet high), and as containing a graduated triplet high on the east wall: a wider central window with a wooden frame with Y tracery that subdivides it into double lancets with a quatrefoil between the peaks, flanked by two shorter lancets, each set in a bevelled stone surround. All of the windows were depicted as glazed with coloured glass on the plan. 36 The chancel extension did not have buttresses on the corners like the nave and tower. The windows in the extended chancel of St. Georges, Trenton, still retain the shape of the original fenestration and provide a good idea of how the original east wall of the chancel at St. Marks must have looked37 (fig. 16). The tower was built in two stages, the top just slightly smaller than the much longer base, but it appears to be divided into four (or five) stages by horizontal courses of slim, slightly protruding stone on all
of the visible sides38 (fig. 17). However, it also has verticality built into the design both by the increasing narrowness of the buttresses with height and by indenting the central faces of the top two stages by two inches, creating a two-foot wide strip pilaster-like effect39 (fig. 18). The balance between horizontal and vertical features appears strongly on the west face of the tower which combines horizontal narrow bands of stone that separate the stages with increasingly narrower openings from bottom to top, consisting of: (1) the oak door of the entrance,40 (2) an Early English window divided by a Y frame into two lancets (similar to those on the sides of the nave), (3) a lancet window flanked by two shorter blind lancets that reflects the graduated triplets of the east end,41 placed on a further indented plane, and (4) a lancet-like, wooden louvered bell opening (on all four sides). On the north and south sides, the tower has narrower lancets at the same level as the windows on the west, north, and south sides of the nave. In the drawing, two narrow bands of finished stone marked the upper edge of the tower; these appear, as well, in photographs from 1875 and ca. 1895; since then, the top band has either decayed or was covered by the roofing material42 (fig. 19). Rather than stone pinnacles, four square bases supporting elongated pyramids topped by spheres crown the upper corners of the tower, a more Renaissance rather than medieval detail. The substantial buttresses at forty-fivedegree angles to the front corners of the tower have three stages, marked by a narrowing of depth, but one of these did not match the stages marked by the horizontal stone bands. Even so, the buttresses at the corners of the walls and tower add a perception of strength, weight, breadth, and verticality to the composition of the whole. Brunel fashioned a very plain exterior style for St. Marks, with minimal
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non-structural ornamentation, perhaps in an attempt to keep costs within the tight budget of the Building Committee or perhaps out of a sense that this would be appropriate in a structure that recreated a style from the old world in the new. With its dramatic tower, smaller stonework of mixed sizes, variations on Early English windows, and sturdy buttresses, the exterior of St. Marks, Barriefield, came closer to medieval models than any of its Gothic Revival predecessors or exact contemporaries in Canada West. The interior proposed by Brunel contained many medieval elements, some of which we know were built. Instead of the peaked or rounded plaster ceilings featured in most contemporary Gothic Revival churches in British North America, it was drawn with and has a hammer-beam roof. Hammer beams extend from the walls supported by curved braces resting on corbels below with supporting beams at a right angle and curved braces that come together at the middle of the ceiling and a hidden supporting cross beam above (fig. 20). As the Gothic Revival gained support and became even more historically derived, such roofs would be exposed up to the rafters, but at St. Marks (and originally at St. Georges Trenton) the spaces between the beams at the sides and above the cross beam at the top were enclosed with lathe and plaster. 43 The main interior space is over fifty-eight feet long, nearly thirtytwo feet wide, and about thirty feet high. Hidden by plaster, the internal peak of the roof stands five feet higher.44 The soaring beams and ceiling help to define a more medieval worship space than ever seen in British North America, while aspects of the interior layout and decoration help to enhance that impression. According to the plan, everyone entered through the west door into a vestibule
fig. 17. baRRiefield, st. maRks, west side. | Paul ChRistianson, 2006.
in the interior of the tower, with stairs to the left and right leading to the gallery and a door straight ahead leading into the nave. As built, a staircase on the north side led to the gallery, while that space on the south side was enclosed for a vestry. Under the gallery, Brunel drew five rows of free seats on either side, and continued down the aisles with twelve rows per side of long, conventionally panelled, rented slip pews facing east, sixteen rows short free pews for those less prosperous in the centre of the aisle, and two pews facing west on the south side just to the west of the chancel. He calculated that the rental pews would seat two hundred fifty people in the nave, with free seating for two hundred on the ground floor, and an additional one hundred fifty seats (some probably for the choir) in the gallery, where he also drew an organ (fig. 21). Since Anglican churches in the nineteenth century often received the bulk of their income from pew rents, it would have been unusual to have such a high proportion of rent-free seating. The combination of longer rental pews at the side, shorter free seating in the centre, and two aisles was vividly drawn in the floor plan and shown in the transverse section looking towards the gallery. The westward facing pews nearest the chancel on the south side probably were included to provide seating for the clergy and clerk, or perhaps one pew for the clergy and clerk and another for the church wardens (fig. 22). The plan did not include seating in the chancel. The placement of free pews in the midst of the aisle sought to overcome the objection of many clergy (including the Ecclesiologists) that the poor received highly inferior seating in churches with rented pews.45 The architects plan for seating was not followed, however. On March 11, 1844, the Building Committee decided to contract for the erection of the pews, according to the plan
fig. 18. tRenton, st. geoRges, west side. | Paul ChRistianson, 2006.
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fig. 19. baRRiefield, st. maRks, west side, detail fRom bRunels Plan, angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2007.
fig. 20. baRRiefield, st. maRks, CuRRent inteRioR towaRd the east. | Paul ChRistianson, 2008.
fig. 21. baRRiefield, st. maRks, inteRioR towaRd the west, detail fRom bRunels Plan, angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2008.
and specifications drawn by Mr. Hunt instead. An article on the new chancel in the Daily British Whig of December 20, 1897, reported that St. Marks originally had old square pews, with high sides. And an account from July 7, 1844, listed forty-nine pews, with thirty-nine rented, plus one for the clergy, one for officers, two for seamen (all on the ground floor), and six in the gallery, presumably for the choir and free sittings.46 The high proportion of free pews drawn by the architect was rejected. Just west of the chancel on the north side, Brunel drew a wooden structure to house, from shortest to highest, a desk for the clerk to read the replies of the people in the liturgy, a desk for the incumbent to read his portion of the liturgy (including appropriate scripture passages and prayers), and a pulpit 47 (fig. 23). A three-decker pulpit was very common in Georgian English Anglican churches, but Brunel proposed to move it from a central location in front of the chancel, over
to one side, to answer the objections of those, including the Ecclesiologists, who saw central pulpits as detracting from the altar and giving too high a place to preaching. The tops of the pulpit and reading desk were shown as covered with overhanging blue cloth and the pulpit with a sounding board above to help to project the preachers message out to the congregation. Brunel drew the pulpit with an octagon shape and adorned the whole ensemble with two tiers of blind trefoil arches, an early Decorated motif. However, according to a later article in the Daily British Whig, the reading desk and pulpit originally were two story high deckers probably on either side of the nave just west of the chancel, a more normal early nineteenth-century arrangement.48 A large stone octagonal baptismal font, decorated on the faces of the shaft with incised quatrefoils, was drawn as located just west of the chancel and slightly north of centre. The form was Decorated
Gothic, as favoured by the Ecclesiologists who strongly recommended large, stone fonts, but the location was closer to the late eighteenth-century preference for baptisms at the east end of churches than to that of the Church Building Commissioners, Augustus Welby Pugin, and the Ecclesiologists for the font to be located near the entrance. 49 A large stone octagonal font was purchased for St. Marks, but not until 1857; while its decoration varied from that portrayed in the plan, it used motifs consistent with the original interior design.50 Brunel proposed a raised chancel with internal dimensions that extended five feet beyond the main body of the church and also projected into it by five feet, creating an open space about ten feet deep by fifteen feet wide by twenty-four feet high, flanked by spaces at either side measuring eight feet wide by five feet deep behind wooden screens51 (fig. 24). He drew the easternmost set of hammer beams with pierced wooden quatrefoil
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25
fig. 22. baRRiefield, st. maRks, flooR Plan, detail fRom bRunels Plan, angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2007.
fig. 23. baRRiefield, st. maRks, inteRioR towaRd the east, detail fRom bRunels Plan, angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2007.
decorations in the lower curved braces and pierced decorated arches in the upper, presumably to mark the special sacred space of the chancel. The chancel was shown as raised three steps above the floor of the nave (the Ecclesiologists recommended at least two steps), with a central entrance three feet wide, flanked at the top by sturdy posts supporting two foot high communion rails that extended another six feet on either side, followed by two wooden screens seven feet high by eight feet wide that extended to the side walls.52 The lower portion of the screens was shown as decorated with one or two rows of eleven blind trefoil arches, topped by an upper row of open trefoil arches backed by a blue fabric. The benches or wardrobes sketched in the space enclosed by the screen on the south side may have indicated that it was to serve as a vestry or a sacristy, for the storing of the bread, wine, and vessels for communion, vestments, and robes and for the robing and unrobing of the clergy.53 On the whole, Brunel took care to separate the chancel visually as well as physically from the nave, something strongly advocated by both Pugin and the Ecclesiologists and
rarely seen in early churches in British North America. At the eastern end of the chancel, directly below the tripartite windows, Brunel placed a stone altar that measured three feet high by six feet wide by nearly three feet deep, covered by a white cloth that draped to within six inches of the floor (fig. 25). Since communion tables, mandated by the Injunctions of 1559, were still common in Anglican churches both in England and in British North America, this would have marked a significant change. Only a few stone altars had replaced communion tables or wooden altars in England before 1843, and the attempt to do so by the Ecclesiologists at the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Cambridge in 1843, set off a ferocious dispute.54 In 1841, John Mason Neale recommended a stone altar desirable and a solid mass of masonry about six feet by four in size, and about four feet in height, as the most suitable form to be raised on one, two, or three flights of three steps each.55 The stone altar portrayed by Brunel was not dressed with candlesticks and candles, something disappointing to the Ecclesiologists. 56 It
seems highly unlikely that a stone altar was erected in St. Marks. Behind the proposed altar, Brunel drew a wooden reredos (twelve feet high by ten feet wide) with three pointed panels containing the texts of the Lords Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles Creed. Most Anglican altar-pieces erected during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, many of which have survived, provided handsome frameworks for the Ten Commandments, Creed, and Lords Prayer.57 In Kingston, a photograph of the chancel of St. Georges Anglican Cathedral taken before 1890 showed plaques with the Ten Commandments and the Lords Prayer and Creed on the wall on either side of the east window. Plaques displaying these texts had been strongly attacked by Pugin as inappropriate Protestant intrusions into sacred space, but had received some support from the Ecclesiologists.58 Brunels drawings for St. Marks would have marked a significant shift in the internal design of an Anglican church for contemporaries. With its hammer-beam
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fig. 24. baRRiefield, st. maRks, flooR Plan, detail of ChanCel, font, and thRee-deCkeR PulPit fRom bRunels Plan, angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2007.
fig. 25. baRRiefield, st. maRks, detail of font, ChanCel, sCReens, altaR, ReRedos, and ChanCel windows fRom bRunels Plan, angliCan dioCese of ontaRio aRChives. | Paul ChRistianson, 2007.
ceiling, its elevated, railed, and deeper than normal chancel, its Decorated Gothic wooden pulpit, reading desk, clerks desk, rails, screens, and reredos, its stone altar and font, and its stainedglass windows on the east and west ends, the plan for St. Marks projected the most significant Gothic Revival interior from the early 1840s in Canada West. Unless an early picture turns up, it will be difficult to know precisely how much of the plan was constructed. The gallery pews and hammer-beam ceiling still exist, but archival evidence attests to the original construction of box, rather than slip pews. The projection of the original chancel into the nave was probably built and accounts for the line of boards in the floor four feet west of the present chancel. This means that such important portions of Brunels plan as the hammerbeam ceiling, the extended chancel, and perhaps the reredos were built, but the Building Committee did not accept all of his advice. Archival evidence also suggests that a number of changes to the plan were made during or shortly after construction.
The purchase of a stone baptismal font was postponed for over a decade, indicating that it was not a high priority for the Building Committee. Yet, on January 8, 1844, the Building Committee did decide to add a vestry at the rear of the nave, paying the carpenters, Houston and Lannin, seven pounds ten shillings to build a room on each side of the vestibule with four Gothic doors with frames, Half Beads, locks and Hinges, all complete to correspond with the other doors of the church.59 This decision created the still existing room on the southwest side, with its entrances into the nave and the vestibule, the door from the vestibule to the stairs to the gallery, and the door from the nave to the vault. Had the screens drawn by Brunel for the chancel been built, the need for this vestry may not have seemed so pressing. On December 23, 1844, the treasurer of St. Marks noted the purchase of cloth and napkin for the Communion Table, 15s, indicating that the parish did not build a stone altar.60 The stone altar and baptismal font may have seemed too ritualistic for members of the Building Committee in 1843, but they did accept the extended chancel. As
always, negotiations between the plans of the architect and the views of the Building Committee took place. Even with some compromises, St. Marks helped to reshape the image of an Anglican church for the greater Kingston area; three additional Anglican churches would be built before the end of the 1840s, all of them Gothic in style. The categories of Gothic Revival design outlined near the start of this paper attempted to provide a way of discussing Gothic Revival church architecture in a more open manner than judging earlier and contemporary buildings on the basis of the criteria supplied by the Ecclesiologists and by Augustus Welby Pugin. Discussion of Gothic Revival churches as Georgian, historically derived, influenced by Pugin and the Ecclesiologists, and Ecclesiological, provides a reasonably neutral and nonontological set of categories that should make it easier to appreciate the positive characteristics of a wide variety of styles. The example of St. Marks, Barriefield, suggests that the introduction of the ideas of Pugin and the Ecclesiologists into British North America took place in
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a much more meandering, initially incomplete, and compromising manner than architectural historians and other scholars have tended to see. This detailed examination of the plan and structure of St. Marks Anglican, Barriefield, has attempted to distinguish churches of this sort from the historicallyderived Gothic Revival Churches built in the early 1840s by such Toronto architects as John George Howard and Henry Bowyer Joseph Lane, and from the purely Ecclesiological churches that followed a decade later. St. Marks began a trend to combine some aspects of Georgian design with a historically-derived understanding of medieval Gothic filtered, in part, through of the ideas of the Church Building Commissioners, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, and the Ecclesiologists. Brunel combined a three-tiered pulpit (albeit moved to the north side), a font near the east end, and a textual reredos (all part of the Georgian legacy), with a fabric of smaller stones, substantial buttresses, Early English windows, stainedglass windows in the east and west ends, a hammer-beam roof, an expanded chancel, and a stone altar (all responses to the teachings of Pugin and the Ecclesiologists). A number of other prominent churches built in the decade after St. Marks, especially Holy Trinity, Toronto (1846), some of the churches designed by William Thomas, another Toronto architect, and St. Jamess Anglican Cathedral, Toronto (1850-1853), made their own mixtures. All made compromises between Georgian and Ecclesiological traditions, indeed sometimes between the High Church and Evangelical views of those who commissioned their construction, without seriously interfering with the building of attractive, useful worship spaces. They helped to ensure the triumph of Gothic Revival over Classical style Anglican churches in Canada West and to
pave the way for the more Ecclesiological structures of the future. These churches need to be judged on their own terms, not primarily on those of their critics or successors.
5.
MacRae, Marion and Anthony Adamson, 1975, Hallowed Walls: Church Architecture of Upper Canada, Toronto, Clarke, Irwin; and Westfall, William, 1989, Two Worlds: The Protestant Culture of Nineteenth- Centur y Ontario, Montreal and Kingston, McGill- Queens University Press. See Westfall, William and Malcolm Thurlby, 1990, Church Architecture and Urban Space: The Development of Ecclesiastical Forms in Nineteenth-Century Ontario, In David Keane and Colin Read (ed.), Old Ontario: Essays in Honour of J.M.S. Careless, Toronto and London, Dundurn Press, p. 118-147; and 1986, The Church in the Town: The Adaptation of Sacred Architecture to Urban Settings in Ontario, tudes canadiennes / Canadian Studies, vol. 20, p. 49-59; Thurlby, Malcolm, 1986, NineteenthCentury Churches in Ontario: A Study in the Meaning of Style, Historic Kingston, vol. 35, p. 96-118; Thurlby, Malcolm, 2005, Nonconformist Churches in Canada 1850-74, Ecclesiology Today, vol. 34, p. 53-73; and Thurlby, Malcolm, 2007, Two Churches by Frank Wills: St. Peters, Barton, and St. Pauls, Glanford, and the Ecclesiological Gothic Revival in Ontario, Journal for the Study of Architecture in Canada, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 49-60. Thurlby has also written extensively on the work of Joseph Connolly. See Kalman, Harold, 1994, A Histor y of Canadian Architecture, 2 vols., Toronto, Oxford University Press, vol. I, p. 279-296; Bennett, Vicki, 1997, Sacred Space and Structural Style: The Embodiment of Socio-Religious Ideology, Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press; and Coffman, Peter, 2008, Newfoundland Gothic, Qubec, ditions MultiMondes. For a suggestion of categories 1, 2, and 4, see Thurlby, 2007, p. 57-58. MacRae and Adamson, p. 38-39, 114-129, 282283, 287-289.
notes
1. I would like to dedicate this article to the memory of my good friend Professor J. Douglas Stewart, who encouraged me to write it and offered many helpful suggestions. Among many works on the topic, see: Clark, Kenneth, [3rd ed.] 1962, The Gothic Revival: An Essay in the History of Taste, London, J. Murray; and Lewis, Michael J., 2002, The Gothic Revival, New York, Thames and Hudson. Patterson, William J., 1993, Courage, Faith, and Love: The History of St. Marks Church, Barriefield, Ontario, Barriefield, St. Marks Church, p. 15. See p. 10, 12 for a coloured reproduction of Brunels plan. Plans courtesy of the Anglican Diocese of Ontario Archives (Kingston, Ontario), St. Marks Church (Barriefield) fonds. (I would like to thank the diocesan archivist, Paul Banfield, for permission to print these plans and details from them.) The original used brown watercolour to indicate wood and grey to represent stone. I have not discovered where or how Alfred Brunel was trained; born in 1818, he came to British North America in 1842; after having little success in competitions for public buildings in Kingston, he spent most of his life in Toronto as a civil engineer, militia officer, and leading civil servant. (See Hodgetts, J.E, 2000, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, [http://www.biographi.ca], under Brunel, Alfred. For English architectural ideas at that time, see David B. Brownlee, 1985, The First High Victorians: British Architectural Theory in the 1840s, Architectura, vol. 15, p. 33-46. (I would like to thank Professor William Westfall for this reference.) See also notes 10, 12, 26, 27, and 47 below.) 4. The exterior remains much the same as in the plan, but the interior has changed substantially. The doors were removed from the original pews in 1874; the current seating was installed in 1887. In 1896-1897, E.J.B. Pense donated a new oak reredos and altar and then a new, extended chancel, which included an oak prayer desk, clerks desk, pulpit with brass reading desk and bronze panels, communion rail, and choir seats. (Patterson, p. 76-77, 88, 94.)
6.
2.
3.
7.
8. 9.
10. Rickman, Thomas, [3rd ed.] 1825, An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture, London, Longman. This book went through numerous editions in the nineteenth century, expanding from 146 pages in 1817 to 414 in 1825, largely by including more specific examples of medieval churches. For the Church Building Commission, see Port, M.H., 2006, 600 New Churches: The Church Building Commission, 1818-1856, Reading (GB), Spire Press; for a discussion of churches designed by Rickman, see p. 151-161. 11. See Bloxam, Matthew Holbeche, [4th ed.] 1841, The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture Elucidated by Question and Answer, reprinted 2007, Charleston, Bibliobazaar. This book went
28
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through numerous editions, increasing from 79 pages in 1829 to 228 in 1843 to 348 in 1849. 12. For examples, see: Rickman, 1825, op. cit.; and Bloxam, op. cit.; see also Britton, John, 1806-1826, The Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain, 5 vols., London, Longman; and his volumes on The History and Antiquities of the Cathedrals of England, starting with Salisbury in 1814 and finishing with Worcester in 1835. These preceded the founding of the Cambridge Camden Society in 1839 and were recommended, along with other works, in such early publications of that Society as [4th ed.] 1843, A Few Hints on the Practical Study of Ecclesiastical Architecture and Antiquities, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 17. This, along with other early works (1829-1843), is reprinted in Webster, Christopher (ed.), 2003, Temples Worthy of His Presence: The Early Publications of the Cambridge Camden Society, Reading (GB), Spire Books. My quotations from these works shall cite by the original title and pagination. 13. Port, p. 326-329. 14. Id., p. 276, 331-347. 15. Id., p. 98. 16. Id., p. 99. 17. For St. Johns, see Jones, Elwood, 1976, Saint Johns, Peterborough: the Sesquicentennial History of an Anglican Parish, 1826-1976, Peterborough (ON), Maxwell Review. For Howard and Lane, see MacRae, p. 90-102, 104107, passim; and Arthur, Eric, [3 rd ed.] 1986, Toronto: No Mean City, revised by Stephen A. Otto, Toronto, Toronto University Press, p. 86-89, 251, 254; and Firth, Edith G.F., 2000, John George Howard and Otto, Stephen A. and Marion Bell MacRae, 2000, Henry Bowyer Joseph Lane, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, [http://www.biographi.ca]. 18. For photographs of the exterior and interior from c. 1880, see Hayes, Alan L., 1991, Holding Forth the Word of Life: Little Trinity Church 1842-1992, Toronto, Corporation of Little Trinity Church, p. 12, 18. 19. For the complexities of these interrelationships, see Yates, Nigel, 1999, Anglican Ritualism in Victorian Britain 1830-1910, Oxford, Oxford University Press, chap. 2. For North American examples, see: Stanton, Phoebe B., 1968, The Gothic Revival and American Church Architecture: An Episode in Taste, 1840-1856, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, chaps. 1-4; MacRae, chap. 6; Thurlby, 1986, p. 98-100; Westfall and Thurlby, p. 119-126, Bennett, chaps. 3- 4; and Coffman, 2008, chaps. 2-4.
20. Stanton, chap. 4; and Coffman, 2008, chap. 3. 21. Thurlby, 2007, p. 49-60. 22. For Hays role in Newfoundland, see Coffman, Peter, 2006, St. Johns Cathedral and the Beginnings of Ecclesiological Gothic in Newfoundland, Journal for the Study of Architecture in Canada, vol. 31, no. 1, p. 3-22; and Coffman, Peter, 2008, p. 109-110, 124-125, 130-131; for Hay, see Armstrong, Frederick H., 1982, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, [http://www.biographi.ca], under Hay, William. Thurlby has stressed Hays importance in 2005, p. 64-65 and 2007, p. 49-50. 23. Hay, William, 1853, The Late Mr. Pugin and the Revival of Christian Architecture, AngloAmerican Magazine, vol. 2, p. 70-73; Hay, William, 1854, Ecclesiastical Architecture: Village Churches, Anglo-American Magazine, vol. 3, p. 20 -22; and Hay, William, 1856, Architecture for the Meridian of Canada, Anglo-American Magazine, vol. 5, p. 253-255: the first two of these are reprinted in Simmins, Geoffrey (ed.), 1992, Documents of Canadian Architecture, Peterborough (ON), Broadview Press, p. 43-58. 24. Arthur, Eric, 1964, Toronto: No Mean City, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, p. 116-117, illus. 182-185. 25. Patterson, chap. 1. By the early 1840s, Anglicans were clearly in open competition with other Christian churches for members and finances in Canada West. (See Fahey, Curtis, 1991, In His Name: The Anglican Experience in Upper Canada, 1791-1854, Ottawa, Carleton University Press, chaps. 4, 7.) 26. See Pugin, Augustus Welby, [2 nd ed.] 1841, Contrasts or A Parallel between the Noble Edifices of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, and Similar Buildings of the Present Day, London, John Weale; Pugin, Augustus Welby, 1841, The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture, London, John Weale; [John Mason Neale], 1841, A Few Words to Church Builders, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; and [John Mason Neale], 1841, A Few Words to Churchwardens on Churches and Church Ornaments, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (Neales anonymous inexpensive guides were published by the Cambridge Camden Society). 27. St. Pauls, Islington, was designed by Charles Barry, St. Johns, Fulham, by George Ledwell Taylor, and St. Pauls, Cambridge, by Ambrose Poynter. (See Port, 2006, p. 96, plates 57-58, and p. 183, plates 146-147.) Although the shape of the tower and the Y-framed side windows
were similar to those designed by Brunel for St. Marks, Barriefield, St. Pauls had a very different overall design, with a low pitched roof, clerestory windows, broad aisles with separate roofs, the tower in the east end, and the entrances under the tower. 28. Pugin, Augustus Welby, [2nd ed.] 1853, The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture, London, p. 17. 29. The masons building St. Georges, Trenton, from the same plans did not use the large stones as worked into the walls and buttresses at St. Marks. As a result, the stonework at St. Georges lacks the interesting texture provided by the mix advocated by Pugin. 30. See Westfall and Thurlby, p. 124, fig. 2; and Stanton, p. 94, illus. III-1 and III-2. 31. For narrower versions of this style of window, see the flanking entrances of the west front of Peterborough Cathedral and the aisle windows as portrayed in the lithograph of St. Pauls, Islington. It was one of the most common windows used in nineteenth-century Gothic Revival churches. 32. The land slopes from south to north and from east to west, so the height from beneath the windows on the south side varies from 40.5 inches at the east to 85 inches at the west buttress and, on the north side, from 92.25 inches at the east to 118 inches at the west buttress. 33. See Pugin, Augustus Welby, 1843, The Present State of Ecclesiastical Architecture in England, London, J. Weale, reprinted Oxford, St. Barnabas Press, 1969, p. 52-53; this section was reprinted from the Dublin Review, xxiii (February 1842) and quoted from and made reference to Neales anonymous works from 1841 for the Ecclesiological Society. 34. The windows in the west front as built are narrower than those in the plan; compare those of St. Marks to the wider front windows in St. Georges Anglican, Trenton (figs. 17-18). The use of blind quatrefoils on the west front might have come from the Early English facades of Salisbury or Wells Cathedrals. (I would like to thank Professor Malcolm Thurlby for this point.) Trefoils and quatrefoils would become more prominent in the interior. 35. Patterson, p. 72, illus. 15. 36. This was a variation on the upper portion of the east end of Salisbury Cathedral. 37. St. Georges was built in 1845 from the plan for St. Marks; a much longer chancel was added in 1864.
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38. The plan calls for the lowest band of narrow protruded stone to continue around the tower buttresses, but the builders extended them over to the deep bevelled surround of the door. This intrudes more horizontality into the front elevation than intended by the architect and slightly weakens the composition in comparison to St. Georges, Trenton, which more nearly follows the plan in this detail. 39. The plan shows this pilaster-like effect on all sides of the tower as built at St. Georges, Trenton; at St. Marks, however, it was constructed as drawn on three sides, but on the west face only on the top two stages (compare figs. 17 and 18). The lack of these details at St. Marks clearly shows in the photographs from c. 1875, c. 1894, and December 1897. (Patterson, p. 72, illus. 15, p. 84, illus. 19, p. 89, illus. 22.) 40. A broad, peaked shape subdivided into lancets, much like those on the entrances flanking the central portion of the west front of Peterborough Cathedral. 41. See the second and third stories of the towers on the west front of Ripon Cathedral for Early English examples of graduated triple lancets and a lancet between two blind lancets. The lancet as built seems even narrower than that in Brunels plan. The Ecclesiologists welcomed a triplet in the east end, but opposed three windows in the west end; with the blind lancets, Brunel both kept symmetry and avoided this taboo. 42. Patterson, p. 72, illus. 15, p. 84, illus. 19. 43. The 1850 contract drawing for St. Jamess Cathedral by William Storm for Cumberland and Ridout shows a similar, but more adorned, hammer-beam roof decorated with trefoil arches and extending to the internal peak of the roof. Another design was used when it was built. (See Cooke, William (ed.), 1998, The Parish and Cathedral of St. James, Toronto 1797-1997, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, p. 207, fig. 5.22.) 44. These proportions contrasted sharply with St. Annes Chapel, where the nave is 42 feet high, 54 feet long, and 21 feet wide. (Stanton, p. 132.) However, the roof at St. Marks is higher by at least five feet that indicated on the plan. 45. Durandus, William, 1906. The Symbolism of Churches and Church Ornaments: A Translation of the First Book of the Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, ed. and intro. by John Mason Neale, and Benjamin Webb, London, Gibbings, p. cxxcxxi. My quotations come from the introduction, which was written in 1842; the edition of 1906 reprinted the original edition of 1843. Neale and Webb were leading members of the Cambridge Camden Society. The concern of
providing adequate seating for the poor in an age of rented pews was a long-standing issue; discussions of this issue took place in the early eighteenth century. (See du Prey, Pierre de la Ruffinire, 2000, Hawksmoors London Churches: Architecture and Theology, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, p. 59.) Some of the churches supported by the Church Building Commission had seats for the poor in the aisle. (See Port, p. 208, plate 189, and p. 219, plate 195.) Old photographs of St. James Anglican Cathedral from c. 1884 illustrate aisle seats. (See Cooke, p. 231, fig. 6.5, p. 233, fig. 6.6.) 46. Anglican Diocese of Ontario Archives, St. Marks Vestry Minute Book, March 11, 1844, unpaginated (the contract was signed on March 18, 1844); and Patterson, p. 34, 36-77. William Hunt, a member of the Building Committee, owned a sawmill in Barriefield. (See Patterson, p. 24.) 47. For the three-decker pulpit, see Yates, Nigel, 1991, Buildings, Faith, and Worship: The Liturgical Arrangement of Anglican Churches 1600-1900, Oxford, Clarendon Press, p. 33-34. Also see White, James F., 1962, The Cambridge Movement: The Ecclesiologists and the Gothic Revival, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 256; and plate 1 for an illustration of one from St. Olaves, Hart Street, London. A central pulpit, reading desk, and clerks desk was used in Trinity Anglican, Cornwall (1805). (See the seating plan from 1830 published in Peake, Frank A., 1997, Anglicanism in the Ottawa Valley: Essays for the Centenary of the Diocese of Ottawa, Ottawa, Carleton University Press, p. 172, plate 1.) 48. Daily British Whig, December 20, 1897. For a more elaborate example of this style of decoration in stone, see the chapter house at Southwell Cathedral. 49. According to the Ecclesiologists, an octagonal form symbolized regeneration and, therefore, became mandatory; for the location of the font, see [Neale], A Few Words to Church Builders, p. 14-15 and, for its location and shape, see Durandus, p. lxxvi-lxxvii, cxxii. A location near the west end had been favoured by high churchmen such as George Hickes in the early eighteenth century. (See du Prey, p. 142.) 50. Patterson, p. 52-53; see p. 53, illus. 11, for a photograph of the font. 51. For a slightly later chancel extended into the nave in order to enlarge it, see the original plan of Holy Trinity Anglican, Toronto (1846), where the architect Henry Bowyer Lane drew the extension in pencil. (Arthur, 1964, p. 84, illus. 119.) 52. [Neale], A Few Words to Church Builders, p. 11; see p. 19-20, for setting the chancel apart.
53. The Church Commissioners of 1712 called for chancels to be raised three Steps above the Nave and for the building of two small Rooms at the east end. One for the Vestments, another for the Vessells or other Consecrated things. (See du Prey, p. 144.) 54. Yates, 1999, p. 52. 55. [Neale], A Few Words to Church Builders, p. 11-12. 56. Id., p. 26. 57. Yates, 1991, p. 41; canon 82 of 1604 ordered that the Commandments be displayed in churches. 58. For St. Georges, see Swainson, Donald (ed.), 1991, St. Georges Cathedral: Two Hundred Years of Community, Kingston, Quarry Press, p. 32, plate 1. See White, p. 256 and plate 1 for an illustration of a reredos with these texts from the 1830s in St. Olaves, Hart Street, London. For an example from Upper Canada with the Ten Commandments and the Lords Prayer, see MacRae, p. 117. For an attack upon the protestant use of wooden paneling, of execrable design, smeared over with paint, set up with the Creed and Commandments, see Pugin, 1841, Contrasts, p. 32; and [Neale], 1841, A Few Words to Churchwardens, p. 9. 59. Quoted in Patterson, p. 18. 60. Id., p. 28.
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analYsIs | analYse
ArChiteCture For nAtion And eMPire the Memorial tower national historic site of Canada, halifax, nova scotia
LESLIE mAITLAND, is an architectural historian and heritage consultant. She is the author of several books and numerous articles on Canadian architectural history.
> lEsliE maitland
he Halifax Memorial Tower (figs. 1-3), located in Sir Sandford Fleming Park in Halifax, was recently declared a National Historic Site of Canada. The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) recommended that the reasons for designation were the following: built at the instigation of Sir Sandford Fleming for the twin purposes of commemorating the achievement of representative government in the colony of Nova Scotia one hundred and fifty years earlier and celebrating Canadas relationship within the British Empire, it reflects a transitional moment on the eve of the First World War, when the country was on the cusp of a change toward more independence. It is a rare structure whose design neatly mirrors its commemorative intent by means of the transitional qualities of its architecture, from the High Victorian character of its massive rusticated shaft to the later Edwardian classicism reflected in the towers more delicate classical superstructure. Its prominent site speaks forcefully to Halifaxs special relationship with the British Empire.1
fig. 1. halifax memoRial toweR, siR sandfoRd fleming PaRk, halifax. | Jay white, 2006.
Recent literature dealing with the meaning of the Tower has focused on its historical associations, especially Paul Williamss thoughtful essays in Acadiensis and the International Journal of Heritage Studies, and Brian Cuthbertsons meticulously researched study prepared for the HSMBC. 2 For the purpose of determining national significance, the paper prepared by the author for the HSMBC subsequent to Brian Cuthbertsons own, links the architectural design of the structure to its historical meaning, for such a link establishes the essential value of the Tower
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lEsliE maitland > AnAlYsis | AnAlYse
fig. 2. halifax memoRial toweR. | Jay white, 2006.
as a work of architecture, and sets it in the context of Canadian architecture and nationalism of its times. Indeed, the architectural style originally chosen for this monument was ideally suited to convey these nationalist and imperialist values, and reflects a program of architecture then being pursued nationwide. As well, the Memorial Tower also foreshadowed elements of the postwar world, Canadas relationship with the British Empire, and Canadas future directions historically and architecturally.
plannIng the memoRIal toWeR

The Memorial Tower was inspired by an imposing figure in Canadian history, Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915). 3 His biography is well known and well documented elsewhere; relevant here are his attitudes toward Canada, the British Empire, and how they manifested themselves in stone. Flemings contributions to Canada and the Empire were many, and aimed chiefly at placing Canada at the hub of a worldwide commercial, transportation, and communication network: the Canadian Pacific Railway; the all-Empire telegraphic line, laid from Australia and New Zealand to British Columbia, across Canada and across the Atlantic to Britain; and his development and promotion of the concept of time zones, which hugely facilitated transportation and communications for this globe-spanning empire. Nationalist and imperialist, Fleming saw Canada as the keystone of this great Empire.4 Sir Sandford Fleming appreciated more than just the infrastructure of the Empire: he also admired the civil institutions that often arrived in its wake. In 1908, he turned his attention to the commemoration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the granting of representative government in Nova Scotia (he and his family had property
fig. 3. halifax memoRial toweR Just afteR ComPletion. | notman ColleCtion, mCCoRd museum.
fig. 4. aeRial view, halifax memoRial toweR, Royal Canadian navy, 1949. | nova sCotia aRChives and
ReCoRds management.
on the Northwest Arm, where they often spent their summers). The 1758 assembly was the earliest legislative assembly in the British Empire, and as such, a significant event in the spread of democratic principles in the Empire and the world. The province of Nova Scotia chose to commemorate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary with a memorial plaque, unveiled on August 19, 1908, and located in the provincial Legislative Building,5 but Fleming thought something more ambitious was in order. A persuasive man with a pen that never ran dry, he set about to enlist support for a significant architectural work, a tower specifically, to be erected in a prominent location, which would celebrate Canada and its relationship with the Empire, and inspire new generations of Canadians to adhere to the same values. After unsuccessful overtures to the City of Halifax,6 he found the ideal champion in the newly minted Canadian Club of Halifax (founded 1907), a branch of the national organization established to promote the understanding of, and loyalty to, the nation. This was a perfect undertaking for the club as it fit so well with its purpose, and the project was energetically undertaken by its president, Dougald Macgillivray. As the project had not been initiated very far in advance of the significant date of 1908, the committee was only able to organize the laying of a cornerstone by Lieutenant-Governor Duncan C. Fraser, on October 2 that year, the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the sitting of the first legislature. The tower itself would take several more years to come to fruition. In the intervening years, the Canadian Club launched an ambitious fund-raising drive throughout Canada and the Empire.7 Pamphlets were published for wider public distribution as well. 8 The response was heartening: indeed, the idea of celebrating the virtues of the British Empire struck a sympathetic note across Canada and around the globe. The
fig. 5. inteRioR of the halifax memoRial toweR. | leslie maitland, 2008.
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federal government donated five thousand dollars.9 Fleming generously made a gift to the City of Halifax of his summer property on the west side of the Arm as a suitably prominent site for the tower, and to serve as a suburban park for the benefit of Haligonians. City engineers laid out the grounds at the basea terrace and a walkway in the immediate vicinity, and picturesque landscaping throughout the rest of the property, throughout 191110 (fig. 4). On a clear day in August 1912, a cheerful crowd of the mighty and the humble assembled to dedicate this memorial to the establishment of representative government in Nova Scotia, and to affirm their allegiance to Canada and the Empire. The keynote speaker was the Governor General, His Highness the Duke of Connaught. Prominent Canadian supporters of imperialism attended, including LCol George Taylor Denison and Dr. George R. Parkin. Numerous commemorative plaques and sculp tures were installed in the interior of the tower, witness to the widespread adherence to the values that the tower represented. The thirty-nine plaques that were ultimately installed were gifts from other nations, all nine provinces, several Canadian universities, and various patriotic organizations.11 Celebrations did not end with the dedicatory ceremony: commemorative publications followed to keep alive the spirit of the event, especially Joseph Andrew Chisholms The Halifax Memorial Tower.12 Subsequently, the Royal Colonial Society (later the Royal Commonwealth Society) presented two bronze lions, based upon Sir Edwin Landseers 1867 lions in Trafalgar Square, for the base of the monument13 (fig. 7). The lions were meant to symbolize the vigilance and protection over the Empire which the Mother Country has
exercised since she became a colonizing Power.14 They were installed in 1914, a date significant in more ways than one.
canada and the empIRe, 1880s to 1914

The Tower was completed in 1912, just as war in Europe was in the offing; the relationship between Canada and the Empire was a relationship on the cusp of change. Imperialism was a sentiment and an outlook before it became a policy,15 as historian Carl Berger has pointed out. Imperialism meant many things to many people. Its detractors dismissed it as chiefly motivated by economics, specifically the opportunities it presented to a certain class of entrepreneurs to enrich themselves, and antithetical to Canadas nascent nationalism.16 Certainly, selfinterest played a role for those who did stand to benefit most directly; but the mechanics and sentiments of Canadians toward their sense of nationhood and where it stood vis--vis the Empire were more complex. Imperialists valued the British Empire on several levels; imperialism fed many agendas. Imperialism was the engine that drove a global economy that benefited Canada directly. Construction of infrastructure such as canals, railways, ports, postal systems, and telegraph networks were undoubtedly beneficial to investors, labourers, communities, and the nation as a whole. So too was British investment in Canadian industries. But the Empire was, for many, much more than just a source of economic benefit. Anglo-Canadians regarded their cherished civic institutions and social values as a legacy of their British heritage, including an impartial judicial system, representative government, responsible government, a free
fig. 6. Plaque donated by the City of bRistol, dePiCting John Cabots dePaRtuRe foR the new woRld. | leslie maitland, 2008.
fig. 7. bRonze lions. | Jay white, 2006.
press, and, ultimately, Confederation. The establishment of representative government was Nova Scotias special claim to the advancement of civil society within the Empire achieved, Nova Scotians were always proud to point out, without force of arms. (It was a slightly selective definition of the first representative government in the British Empire; the earlier assemblies of the American colonies were considered precursors of a separate constitutional history; the assemblies held in the colonies of the West Indies were dismissed as rather to be regarded as interesting historical survivals.17 ) Moreover, the British had in the past (and it was hoped, would again if necessary)
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defended Canada against its occasionally aggressive neighbour. Britain for her part was uneasy about the growing economic and military strength of both the United States and Germany, and looked to its former colonies as reliable allies in the event of confrontation. In the Canadian imperialists version of the Empires history, this was an empire that extended democracy to its colonies (unlike other, absolutist empires); it was an empire that spread the benefits of commerce, communication, Christianity, democracy, and peace upon the seas, whilst stamping out piracy, slavery, and many other ills. French-Canadian nationalists felt a certain comfort in the Empires conservatism and hierarchical structure, reassuring in comparison to the startlingly excessive modernity of contemporary France. It was an Empire that protected and sheltered diverse races and religions under a canopy of tolerance and inclusiveness.18 This latter quality was, for Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, always mindful to reconcile English and French Canada, the Empires chief virtue.19 Nationalist sentiment was inextricable from imperialist sentiment for many Canadians, and more specifically AngloCanadians, who held that what was good for Canada was good for the Empire and vice versa. 20 Imperialism was not simply a product of Great Britain exported to its current and former colonies, but rather a dialogue between the metropolitan and her satellite states. 21 In Canada, promoting nationalism and its travelling companion imperialism practically became an industry during these decades. 22 Thoughtful and prolific writers such as Dr. George Parkin (1846-1922), LCol George Taylor Denison (1839-1925), and George Munro Grant (1835-1902) promoted these values at every opportunity. Patriotic organizations came into existence both in Canada and elsewhere in the Empire, such as the Royal Society
of Canada (1882), the Champlain Society (1905), the Canadian Club (1897), and the Boy Scouts (1909), among others. This was the era of the founding of many local historical societies, and those in AngloCanada were dedicated to the nationalist/ imperialist ethos. The veneration of the United Empire Loyalists was especially strong in Ontario. Events that cemented imperial connections were held, such as the 1884 celebrations marking the centennial of the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists; and the Colonial Conference of 1897, called for by Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain. Toronto invented Victoria Day. Tercentenary celebrations in Quebec, marking the arrival of Champlain and the implantation of French culture in the New World, were embraced by imperialists as a celebration of the Canada that was to come, an inclusive dominion that accommodated duality, thus reflecting the tolerance of the Empire. 23 Canadas and Great Britains past shared glories were honoured, for which the erection of monuments commemorating the War of 1812 battles at Lundys Lane, Cryslers Farm, and Chateauguay (in 1896) testified. The popular press covered Britains adventures abroad, and Canadians either participated in them or enjoyed reading about them. Canadians avidly read British imperialist literature (Scott, Kipling, and others) and much of Canadas literature of the era was modelled upon it. Tours by royalty and titled governors general provided the pomp and circumstance so beloved by imperialists. Canadian imperialism was not just for the moneyed classes, for Union Jacks and portraits of the Queen hung on many a modest kitchen or parlour wall. Massive immigration from Britain af ter 1815 brought generations of new Canadians nostalgic for what they left behind, proud of their homelands power and achievements, and determined to perpetuate her
institutions and values in Canada. 24 Scots and Irish who had no particular attachment to Britain while at home became more British than the British once installed in Canada. The Empire was extolled in the school system, at county fairs and public entertainments, with every anniversary and royal or vice-regal visit. It simply made sense to build Canadian nationalism upon the solid foundations of an existing loyalty. The Empire was, as historian Robert Bothwell put it, part of the fabric of daily life. 25 Such were the cultural underpinnings of the creation of the Memorial Tower, which extolled the British Empire as the spreader of democracy and civil institutions, beginning with the establishment of representative government in Halifax in 1758. Not just looking backward, the builders of the tower looked forward to a glorious future for the Empire, in which many nations spread across the globe were united in its common values. In the circular letter sent by the Canadian Club of Halifax in 1910 to New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and all nine Canadian provinces, the Club stated the purpose of the tower:
This building will tend toward a sympathetic union of the far-flung members of the British Empire, and thus enhance a thousandfold the value of the memorial. In the Halifax Tower will centre memories, hopes, and ambitions that will gain significance and importance as the years roll on. It will take its place not as a merely local or provincial monument, or one whose appeal reaches only to the utmost boundaries of the Canadian Dominion, but as an embodiment of the spirit which animates the peoples of the Empire in both hemispheres, an attestation of the partnership of the sisterhood of nations all under one Crown.26
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fig. 8. view uP the noRthwest aRm. | Jay white, 2009.
Fleming exemplified the nationalist and imperialist ethos of the times (he was a man who understood the power of symbols, being the first person to think to put the iconic beaver on a postage stamp). No better summary of Flemings attitude toward the Empire can be found than in his own speech, given at the dedication ceremony for the tower on August 12, 1912:
We may r est assur ed that the British Empire, built upon the principles of freedom, justice, equal rights, and the self-government of all its autonomous parts, is not destined to pass away like the empires of history. The new empire is inspired by a spirit unknown to the empires founded on absolutism. It is a union of free and enlightened communities, dedicated to the cause of commerce, of civilization, and of peace; and who can doubt that such a great political organization is destined to endure? Every improvement in transportation, in postal arrangements, and in telegraphy by land and sea, is calculated to facilitate intercommunications and to foster friendships among kindred people, and
thus to perpetuate their attachment to the cradle of the British race, and the source of that unequalled constitution which is their highest inheritance.27
Fleming and the Canadian Club of Halifax conceived of the Memorial Tower as a companion piece to the highly successful tercentenary celebrations held in Quebec in July 1908. 28 For several weeks of that very hot month, historical recreations, in which upward of four thousand costumed re-enactors participated, thrilled visitors from around the world. The tercentenary celebrated the arrival of Samuel de Champlain in 1608, and the ensuing implantation of French culture in the New World. 29 At the unveiling of the plaque in the Nova Scotia Legislature celebrating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the granting of representative government, Lieutenant-Governor Duncan C. Fraser had this to say about the events in Quebec: It was empire-making in its conception, and unrivalled at least on this continent in its success. Here two great
races celebrated the glory of their forefathers, the success of Great Britain and the freedom and peace that connection with our Kingdom has brought both.30 The attempt to co-opt the founding of Quebec by descendants of people who clearly had not been there, and the patronizing attitude may annoy us now, but the sentiments were, like it or not, entirely sincere. But British imperialism was, in the years just before the outbreak of the First World War, something of a house of cards. Just as imperial sentiment grew, so did Canadas sense that it should have more of a say in future imperial economic and military policy, including the option not to sign on for all of Britains military adventures. Clearly, lapses by Britain such as the Washington Treaty of 1871 demonstrated that Canada ought to have a say in imperial policy. While Canada sought preferential imperial trade tariffs, Britain had no intention of abandoning free trade any time soon. Britain would
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never cede control over policies that it considered her own, while it chaffed at Canadas reluctance to rearm. Indeed, the British military presence in Canada had been haemorrhaging for decades. The British Army pulled out in 1871. The Royal Navy left Halifax and Esquimault in 1905-1906, and while Canada (and especially Nova Scotians) felt vulnerable by the British militarys departure, it didnt look like the Canadian federal government was quite prepared to fill such very large shoes unless pressed by extreme circumstances. Colonial conferences aimed at encouraging Britain to maintain its support of its daughter states were countered by Britains attempts to get said daughters to buy into Britains foreign policy; these conferences achieved little beyond the expression of fine sentiments.31 Aside from the geopolitical pitfalls of British imperialism, its social ethos was on shaky ground. As author Donald A. Wright illustrates, the antimodernism of imperial sentiment was not going to survive the modern world, try as one might to dress up the present in the historical romanticism of Sir Walter Scott, Rudyard Kipling, and John Ruskin. In Canada, imperialism was hamstrung by a patronizing attitude toward French Canadians and was sometimes dismissive of nonAnglo-Canadians; by an imagined past that didnt bear too close scrutiny in every instance; and by an unsustainable imposition of the imagined, superior values of a past society that was rural, pre-industrial, militaristic, and manly.32 If it had not been for the First World War, the relationship would have eventually collapsed on its own of its inherent contradictions. Were the dignitaries in attendance at that dedication ceremony in Halifax on that hot August day in 1912 aware of what would come to pass two years hence? All of the fine speeches made at
the dedication ceremony of the tower in praise of the past glories of the Empire and fervent hope for its future solidarity belie the uneasiness of the times. For Disquiet padded the corridors of power of the Western world, rattled the door handles and whispered in the keyholes. Change was upon them, for that rough beast, its hour come round at last, was slouching toward the future battlefields of Europe to be born.33
a natIonal aRchItectuRe FoR canada, 1867 to 1914

The architectural design of the Memorial Tower marks the transition from the exuberant tastes of the High Victorian, which had so dominated Canadian architecture from the 1850s onward, to the more urbane tastes of Edwardian classicism in the early twentieth century. In so doing, it marks the end of several decades of Canadas age of nationalist architecture, while embracing newly-emerging trends. The transitional qualities of the building reflect in a striking way the transitional nature of Canadas relationship with the British Empire at that time. The treatment of the stone and the use of historical details, such as the Palladian windows, root this building stylistically in the architecture of the prewar era, speaking still to the surviving rich, Victorian traditions inspired by Ruskin, but also suggesting in the handling of the surfaces and details, something of the Edwardian classicism of the years just before the war. The architectural design and its execution are very effective. Overall, the massive building, its dramatic site, its plain and sober interior featuring plaques which catalogue Canadas relationship with her sister colonies and states of the time are a powerful evocation of profoundly held sentiments. An outstanding monument that dominates the Halifax sk yline from all
vantage points in the Northwest Arm, the Memorial Tower (figs. 1-5) is handsomely and solidly built. It is a straight shaft of some one hundred and twelve feet high on a thirty-five-foot-square base, perched upon the levelled crest of the rise of land, approached by a monumental flight of stairs framed at the top by two bronze lions (fig. 7). The main portion of the shaft is composed of rusticated local ironstone with smoother granite above. The shaft tapers gently, culminating in an open loggia at the top, where four Palladian windows frame views in all directions. Finely finished granite frames these windows, whereas lower windows have plain copper flashings. A simple hipped roof with a shallow pitch covers all. Its site on a rise of land on a peninsula jutting out into the water accentuates its prominence from all perspectives in the area, right down to Halifaxs outer harbour. Inside (fig. 5), the tower is as plain and massive in design as the exterior would have one anticipate. There are four floors connected by central cast-iron staircases. Each floor is lined with the same ironstone that makes up the exterior, few windows puncture the walls to light ones way, and commemorative plaques adorn the interior surfaces. The plaques are mostly made of the stone of the country, province, or city of origin. Each one is an individual design, and most feature icons such as crests, shields, or other imagery characteristic of the nation, province, or city of origin. There is a truly fine bronze basrelief, the gift of the City of Bristol (fig. 6), a recreation of a painting by Ernest Board presented at the Royal Academy in 1909, depicting the departure of John Cabot from Bristol to the New World in 1497. From the lookout on the fourth floor, one can see across the Arm toward downtown Halifax, a residential neighbourhood along the shore and, rising behind the houses, Dalhousie University (fig. 8).
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Other views give over the community to the east, north up the Arm to Dead Mans Island and south toward the passing ship traffic of Halifaxs outer harbour. Because the Memorial Tower was created to commemorate the establishment of representative government in the British Empire, it represents the virtues of that Empire and Canadas role in it, whilst anticipating a future of continued, harmonious development. The tower has a strong philosophical foundation for its architectural design. As an essay in nationalistic architecture, it belongs to the body of public, institutional, and commercial buildings erected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that provided the new nation of Canada with a recognizable national style of architecture. This was a style of architecture that purposefully blended motifs from different cultures and historical periods, which was in design and materials considered suitable to a northern people, their climate and geography, to their varied pasts married into a shared heritage and based upon common values. Fleming had spent his career engaged in the nation-building ethos of his time, a mindset which would have included the great monuments of nationalistic architecture, many of which were inspired by British architectural critic John Ruskin (1819-1900). Ruskins first two major works on architecture, The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849) and the even more influential The Stones of Venice (three volumes published between 1851 and 1853), 34 profoundly shaped architecture in the second half of the nineteenth century and well into the early twentieth century. His influence in Canada was first manifested at University College in Toronto, built in 1856-1860 by architects Frederick Cumberland and William G. Storm. The College building was in turn
based upon the Oxford Museum (18521857) by architects Benjamin Woodward and T.N. Deane, who developed their design in close consultation with Ruskin himself. But the style rose to national p ro min e n ce a n d alm o s t n a tio n al policyin Canada with the construction in 1857-1866 of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa (fig. 9), the Centre Block of which was designed by architects Thomas Fuller and Augustus Laver. As the legislature of the United Canadas and then the Dominion of Canada, it is appropriate that the style was Ruskinian High Victorian: a new style that was a hybrid of many historical styles, suitable for a new nation with many historical roots. It blended the pointed arch of northern Gothic, considered appropriate to northern peoples; the mansard roofs and pavilions of the French Second Empire; the guildhall of Ypres, a solid model of medieval design for secular structures; all composed in the rich polychromy and intricately carved and textured surfaces advocated by Ruskin. Its bold, craggy outline and its situation on the edge of a dramatic cliff spoke to rightness to place, rightness to climate, rightness to a people. The Parliament Buildings in Ottawa heralded a remarkable episode in Canadian architecture that saw the emergence of a national style of architecture, which has been well explored in Canadian historiography by authors like Harold Kalman, Janet Wright, Christopher Thomas, and others. 35 Soon after Confederation, the federal government launched an ambitious building program across the country to house the various federal services that citizens of the new country needed, structures that would be emblems of the new federal state. These works included post offices, drill halls, and other prominent structures, produced by the Department of Public Works under chief architects Thomas Fuller (1881-1897) and David
fig. 9. CentRe bloCk of the PaRliament buildings, ottawa; built 1857-1866; thomas fulleR and augustus laveR, aRChiteCts. | libRaRy and aRChives
Canada, Pa 012383.
fig. 10. Post offiCe, PoRtage-la-PRaiRie, manitoba; built 1896-1899. | PaRks Canada, heRitage ReCoRding
seRviCe, 252, 1980.
fig. 11. hoRwood and tayloR, as RePRoduCed in a memoRable national ePoCh. | the Canadian Club,
halifax, 1908, P. 8.
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Ewart (1897-1914), and these were splendid works in High Victorian Ruskinian design, meant to embody the heritage and values of Canadian peoples, in the mixture of architectural styles from various periods and countries, in the use of local stone, and in a bold and energetic design suggestive of the power of the place and the people who rightfully belonged there. Structures large and small bore the characteristic features of this remarkably consistent body of architecture, and they were erected in great cities and small (fig. 10). The federal government was not the only organization in Canada to embrace the idea of a national style, for the appeal of an architecture that suggested a broad range of inherited cultures, that was suitable to a difficult northern climate, and that revelled in the richness of surface and colour so to the tastes of the times, was irresistible. We find echoed again and again in institutions, schools, city halls, and other public buildings across the country the outline, composition, and historicist details of the Centre Block. 36 The commercial world, also looking for a national and a corporate image, seized upon High Victorian as well, the best examples of which are the railway stations and railway hotels erected by the Canadian Pacific Railway, which persisted with its French chateaux/Scottish baronial confections well after the war. It was only in the last few years before the war that an equally rich, but more consistently classical, school of architecture emerged, the Edwardian Classical, which began to be favoured by the Department of Public Works, and by institutional, and commercial designs. Nevertheless, a whiff of Ruskin persists even in these later, bombastic designs.37 Inspired by Ruskins highly poetic writings, architecture of the second half of
fig. 12. CamPanile of st. maRks, veniCe. | John Ruskin,

the stones of veniCe, boston, dana estes and ComPany, 188?, vol. 1, Plate 6.
fig. 14. w.m. bRown, seCond PRize design. | ConstRuCtion,

vol. 3, no. 9, 1910, P. 45; libRaRy and aRChives Canada ColleCtion.
fig. 13. n.s. shaRP, fiRst PRize design. | ConstRuCtion, vol. 3,

no. 9, 1910, P. 44; libRaRy and aRChives Canada ColleCtion.
fig. 15. John m. lyle, thiRd PRize design. | ConstRuCtion,

vol. 3, no. 9, 1910, P. 46; libRaRy and aRChives Canada ColleCtion.
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the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century was associative and often meant to be understood literally, as though its forms and motifs were text upon a page.38 A buildings architectural style therefore was to be demonstrative of its very purpose. In the case of the Tower, Fleming had a clear idea of what he had in mind and he had the Toronto architectural firm of Horwood and Taylor prepare a sketch to guide the competition39 (fig. 11). Fleming envisaged a tower whose design illustrated the stages toward attainment of the full suite of national civil liberties. The foundations represented the granting of representative government (one of the most important events that ever occurred in Canada in respect to its veering on the whole future of the Empire40), and the tall shaft upon it led up to the next significant achievement, responsible government. The next stage stood for Confederation, and the richly decorated upper storey suggested the glories yet to come.41 In a public address given in June 1908, Fleming demonstrated how fully he embraced Ruskins literalism:
T he monument al edif ice cont emplat ed should in some distinct manner indicate the purpose of its erection. It should commend itself by the extreme simplicity, massiveness, and grandeur of its general outline; at the same time every course of masonry should have its distinct meaning. The whole structure might most fittingly, I think, take the general form of an Italian tower. The foundation course would testify to the beginning of representative government in the outer empire.42
Fleming made clear his expectation that the appropriate design of a commemorative tower would be one of Italian inspiration,44 such as advocated by Ruskin. For the most part, Ruskins guidance on the design of towers is fairly pedestrian: start with a wide base and taper upward, which is indeed the logical limitation of masonry construction. He recommends towers for their seriousness and sobriety, set upon bold and massy foundations, with no buttresses to sustain them and few windows to lighten their appearance:
There must be no light-headedness in your noble tower: impregnable foundation, wrathful crest, with the visor down, and the dark vigilance seen through the clefts of it [] Its of fice may be to withstand war, look forth for tidings, or to point to heaven: but it must have in its own walls the strength to do this.45 fig. 16. Cabot toweR, bRistol; built 1897, w.v. gough, aRChiteCt. | aRPingstone, 2004.
From a modern perspective, the literalism seems forced and even a little ridiculous, but associationism was an essential element of nineteenth-century architecture.43
Ruskin refers to several Italian campanile, but undoubtedly the one that drew his most heart-felt praise was the campanile of St. Marks, in Venice (fig. 12). Originally built in the late tenth century, it achieved its current design in the sixteenth century. 46 What drew Ruskins praise with respect to the tower specifically, and Venetian architecture generally (and that inspired him to consider Venetian architecture as a suitable model for the British Empire), was that it successfully blended architectural motifs and cultural values from several eras and societies to create something original and fresh and entirely appropriate to Venice. At the height of its glory, Venice was at the crossroads of the central Mediterranean, a seafaring, mercantile empire linking the peoples of the Mediterranean basin through common commercial interests. The architecture resulting from this tolerant mercantilist empire was, in Ruskins estimation, a successful integration of Lombard, Roman, and Arab influences; that is, the Gothic
fig. 17. vanCouveR Post offiCe; built 1905-1910, dePaRtment of PubliC woRks. | libRaRy and aRChives
Canada, Pa 009533..
fig. 18. Cabot toweR national histoRiC site of Canada, st. Johns, newfoundland; built 1897-1900. | PaRks Canada, J.f. beRgeRon, 2002.
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39
fig. 19. bRoCks monument national histoRiC site of Canada, niagaRa; built 1824; Rebuilt 1853. | PaRks Canada, b. moRin, 1985.
fig. 20. monument to waR of 1812, CRysleRs faRm, moRRisbuRg, ontaRio. | libRaRy and aRChives Canada,
Pa 056344..
fig. 21. welsfoRd PaRkeR monument, halifax; unveiled 1860. | libRaRy and aRChives Canada, Pa 087817.
of Lombardy, the Classic of Roman, with the colour and spirituality of Islam.47 He admired the inclusiveness of Venices culture and architecture, and believed that the modern British Empire at its best embodied these very qualities. 48 It was a highly romantic and conjectural view of history, driven as much by fear of the abrupt changes that the modern world was foisting upon society as by love of the past. Clothe a railway station or a drill hall or a national legislature for a new country in medieval styles, and it might look comfortingly familiar, it might acquire a sense of belonging in its borrowed clothes. Such were the philosophical underpinnings of much of High Victorian architecture as it was practised throughout the British Empire, including Canada. Working with Flemings instructions, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada offered to sponsor a national competition and to award medals to the designs that placed first, second, and third. The competition was published in the August 1910 issue of Construction.49 The winners of the
contest were N.S. Sharp, W.M. Brown, and John Lyle. All of these designs are very fine (figs. 13-15), and worthy of analysis in their own right, but in the context of this study, what is pertinent is that they were rather more classical than Fleming had in mind. None of the first three designs was awarded the commission, which went instead to the Halifax firm of Dumaresq and Cobb. Contractor S.M. Brookfield, Ltd. was awarded the construction project for twenty-three thousand nine hundred and sixty dollars, and construction began in October 1910.50 It may be that Fleming did not have a hand in the final decision concerning the design of the tower, for by this time the decision-making had passed from Fleming to the president of the Canadian Club of Halifax, Dougald Macgillivray. Macgillivray suggested that the Cabot Tower in Bristol would be a better model (fig. 16; built in 1897 to celebrate John Cabots departure from Bristol to the New World in 1497, by architect William Venn Gough).51 This model would have appealed to Fleming, as it was very much in the rich, High Victorian
Ruskinian mould that he favoured; it furthermore had a program of commemorative plaques, which finds a parallel with the Memorial Tower as finally built. Macgillivray also proposed the Sir Hector Macdonald Memorial Tower, a Scottish baronial confection erected in 1907 in Dingwall, Scotland; this was met with silence.52 (Other prominent towers of the Empire did not figure into the discussion; no mention is made of the Tower of the Houses of Parliament in London (1859), nor the towers of Tower Bridge (1886-1894).) In the end, the award for the design of the tower was given to the local architectural firm of Dumaresq and Cobb. The design of the tower can likely be credited to architect Andrew Cobb. The Memorial Tower was among the first commissions undertaken by a partnership of young Halifax architects. Sydney Perry Dumaresq (1875-1943) was the son of distinguished Halifax architect James Charles Dumaresq. Sydney studied at Acadia College, and immediately upon
40
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fig. 22. monument to the battle of stoney CReek, stoney CReek, ontaRio; built 1909-1913, e. RastRiCk, aRChiteCt. | libRaRy and aRChives Canada,
C 005155.
fig. 23. soldieRs toweR, haRt house, univeRsity of toRonto; built 1919-1924, sPRoatt and RolPh, aRChiteCts. | leslie maitland, 2009.
fig. 24. CentRe bloCk of the PaRliament buildings, ottawa; built 1916-1927, PeaRson and maRChand, aRChiteCts. | libRaRy and aRChives Canada, C 025965.
graduation went to work for his father. Father and son designed numerous buildings throughout Atlantic Canada, including a number of banks.53 Young Sydney was always the junior partner in his relationship with his father, and seems also to have been so in his brief partnership (19091910) with the rather better-educated and more sophisticated Andrew Randall Cobb (1876-1943). Cobb was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of an American father and Canadian mother. Upon his fathers death, he moved to Halifax with his mother, where he studied at Acadia College. He pursued further education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and later (1907) at the cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.54 At both institutions he would have received a rigorous education in construction and draftsmanship, and in both institutions the stylistic bias would have been toward the classical styles, rather than any of the medieval revival styles. Cobb returned to Halifax in 1909 and set up his partnership with Dumaresq straight away.55 The Tower was the only significant work to emerge from
their brief partnership. Cobb was better trained and better equipped to address the requirements of the competition: while studying in France, he had spent as much as six months travelling in Italy, including Venice,56 where he would have seen St. Marks Square, minus its famous campanile, which had fallen down in 1902 (not to be reconstructed until 1912). The tower was, nevertheless, well illustrated in academic texts (Ruskin included an illustration of it in The Stones of Venice) and tourist literature (Cobb possessed a postcard of St. Marks Square, with the missing tower inserted in the image).57 Did Fleming and the Canadian Club get what they had hoped for? If we examine this great bombastic monument, we can smell change in the air. The dedication ceremony of August 1912 might have been in some ways prescient of events to come, for all those earnest speeches about the continued loyalty of the members of the Empire to each other smacked of desperation. One may read into the design of the tower a desperate clinging
to an imagined past, or some whisper of the future of Canadian nationalism, imperialism and its very architecture as well. We can readily identify the Ruskinian qualities in the solid, rusticated shaft, which corresponds precisely to his guidance for the building of towers, rising up from more roughly finished surfaces and tapering toward more delicate superstructures and finishes. Yet, the lack of polychromy, the consistently delicate grey surfaces, the slightly smoother treatment of those surfaces, and the prominence of those very classical featuresthe Palladian archeson the topmost floor speak as much to contemporary Edwardian classicism58 as they do to an architectural philosophy launched more than fifty years previously, and which even the retardataire federal Department of Public Works was then trying to shrug off. Tellingly, Sir Sandford Fleming, that most consummate of imperialists, hated the final design of the Memorial Tower, and
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High Victorian in favour of the even more bombastically imperial garb of Edwardian classicism (fig. 17). Fleming was an older generation raised on other tastes; Cobb was the harbinger of things to come in the postwar era. It is worth considering the tower also as a building type, that is, as a memorial. As such, it demonstrates vividly how veneration of the past serves modern agendas.61 As a structure with a memorializing purpose, the tower was perfectly symptomatic of the rising tide of nationalism asserting itself in the Western nations of this prewar era. Nations felt compelled to cement the fealty of their citizens by celebrating their histories and their cultures.62 It was the era of the creation of icons and symbols, those powerful leitmotifs for which citizens lay down their lives. Musicians explored national folk music in search of the characteristic, the indigenous. Romantic novels celebrated real and imagined pasts. Historical painting enjoyed a popular appeal that it has never enjoyed since. Major portions of cities were rearranged to create processional ways, so that cities became stage sets for nationalistic and imperialistic processions of operatic dimensions. A few of the outstanding monuments of the era were: the Lincoln Memorial (begun 1914) in Washington;63 the International Exposition in Chicago in 1892; the Mall, Admiralty Arch, and the refaced Buckingham Palace in London (1906-1913). In Canada, painters, poets, musicians, ethnologists, writers, and architects all searched their respective art forms to find the meaning of Canadian nationalism. Considered as both a work of national architecture, and as a memorial, the tower marks a pivotal point in Canadas national architecture, born of its imperial roots, adapted to circumstances, and now ready for change. Towers were all the rage in Victorian Canada, although most of them were
fig. 25. Costumed aRmies of geneRals wolfe and montCalm, the Plains of abRaham, the quebeC teRCentenaRy, 1908. | libRaRy and aRChives Canada, Pa 164785.
fig. 26. PostCaRd of siR sandfoRd fleming PaRk, halifax. | ken eldeR ColleCtion.
herein lies a curious tale. 59 He objected to the design because of the overly large windows on the upper floor, and because of the lack of weightiness of the stone walls below. He felt very strongly that these features deprived the tower of the sense of durability advocated by Ruskin for monuments meant to last the ages.60 The elements to which Fleming objectedthe very classical Palladian window and the slightly smoother monochromatic stonework below owe as much to Cobbs training at the cole des Beaux-Arts as to any lingering High Victorian tastes. Even more ironically, Ruskin himself had found
the campanile of St. Marks less than ideal, exactly because of its Renaissance upper storey; how Fleming expected the architect to improve upon a model that Ruskin himself found wanting is unclear. In fact, Cobb did rather a good job capturing the lugubriousness of Ruskins own drawing (fig. 12) in the main shaft, while opting for a lighter, classical upper storey, as had the Renaissance rebuilders of St. Marks campanile. A transitional model for transitional times: the tower itself was, architecturally, already the bridge to postwar architecture, which eschewed the dated polychromy and muscularity of Ruskinian
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attached to churches or institutions. The main tower of the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings (fig. 9) spawned a host of admirers, but usually of the attached variety. As for freestanding towers, the Memorial Tower appears to be unique for its times in Canada, both in its purpose and its design. Until the construction of the Memorial Tower, memorials erected in Canada (as elsewhere), limited their range of commemorations to battles, wars, or illustrious individuals. The tower memorializes an episode in Canadas political history, and by extension represents a long-standing and complex relationship with the British Empire. In that respect, sites most similar to it are found elsewhere in the former Empire, such as the Cabot Tower in Bristol (fig. 16), which marks a significant moment in the history of the Empire, specifically in its relationship with Canada, or the Gateway to India in Mumbai (Bombay). Cabot Tower (1897; fig. 18), located in Signal Hill National Historic Site, St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador, is closest to the Memorial Tower in theme. It was built to commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of John Cabots discovery of Newfoundland, and Queen Victorias Jubilee.64 Monuments and memorials erected in Canada during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were typical of their genre in purpose and design as found elsewhere in the Western world. Most of the significant memorials took the shape of columns, piers or obelisks of classical design, or statuary, also of classical inspiration, such as (Major General Isaac) Brocks Monument, Queenston Heights (fig. 19; first built 1824 and rebuilt in 1853 by architects Howard and Thomas); (Horatio) Nelsons Column, Montral (1805); and Eugne-tienne Tachs monuments to the War of 1812 at Lundys Lane, Cryslers Farm (fig. 20), and Chateauguay (built in 1896). These classically-styled monuments
purposefully evoked the positive aspects of the Roman Empire, as a bringer of peace and uniter of peoples, a borrowed glory for the makers of the British Empires image who sought to evoke benevolence, magnanimity, and justice.65 Other monuments engaged the Ruskinian aesthetic and imperialism, such as the Welsford Parker Monument (fig. 21) in Halifax, and the Stoney Creek Monument (fig. 22) at Battle of Stoney Creek National Historic Site in Ontario, designed by E. Rastrick and unveiled on June 6, 1913.66 A few commemorative towers were built after the war, but either in purpose or in design, or both, they are quite different. Several memorials commemorating the war might be classified as towers, such as the memorial at Vimy Ridge National Historic Site, but the purpose of a war memorial sets it aside as a separate category of memorial; in a similar vein is the Woodbridge Memorial Tower in Woodbridge, Ontario (built 1924), also commemorating the fallen of the First World War, and the very fine Soldiers Tower attached to Hart House, University of Toronto (fig. 23, 1919-1924; Sproat and Rolph, architects). The mood of the post-1918 war memorials is grief and loss, not the celebratory tone of the Halifax Tower, harkening back to more optimistic times. The finest tower of the postwar era is undoubtedly the Peace Tower, also attached rather than freestanding, created as part of the reconstructed Centre Block (fig. 24; built 1916-1927, Pearson and Marchand, architects). Its location, its blend of classical and medieval styles, and its dedicatory spirit bring us back full circle to the tower that set the standard for the type in Canada, the tower of the original Centre Block.
imperialist ethos.67 The elevated peninsula made the tower clearly visible from many vantage points on both sides of the Arm, and from ships far out in Halifaxs outer harbour. Fleming had made many improvements to the property over the years, laying out lawns and paths, as he had always permitted public access.68 The site was also well frequented, as the Arm was a popular destination for boaters and picnickers from the city. Moreover, the site had profound historical associations intended to support the didactic qualities of the tower. 69 Fleming wrote eloquently about the Arms association with many historic personages, including Joseph Howe and Sir Charles Tupper. He foresaw a park that was a locus for significant cultural institutions, although that never came to pass.70 While museums and other cultural institutions did not come to occupy Sir Sandford Fleming Park, the nature of this park is integral to the meaning of the tower. It was never meant to have the kind of prominence that the rather more declarative Statue of Liberty (New York Harbour, 1886) has, situated as it is at the mouth of the port, or as a monument in a formal landscape such as the Americans pursued in their memorials along the Mall in Washington. Rather, the tower was meant to be a picturesque element in the great British landscape design tradition; one need only think of the Albert Memorial (1872) in Kensington Gardens, London, or any number of statues of Queen Victoria standing or sitting in public parks across the globe. Fleming specifically cited the suburban parks of Ottawa and Toronto as the type of picturesque, recreational space that he had in mind.71 The Plains of Abraham (fig. 25), the site of the tercentenary celebrations in 1908, similarly were laid out (by landscape architect Frederick G. Todd) in a naturalistic manner, without formality, and purposefully
sIte and settIng

The site, which was donated by Sir Sandford Fleming, also speaks to the
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not evoking its character (however brief) as a battlefield.72 Flemings gift of a park (fig. 26) reflects the contemporary Fresh Air and City Beautiful movements then currently influential in European and North American cities alike. The park itself speaks to the culture of physicality characteristic of the Empire, a valuation of physical fitness manifest through public parks, sports clubs and leagues, gardening clubs, fresh air societies, and associations such as the Boy Scouts, for whom physical fitness was a patriotic duty.73 The ideal imperialist possessed a sound mind in a sound body: however else to serve nation and Empire?
whilst inadvertently foreseeing a future none at the time could have imagined.
of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada, Halifax, Canadian Club of Halifax. 8. Canadian Club of Halifax, 1909, A National Memorial Tower: An Appeal, Halifax, Canadian Club of Halifax, January; and Canadian Club of Halifax, 1908, A Memorable National Epoch, Halifax, McAlpine. 9. Library and Archives Canada (LAC), MG29, B1, vol. 32, April 13, 1909, D. Macgillivray to S. Fleming; and December 12, 1911, J.K. Foran, assistant law clerk, House of Commons, to Fleming.
notes
1. Paraphrased from the Minutes of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, June, 2008. Williams, Paul, 2007, Erecting an Instructive Object: The Case of the Halifax Memorial Tower, Acadiensis, vol. 36, no. 2, p. 91-112; Williams, Paul B., 2003, A Vision of Progress and Nostalgia: the Halifax Memorial Tower, International Journal of Heritage Studies, vol. 9, no. 3, p. 243-265; and Brian Cuthbertson, John Zuck and Associates, Submission: Historical Sites and Monuments of Canada, Sir Sandford Fleming Park & Memorial Tower; Historical and Cultural Landscape, March 2003; Addendum to Submission for His toric Designation Memorial Tower, Halifax, January 2007. At the time of writing, Brian Cuthbertson is preparing a paper for the Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society; his draft kindly acknowledges my Submission Report to the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. I am grateful for Brians meticulous research and generosity. Sir Sandford Fleming was designated a person of national historic significance in 1950, and the plaque is located at the Dominion Obser vator y in O t tawa. (See Fleming, Sir S andford , Dic tionar y of C anadian Biography, [http://w w w.biographi.ca/EN/ ShowBioPrintable/asp?BioID=41492], accessed October 31, 2007.)
2.
10. LAC, MG29, B1, vol. 32, December 8, 1911, Macgillivray to Fleming. 11. Paul Williams summarizes well the widespread support that the Tower received. He notes stones and tablets donated by Wales, Ireland, India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Newfoundland, The Dominion government, the nine provinces of Canada, Bristol, London, Edinburgh, the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Institute and of special note a stone from Brouage, France, the birthplace of Samuel de Champlain. Tablets were also donated by several universities, including Dalhousie, Mount Allison, St. Francis Xavier, Laval, McGill, Ottawa, Queens, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. (Williams, 2007, p. 103.) 12. Halifax: Canadian Club of Halifax, 1913. An even later publication in honour of the Tower was MacMechan, Archibald McKellar, 1922, The Memorial Tower, Halifax, H.H. Marshal. 13. LAC, MG29, B1, vol. 32, April 18, 1913, James R. Boose, Secretary, Colonial Institute, to Fleming. 14. LAC, MG29, B1, vol. 3, file 14, Royal Colonial Institute, Report of the Council, April 15, 1913. 15. Berger, Carl, 1970, The Sense of Power: Studies in the Ideas of Canadian Imperialism 18671914, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, p. 12. 16. Berger, p. 6, discussing the opinions of Bourassa and O.D. Skelton. 17. Cuthbertson, Zuck and Associates, p. 10-11; Chisholm, p. 70-71. 18. Berger, p. 138. 19. N e a t b y, H . B l a i r, 19 6 9 , L a u r i e r a n d Imperialism, In Ramsay Cook, Craig Brown, and Carl Berger (eds.), Imperial Relations in the Age of Laurier, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, p. 9.
conclusIon
The Memorial Tower is one of those rare buildings whose design fulfills and indeed exceeds the purpose for which it was built. Sir Sandford Fleming envisaged a didactic monument reflecting the best qualities of Canada and the British Empire; what he got was something rather more telling. Its surviving High Victorian qualities mark the endpoint of a dynamic period in which Canadas national style of architecture came into being, flourished, and finished gracefully in the early twentieth century. The Towers handling of its historicist details and its materials and surfaces speak to the emergent trends of the early twentieth century. The transitional qualities of its architecture reflect Canadas changing nationalism, in particular how its nationalism was defined with respect to British imperialism on the eve of the First World War. Few cities were so intimately linked to these themes as was Halifax. Rising so prominently in Halifaxs cityscape and seascape, the tower stands at one of those critical moments in history, a monument that extols the past,
3.
4. This summary owes a great deal to Paul Williams excellent analysis of the relationship between Fleming and his Tower. (See Williams, 2007, p. 91-112; see also Fleming, Sir Sandford, op. cit.; and Cuthbertson, Brian, 2009, Symbolizing in Stone an Event of Imperishable Importance: Halifaxs Memorial Tower and Commemorating 150 Years of Representative Government, Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, vol. 12.) 5. Unveiled August 19, 1908. Addresses at Unveiling of Memorial Tablet, Journal and Proceedings of the House of Assembly, appendix no. 7, 1912, part 1 (Halifax, 1912), p. 1.
6. Chisholm, Joseph Andrew, 1913, The Halifax Memorial Tower, Halifax, Canadian Club of Halifax, p. 19-20. For greater detail on the process, see Cuthbertson, op. cit. 7. Canadian Club of Halifax, 1910, Circular Letter Addressed to the Governments and Peoples
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20. Indeed, it was easier to build a new loyalty Canadian nationalismupon the established loyalty for the Empire. (Bruckner, Phillip, 1993, Whatever Happened to the British Empire? Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, vol. 4, p. 12.) 21. Armitage, David, 2000, The Ideological Origins of the British Empire, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 9. 22. Fleming, one of Canadian nationalist/imperialisms greatest advocates. (See, for instance, Fleming, Sir Sandford, 1904, Build Up Canada, Toronto, Canadian Club, p. 2-9.) 23. Nelles, H.V., 1999, The Art of Nation-Building; P ag e a n t r y a n d S p e c t a c l e at Q u e b e c s Tercentenary, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, p. 301. 24. Bruckner, p. 26. 25. Bothwell, Robert, 2006, The Penguin History of Canada, Toronto, Penguin, p. 263. 26. Quoted in Burpee, Lawrence J., 1915, Sandford Fleming: Empire Builder, London, Oxford University Press, p. 274. 27. Burpee, p. 275. 28. Cuthber tson, Zuck and A ssociates, p. 9; Canadian Club of Halifax, 1909, op. cit.; and Canadian Club of Halifax, 1908, p. 4. 29. Nelles, p. 27. 30. Addresses at Unveiling of Memorial Tablet, Journals and Proceedings of the House of Assembly, 1912, part 1, appendix no. 7, Halifax, 1912, p. 28. 31. Bothwell, Robert, Ian Drummond, and John English, 1987, Canada, 1900-1945, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, p. 15. 32. Wright, Donald A., W.D. Lighthall, and David Ross McCord, 1997, Antimodernism and English-Canadian Imperialism, 1880s1918, Journal of Canadian Studies, vol. 32, no. 2, p. 134-153. 33. With apologies to Yeats. 34. Ruskin, John, 1851-1853, The Stones of Venice, London, Smith, Elder and Company. 35. Several authors have written on the rise of a national architecture during that period. For an overview of the literature, see Wright, Janet, 1997, Crown Assets: The Architecture of the Department of Public Works 18671914, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, chaps. 1-3; Kalman, Harold, 2000, A Concise History of Canadian Architecture, Don Mills, Oxford University Press, chap. 11; and Young, Carolyn A ., 1995, The Glor y of Ot tawa:
Canadas First Parliament Buildings, Montral and Kingston, McGill-Queens University Press, p. 3. 36. Thomas, Christopher, 1976, Architectural Image for the Dominion: Scott, Fuller and the Stratford Post Office, Journal of Canadian Art History, vol. 3, nos. 1-2, p. 90; and Brosseau, Mathilde, 1980, Gothic Revival in Canadian Architecture, Ottawa, Parks Canada, p. 130134. 37. Ricket ts, Shannon, Leslie Maitland, and Jacqueline Hucker, [2nd ed.] 2004, A Guide to Canadian Architectural Styles, Peterborough, Broadview Press, p. 123-127. 38. Ruskin, John, 1981, The Stones of Venice, Jan Morris (ed.), Boston, Little, Brown and Company, p. 90. 39. Canadian Club of Halifax, 1910, p. 10. 40. Sandford Fleming to F.P. Blight, mayor of Halifax, June 23, 1908, quoted in Chisholm, p. 17. 41. Canadian Club of Halifax, 1910, p. 10. 42. Quoted in Burpee, p. 272. 43. Architecture this didactic did not always achieve the qualities of self-evidence that the designers originally intended, but certainly its meaning would have been clearer at the time of its construction than it is now. (Young, p. 6.) 44. As the literature surrounding the commission notes in several places. (See Chisholm, p. 17; and Canadian Club of Halifax, 1910, p. 10.) 45. Ruskin, John, 1851, The Stones of Venice, London, Smith, Elder and Company, vol. 1, p. 199-200. 46. The tower of St. Marks collapsed in 1902 and was rebuilt to identical plans in 1912. While it did not exist at the time that the Memorial Tower was being planned and constructed, it was very well known from Ruskins books, and from historic and contemporary travel literature. 47. Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, vol. 1, p. 17. For an interesting analysis of Ruskins take on Orientalism through his understanding of Venetian architecture, see Crinson, Mark, 1996, Empire Building: Orientalism and Victorian Architecture, London and New York, Routledge, p. 51. 48. Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, vol. 1, p. 1. 49. Co m p e ti tio n fo r a M e m o rial Towe r, Construction, vol. 3, no. 9 (August 1910), p. 43-47.
50. Chisholm, p. 34. 51. L AC , MG29, B1, vol. 32, July 27, 19 0 9, Macgillivray to S. Fleming. 52. L AC , MG29, B1, vol. 32, April 21, 1910, Macgillivray to S. Fleming. 53. Rosinski, Maud, 1994, Architects of Nova Scotia: A Biographical Dictionary 1605-1950, Halifax, Province of Nova Scotia, p. 239. 54. Id., p. 235-236. 55. Aside from the Tower, Dumaresq and Cobb built several structures together, including buildings at Mount Allison University, a Bank of Montreal in Port Hood (1910), and the First Presbyterian Church in New Glasgow (1911). Cobbs telltale classicism flowered in his subsequent works undertaken after his partnership with Dumaresq dissolved. He built a substantial number of buildings at Dalhousie University, including the Science Building, Macdonald Memorial Library, Arts Building, and Gymnasium. Much of the mill town of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, can be credited to Cobb. Aside from his signature classical revival institutional buildings, Cobb had a flourishing practice designing splendid Arts and Crafts style houses. Both men died in 1943. (See Rosinski, op. cit.; and Weir, Jean B., Rich in Interest and Charm: The Architecture of Andrew Randall Cobb, 18961943, Halifax, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 1990, p. 3. See also: [http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/architects/view/1618], accessed June 15, 2009.) 56. Weir, op. cit. 57. Cuthbertson, Zuck and Associates, p. 14. 58. Kalman, p. 370; Wright, p. 72. 59. LAC, MG29, B1, vol. 21, August 18, 1910, Fleming to the Honourable Judge Wallace, president of the Canadian Club of Halifax; and again August 22, 1910, Fleming to Wallace. 60. Ruskins advice on the composition of buildings was often quite pedestrian. His advice on the construction of a tower was to start with a massive base and then diminish as the structure goes up, with openings and windows in the upper areas. This was advice on tower construction in common currency since the time of Vitruvius. What was different about his advice concerned the origins of the historical motifs, and the treatment of surfaces and materials, all combined to create profoundly associational compositions. (Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, vol. 1, p. 199-201.)
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61. Taylor, C.J., 1990, Negotiating the Past: The Making of Canadas National Historic Parks and Sites, Montral and Kingston, McGillQueens University Press, p. 5; Gordon, Alan, 2001, Making Public Pasts: The Contested Terrain of Montreals Public Memories 18911930, Montral and Kingston, McGill-Queens University Press, p. 4. 62. Hobsbaum, Eric and Terence Ranger (eds.), 1984, The Invention of Tradition, London and New York, Cambridge University Press, p. 304. 63. Also meant to reconcile a divided people. (Thomas, Christopher A., 2002, The Lincoln Memorial and American Life, Princeton, Princeton University Press, p. xxiv.) 64. Given that the Cabot Tower in St. Johns existed at the time of the Memorial Tower competition, it is curious that it never figured into the possible models put forward for the Memorial Towers final design. 65. Coutu, Joan, 2006, Persuasion and Propaganda: Monuments and the Eighteenth- centur y British Empire, Montral and London, McGill Queens University Press, p. 200-201. 66. Hucker, Jacqueline, Stoney Creek Monument, Battlefield Park, Stoney Creek, Ontario, HSMBC, Agenda Paper 1992 OB-7, p. 5. 67. Cuthbertson, Zuck and Associates, p. 9; and Chisholm, p. 2. 68. Cuthbertson, Zuck and Associates, p. 19-20. 69. Williams, 2003, p. 243-265. 70. He also envisaged a tower large enough to house memorials to worthy historical personages, such as Joseph Howe, Sir John A. Macdonald, William Pitt, and others, but the resultant structure was never large enough for such an ambitious program. 71. LAC, MG29, B1, vol. 3, file 14. Fleming, Sir Sandford, Letter to His Honour the Lieut.Governor: Nova Scotia and the Empire: With Other Papers, Halifax, McAlpine, August 19, 1908), p. 15-16. 72. Nelles, p. 308. 73. Interview, Dr. Paul B. Williams, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, May 1, 2008.
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essaY | essaI
the iMPeriAl AMeriCAn CAMPus designing the university of British Columbia, Canada, 1912-1914
RHODRI WINDSOR LISCOmBE is Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor in the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia.
> rhodri Windsor lisCombE
n political economy as in architectural culture, the distinct contributions of Canadian practice are obscured by confusions between qualitative and quantitative fac tors. The par ticular practice under consideration here is the building of universities, especially at the beginning of the twentieth century. In both Canada and the United States their construction, and expansion, represented conscious campaigns of collective identity constitution. Specifically, these university commissions politicized historic and current design and planning idioms even if they were intended to institute different regime. The building programs served to legitimate respective authority systems and social valuesclaims to poweras each state completed the consolidation of national boundaries. Each also sought such legitimation through reference to the cultural legacy of the AtlanticMediterranean sphere, and in particular to British precedent. One shared purpose was the assertion of the cultural no less than technological or financial right to expropriate indigenous lands and ensure the imposition of ethno-racial hierarchy. But where in the United States such referencing was detached and divergent, in Canada it was deliberate and direct. In the States the British connection was one of social genealogy and political resistance. Whereas in Canada, or perhaps more properly the Canadas, it was one of constitutional continuity and economic utility; indeed it was a method to assert a complex independence within North America as well as the British Empire. Analysis of the design of one such Canadian university, the University of
fig. 1. univeRsity of b.C. Plan no.1 foR the PRovinCial goveRnment. | shaRP & thomPson, 1912.
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47
rhodri Windsor lisCombE > essAY | essAi
fig. 2. univeRsity of b.C. masteR Plan, biRds eye view. | shaRP & thomPson, 1914.
fig. 3. aeRial view of the univeRsity of b.C. with vanCouveR in the middle distanCe, C1930..
British Columbia (UBC), illustrates those larger conditions of practice. In addition it discloses the often overlooked sophistication of governmental and social processes in Canada, not least with respect to the mediation of continental, national, and regional forces within local initiatives. Furthermore, the development of the architectural scheme for UBC 1912-1914 reveals the limits to singular strategies of analysis, whether associative (aesthetic), critical (theoretical), or determinist (sociopolitical), particularly for institutional architecture. The evolution in the UBC scheme over just two years reflects the pragmatism frequently underlying the apparent articulation of ideology and economy through architecture. Coincidentally it also confirms the considerable level of decision accorded the architectural profession in the building up of Canada in the immediate decade before the First World War. Lastly the UBC Commission underscores the need to reconsider the present historiography of university architecture, dominated as it is by American, British, and European perspectives. Certainly the UBC architectural schemes begun in 1912 confirm Paul Turners adept
historical analysis of American university design (fig. 1). Nevertheless those schemes reconfigured American Collegiate Gothic and Beaux-Arts paradigms to embody British imperial pedagogy and Canadian cultural dominion in the Pacific Northwest. The iconography and planning reflected a comparable recognition of the Baconian trope of the power of knowledge to assert power through the mental and physical moulding of the citizen. Both also reflect a related belief in benign Manifest Destiny to reconfigure nature and indigene through the application of supposedly superior ethical, cultural, and technical system. But the ideological anchor differed in being constitutional monarchical rather than republican in its mechanisms of material and emblematic regulation as is especially evident in the final scheme of 1914 (fig. 2). The first president of UBC, Frank Wesbrook, indeed looked back to the British varsity origins of both quadrangle and campus; these had been combined by William Wilkins for the layout of Downing College at Cambridge in 1804 several years before Thomas Jef ferson americanized the arrangement at the University of Virginia. However, WesbrookCanadian born but
whose academic career had flourished in the United Statesexemplified allegiance to British tradition modified for Canadian ambition. UBC was established at the zenith of Dominion, the term favoured from the late Victorian era to describe the White settler colonies of which Canada was the senior. Historically this period of western Canadian expansion was marked by the foundation of the Prairie Provinces in 1906 and rapid growth of Vancouver as terminal city of the Brito-Canadian Pacific Railway and telegraph system (popularly called The Thin Red Line after the tenacious performance of British infantry at the Crimea). It coincided with the confident government of, first Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and then from 1911, Sir Robert Borden. Each sought increased military and naval command, albeit under imperial authority, while, just prior to losing office in 1911, Laurier had predicted that the new century would herald Canadian ascendancy in North America. That sense of distinct Canadian identity mediated by British prestige and American technique is evident in the public debate leading up to the enactment in 1906 of the University College of
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British Columbia under the auspices of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning (McGill University) and, two years later, of the more autonomous University of British Columbia. It was articulated by Dr. Henry Tory, emissary of McGill to those intent upon creating a university in British Columbia. When addressing the Vancouver Canadian Club in August 1907, Tory remarked: The whole FABRIC OF OUR DEMOCRATIC CIVILIZATION rests upon our schools, and through these directly upon our universities. Universities might, he was reported in the local press, conserve traditions of learning but were chiefly about instrumental knowledge for societal improvement; from religion as nurturer of community, medicine as prolonger of lifespan to the economic benefit of the state, engineering as developer of continental polity, to law as processor of complex modern social and commercial practices as well as protector of citizen against powerful corporations or craftiness of the educated criminal. Such positivist and meritocratic ideas of early twentieth-century academe parallel Rooseveltian anti-Trust and British liberal reformsindicating how the province and its major city depended on United States, central and eastern Canadian plus British financial regime and cultural economy. On those functionally convergent but symbolically divergent regimes would depend the universitys income from the one million acres of [Crown Lands alienated from First Nations] agricultural, coal, mineral, petroleum and timber lands voted by the BC Legislature in 1904. The matter of financing involved a more contentious debate about siting. Real estate investment and speculation were as much drivers of provincial economic as social development, and thereby of patterns of settlement. The major corporations of Confederation, most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and Bank
fig. 4a. Plan foR the univeRsity of b.C. | by thomas hooPeR.
fig. 4b. univeRsity of biRmingham, england, C1965.
of Montreal, exercised a considerable level of control. This was matched by the rapid emergence of realtors in the main cities: Victoria, Nelson, Rossland, Nanaimo, and Vancouver; at Vancouver the preponderance of professional advertisements in the period after incorporation in 1886 were for real estate agents. Their number reflected the bigger project of appropriating and surveying the topography of the province. The project discounted indigenous customary
possession, depending in part upon the supposed superior competency of the settler society as exemplified by such of its institutions as the university and related processes as formal education. Yet, even the placing of the provincial university was entangled in the politics of property and thus regional economy. The debate over the site for the projected university serving the whole province quickly became chiefly concerned with adjacency: that is about which community would
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fig. 5a. design foR the univeRsity of b.C. libRaRy. | by thomas hooPeR.
However, the competition for local economic advantage predominated and resulted in the decision to select a site on the Lower Mainland instead of in Victoria, the capital, or on Vancouver Island. The rivalry among the Lower Mainland urban communities also prevented its location in Vancouver. Instead, the decision was to build the provincial university on an approximately three thousand-acre site at Point Grey, outside the city limits of Vancouver but with easier access to the strong and diverse economy developing around its railhead, port, and contiguous Fraser Valley region. Point Grey had been designated as Crown Land so that the matter of prior Musqueam First Nations ownership was not then considered a factor of consequence (fig. 3). A different dimension of location is manifest in most of the documents associated with the selection of both the site and the design for UBC. This argument concerned the localization of competing national and international interests, including British and Anglo - Canadian anxiety about growing United States and German industrial advantage. The 1910 Site Commission, February 1912 Competition jury reports, and November 1913 Report on the Comprehensive Design for the Future Development of the Buildings and Grounds of the University of British Columbia had members from the province but a preponderance of non-resident experts: from eastern Canadian universities. These were from Macdonald College, McGill Universitys Agricultural College, Laval University, Queens University, and the University of New Brunswick in 1910. In 1912 they brought in two British architects, W. Douglas Caroe and Arthur Cox, and in 1913 they included the celebrated English landscape architect, Thomas Mawson, together with William Laird, professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Montreal-based
fig. 5b. elevation foR the univeRsity of b.C. | by thomas hooPeR.
fig. 6. tRinity College. | masteR Plan by william buRgess, 1873.
benefit by the financial advantage that should accrue through its construction and operation. This issue was partially obscured by reference to contemporary discourse on education that promoted the ideal of natural rather than urban setting as means to protect the physical and moral health of undergraduates.
civil engineer, Richard Durley. One of the three reports of the 1912 jury stressed the ultimate value of British example but also the primacy of expressing British Columbian identity. The aim was, typical of modernity and its imperial purview, a positioning of contemporary institution in a distinct reconfiguration of, supposedly, enduring historical exemplar. One of the competing architects, Thomas Hooper from Vancouver, best articulated this weave of design intent in the bound portfolio he entered, titled The Authors Interpretation of the Promoters Instructions (1912). He had inspected all the larger universities of Canada, the United States and Great Britain and it has been [his] endeavor to suggest the atmosphere of the older Universities of England, combined with the practical advantages of a modern university. That modern university he and most contemporaries knew to be an American (and German) phenomenon, somewhat emulated in newer British urban institutions such as Birmingham University (Aston Webb from 1900) (figs. 4a and 4b). Its Edwardian Classical styling may have encouraged Hooper to adapt his own sophisticated Northern Italian Renaissance idiom for UBC as delineated in drawings for the facilities specified for the first phase of construction: Arts and Science Buildings, Agricultural Building, Residential Buildings and Power House (figs. 5a and 5b). But their layout followed American principles, and were intended for chiefly American pedagogy and administration. Hooper considered that he had combined greatest accommodation for modern methods of administration and instruction, with the atmosphere of the older universities which undoubtedly had a very definite influence upon the young. His architectural articulation, however, offended the jury which included the well-known Victoria-based Arts and Crafts architect, Samuel Maclure.
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Most of the nineteen competitorsall practising in Canada but several with experience elsewhere in the British Empire opted for a free rendering of late Tudor or Elizabethan or Scotch Baronial, which had readier British association despite extensive use in the States. Indeed, in their second, confidential, report the jury pondered recommending a second competition requiring the freer and flexible Northern styles to be open to architects practicing in the British Empire and not merely the Dominion of Canada. There was anglicized American precedent in William Burgess scheme for the elite anglophiliac Trinity College at Hartford, Connecticut, begun in 1873 (fig. 6). Yet other republican American institutions, from Henry Ives Cobbs University of Chicago (1893) to Walter Cope and John Stewardsons buildings at Princeton (1897-1903; continued by Ralph Adams Cram for the Graduate College, 1906-1911), followed this stylistic precedent (figs. 7a and 7b). No doubt those architects were motivated by its academic heritage as well as by what might be termed, in adaptation of Pierre Bourdieu, current professional habitus in design. The stylistic mix matched the ideological claims for British societal modernity: as seat of democracy and scene of, among other framers of emergent transoceanic mindset, Shakespeare and Darwin. The Tudor age was reified as the harbinger of British expansion, enterprise, experimentation, and power. There is a further explanation. Public opinion in British Columbia resisted the influence of McGilland more so that of Montreal financial powerwhile by 1906 accepting the necessity of its involvement in founding a provincial university. This conflicted attitude disclosed the internal colonial structure of the Dominion, in which Montreal, as headquarters of such corporations as the CPR, Bank of
Montreal, and Macdonald Tobacco, exercised considerable control over the daily regimen of British Columbia. In 1905 Sir William Macdonald had guaranteed funding of five thousand dollars per annum over three years to establish the McGill University College at Vancouver. The several recent buildings Macdonald had donated to McGillincluding the Physics Building (Sir Andrew Taylor, 1893) where Tory had assisted Ernest Rutherford on atomic researchwere Scots Baronial, adding to the earlier mainly Classic Revival edifices forming the U-shaped McGill campus (figs. 8a and 8b). Thus the Gothic decoration and axial plan selected by the jury in 1912 represented an effective combination of autonomy with currency. In the 1912 Instructions and Regulations of the Competition for University Buildings for the Provincial Government of British Columbia, such localization was articulated in these sentences: it is not desired to erect blocks or palaces [] Rather should the effect be sought by picturesque outline and simple detail, culminating at various vistas with some buildings made a work of art. The winning architects, George L. Sharp and Charles Thompson of Vancouver, attained that compromise by simplified Gothic dressing axial planning; and by intelligently accommodating what the Instructions interestingly denominated The Problem (fig. 9). That was the request for a comprehensive scheme worthy of the aspiration of the Province, and Dominion, but only through limited initial construction: Liberal Arts and Science Facilities, Dormitories, School of Mines, Administration, and Power House. Their listing of specific disciplinary units was lengthier and ranged from Fine Arts to Agriculture. Both the architects and the jury heeded Macdonalds insistence that his support must result in a non-sectarian, progressive, and practical
fig. 7a. the univeRsity of ChiCago. | masteR Plan by

henRy i. Cobb, 1893.
fig. 7b. PRinCeton univeRsity. ext. view of staffoRd little & blaiR halls. | by CoPe & stewaRdson, 1897-1903.
fig. 8a. mCgill univeRsity. maCdonald PhysiCs building. | by siR andRew tayloR ,1893.
fig. 8b. mCgill univeRsity. aRts building | by ostell &

bRowne,1839-45.
pedagogy. A Roman Catholic turned secularist and highly successful entrepreneur, Macdonald, through Dr. Henry Tory, influenced the BC Minister of Education, Henry Esson Young, to accept the McGill model: an emphasis on functional curriculum favouring the sciences, no religious affiliation, a single provincial university,
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51
fig. 9. the univeRsity of b.C. | ComPetition design by shaRP & thomPson, 1912.
fig. 10. the univeRsity of b.C. | Revised Plan by shaRP & thomPson, 1912-3.
and admission of women. Higher education in the Maritime Provinces, and in Quebec and Ontario, had been bedevilled by Christian denominational rivalry and by institutional proliferation. Nonetheless, and notwithstanding British scientific acumen, the Protestant tradition, and especially the Church of England, had become entrenched in educational curriculum as well as in the populist mythology of Empire. The Christian churches provided a reliable source of funding and enrolment in such a numerically small nation state as Canada. So without exceeding the Instructions, Sharp and Thompson introduced a chapel (at the southern end of the main campus) and a Theological Square(on the west flank). In fact, the provision of theological space would increase over the ensuing two years of
plan development for the Point Grey campus. The Point Grey topography included a prominent ridge running west of north-south, which the jury also judged George L. Sharp and Charles Thompson to have best exploited. The jury report nonetheless required careful reconsideration of several aspects of their proposal (estimated to cost one million seven hundred thousand dollars). That led to the compilation of the Report on the Comprehensive Design for the Future Development of the Buildings and Grounds of the University of British Columbia. It was published in November 1913, some six months after Sharp and Thompson had published theirslightly rev i s e d p la n , p lu s a cco m p a ny in g
description in the June 20 issue of the Building News (fig. 10). They also added a perspective of the Arts Quadrangle showing off their Free Tudor style, which the jury had found to contain too much hardness and regularity (fig 11). The synthesis of American with British precedent is even more evident in the revised plan. The grand axial plan and quadrangular ordering of administrative and academic facility correspond with the similarly topographic/vista-driven scheme Albert Doyle devised in 1912 for another Pacific Northwest academy, Reed College at Portland, Oregon; an earlier, smaller, exemplar is the campus Cope and Richardson designed in 1899 for Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri, harking back to the original open-ended quadrangle at the University
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of Virginia (figs. 12a and 12b). Sharp and Thompson were certainly aware of the differently styled if more rigorously ordered campus plans for Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), or the Rice Institute at Houston, Texas (figs. 13a and 13b). However, and most obvious in the first of their revisions, a block plan inscribed No. 2, Sharp and Thompsons more compact quadrangles advance northward astride a broad Mall (fig. 14). This wide mall engages the magnificent maritime/ mountain scenery in a sequence of symmetrically placed structures: still central Chapel; Dormitories on the college model; Administration Building with Assembly/ Convocation Hall again in a central position; Agriculture, Biology, Fine Arts, and Pedagogy (east) and Medicine and Physics (west); Library and Museum either side of the main university square; Arts and Languages (east) and Chemistry (west); School of Engineering plus Power House (east) and School of Mines (west); ending with diminutive cruciform buildings for Philosophy (east) and Law (west). To the southeast lay the Athletics Field and, further away, the two-hundred-acre farm, with, moving down the east side of the campus, a Drill hall, Parade Ground and Stadium, Womens College, Theological Square (their placement switched from the 1912 competition plan), plus a circular precinct for university workers cottages. To the west on the Building News plan, and replacing the fan of five theological buildings on the 1912 plan, housing for Faculty and the University president. Buoyed by demographic and economic growth, despite the 1913 South American railway stock crash, the architects and commissioners imagined an even grander and more comprehensive scheme (fig. 15). To those ends the Commissioners divided their description of the modified Block Plan into sections headed: FUNCTION,
S O L U T I O N , M AT E R I A L S & S T Y L E , IMMEDIATE BUILDING PROGRAMME, SOLUTION OF TOPOGR APHIC AL OR LANDSCAPE PROBLEM, TRANSIT, and ENGINEERING & SERVICE. They also arranged all the disciplinary and academic units by tractprecinctsfrom Administration, Library, Museum, and Convocation Hall, to Faculty Residences and Future Dormitories. The organization is much more formal while the scale is frankly monumental. The southerly anchor is no longer a chapel but the Student Union and Faculty Club. With the exception of the dormitories, the major disciplinary quadrangles revise the open campus plan type William Wilkins had inaugurated; and these afford enlarged accommodation for law and for commerce. The northern, English Bay front is still commanded by Engineering and Mining. The eastern public entrance is aligned to projected streets running from Vancouver quite opposite to the protective moat of faculty housing and ancillary facilities envisaged in the original Sharp and Thompson competition plan. That access leads into a spacious formally landscaped square dominated by the Administration Tower and Convocation Hall. The other major change is tremendous increase in the medical complex and introduction of a large pavilion-type hospital placed on the east flank together with an even bigger array of theological buildings. The political culture of provincial and Canadian social economy has become inscribed in that element of imaginary structure. It is not just a matter of the significance of the Christian denominations, but also the religious and secular enthusiasm for medicine, preoccupation with the practical application of knowledge. and allegiance to Dominion Militia. All those factors resonate with contemporary McGill policy and the conceptual strategy for the universities under development
fig. 11. the univeRsity of b.C. elevation foR aRts quadRangle & libRaRy. | by shaRP & thomPson, 1912-3.
fig. 12a. Reed College. | masteR Plan by a. doyle, C1912.
fig. 12b. washington univeRsity. | Plan by CoPe &

stewaRdson, C1900.
fig. 13a. univeRsity of CalifoRnia. | dRawing of

emile benaRds fiRst PRize design, 1899.
fig. 13b. stanfoRd univeRsity. | dRawing of olmsted &

Coolidges masteR Plan, 1886.
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53
fig. 16a. the univeRsity of albeRta. | dRawing of geneRal

building sCheme looking noRth by PeRCy nobbs, 1912.
fig. 14. the univeRsity of b.C. | Plan no.2 by

shaRP & thomPson, 1912.
fig. 16b. the univeRsity of saskatChewan. ChemistRy building | elevation by david bRown, 1912/1924.
style matched both the idea of Dominion partnership in Empire and of the consolidation of Confederation. Each localized bureaucratic and municipal renewal occurring in Britain anchored about the scientific modernization of still essentially feudal cultural tradition. Hence the provisions in the 1913 scheme to link the University to the City. Underlying the plan development was the argument proto-propagandaof democratic imperial legitimation: the British Empire as the authentic site and source of democratic civil society. The notion of Dominion leadership in enactment of superior British societal principle was a component in nascent Canadian nationalism and differentiated North Americanism. The imperial American solution became more pronounced in the resulting final plan of June 1914 (fig. 17). First, the road links are doubled to Vancouver and its growing regional economythen rivalling the US Northwest following the completion of the second transcontinental Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Second, the chiefly quadrangular pedagogical and administrative or service facilities have been rationalized, partly through contraction. Third, the modern engines of Empire and Dominionreligious, cultural, and scientifichave been further consolidated in the eastern precinct. It is much more prominent, almost matching the architectural mass of the main campus to which it stands in remarkable contiguity yet distinction. That physical relationship can be regarded as a figure of Canadas positioning between the British Empire and the United States of North America. So also is the type and placement of its institutional features. At the more prominent northern sectionvisible to maritime traffic and Vancouveris an interconnected sequence of Theological Colleges. Their quasi-quadrangular layout denotes common religious patrimony but connotes
fig. 17. the univeRsity of b.C. | masteR Plan, biRds eye view
by shaRP & thomPson, 1914.
fig. 15. the univeRsity of b.C. | bloCk Plan by

shaRP & thomPson,1913.
fig. 18. the univeRsity of b.C. | PRoPosed masteR Plan by

shaRP & thomPson, 1925.
for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta (figs. 16a and 16b). Interestingly, the campus at Edmonton, Alberta, was conceived in a similarly cross-axial, if more Renaissance mode, by Percy Nobbs, Head of the School of Architecture at McGill. The revised UBC solution is thoroughly North American while being Canadian
through conscious reference to the cultural genealogy of British Empire (fig. 15). Its increasingly anxious ontology but active hubris is evident in the 1913 text. The Modern Tudor was held to express and perpetuate the traditions of British scholastic life, like its industry, outstripped by American and German praxis. That figuration of architectural
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JSSAC | JSAC 35 > N o 1 > 2010
fig. 19a. the univeRsity of bRitish Columbia. sCienCe building & libRaRy. C1947
fig. 19b. west Point u.s. militaRy aCademy. | by CRam

goodhue & feRguson, 1908.
divided liturgical system and social force. But the Christian denominations, and especially the Established (Anglican) Church of which the sovereign was (and is) defender, were essential to the work and face of Empire: justification for colonization and its many appropriations and impositions, and often agent of its civilizing educational and medical mission. Locally, as indicated, the Churches could assure steady enrolment, endowment, and general support for the universitys purpose and organization. Next come an enlarged Drill Hall and Parade Ground alongside the now quite monumental Stadium, representing the alliance of sporting with military disciplining of the body so prevalent at the British Public (private) Schools that officered Empire. Thereafter stand the Womens College and Medical-Hospital complex as respectively the third and fourth scaffolds of Empire; the one guarantor of dynastic/ racial advantage, and the other of healthy administrators. The architectonic fabrication of modern Canadian academic and state authority
at the University of British Columbia was thus imperial and American. The architectural visage, even upon limited realization 1923-1925, recalled British antecedent but mirrored American practice (fig. 18). The simplified Gothic idiom of the only two original edifices to be built (foundations dug in 1914), the Library and Science Building, recalled Ralph Adams Cram, Ber tram Goodhue, and Frank Fergusons 1910 designs for the United States Military Academy at West Point (figs. 19a and 19b). And the University of British Columbia (at Point Grey) derived from initiatives mooted during the 1880s when the British Prime Minister William Gladstone had predicted the transfer to the United States of British imperium. The actual moment of that transfer would occur as a consequence of British expenditure, social as well as economic, in the Great War. The conflict stopped work on the construction of the Collegiate Gothic/ City Beautiful scheme conceived for UBC between 1912 and 1914. The universitys modern American yet imperial British purpose was reiterated at the inaugural
meeting of the Senate on July 3, 1915, when its ultimate allegiance became clear in the main resolution: The members of the Senate were unanimous in their belief that compulsory military training should be demanded of all men students who were physically fit.
notes
1. I gratefully acknowledge the help and advice of Christopher Hives, University archivist at UBC, and his staff, as well as Professor Peter McNally, official historian of McGill University. The text is based upon a paper presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians at Pasadena.
souRces
The main documentary sources for this article reside in the University Archives at UBC and primarily in the Presidents Office Fonds, box 8. This includes the designs and plans, Bill for the University together with the original University Act of 1890 and the McGill sponsored institutions, plus the reports of the committee charged with selecting the site and deciding upon both the specifications and competition for the University as well as its successive modifications (notably in files 8, 9, 10, and 11). The 1913 Building News article
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55
is in box 6 of the Presidents Office Fonds, and the article on p. 848-849, issue no. 3050, June 20, 1913. The various designs and plans are archived together with the folio Report Accompanying the Plans and Designs entered by Thomas Hooper. The designs and some of the documentary materials are reproduced on the UBC Library and Archives website: [www.library.ubc.ca/archives/early_docs. html]. The website also includes reference to a specific graduate research project, Recovering the University Fabric, including one component by Emma Norman, for Pre-University: First Nations and Early Commercial Presence. The main secondary sources are: for (North) American university architecture, Turner, Paul, 1984, Campus: An American Planning Tradition, Cambridge (MA), MIT Press; for the earlier history of UBC, Damer, Eric and Herbert Roengarten, 2009, UBC The First 100 Years, Vancouver, University of British Columbia; and Howay, Frederic William Howay and Ethelbert Olaf Stuart Scholefield, 1914, British Columbia from the Earliest Times to the Present, Vancouver, S.J. Clarke, esp. p. 705-707; for the development of the province and the city respectively, Barman, Jean, 1996, West Beyond the West: a History of British Columbia, Toronto, University of Toronto Press; and McDonald, Robert A.J., 1996, Making Vancouver: Class, Status and Social Boundaries 1863-1913, Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press; for the site selection, Harris, Cole, winter 1976-1977, Locating the University of British Columbia, BC Studies, no. 32, p. 106-125; and for the contemporary architectural profession and culture in BC, Luxton, Don (ed.), 2003, Building the West. The Early Architects of British Columbia, Vancouver, Talon Books. See also: Barrett, Anthony A. and Rhodri Windsor Liscombe, 1983, Francis Mawson Rattenbury and British Columbia Architecture and Challenge in the Imperial Age, Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press; and Windsor Liscombe, Rhodri, 2004, Fabricating Legalities of Taste in the Imperial West, Law. Text. Culture, vol. 8, p. 57-82. The revised 1923-1925 scheme for UBC was published in the September-October 1923 issue of the Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, p. 173-179, interestingly with a separate article on the University of Alberta, p. 159-164.
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essaY | essaI
l APPort de lA MorPhologie urBAine dAns une PersPeCtive dintervention sur un seCteur historique le quartier ouest de larrondissement de ville-Marie Montral
Dtenteur dun doctorat en amnagement, FRANOIS RACINE est architecte et urbaniste. Il enseigne la morphologie urbaine et le design architectural et urbain la Facult de lamnagement de lUniversit de montral. Ses recherches portent sur le processus de formation et de transformation des milieux btis qubcois et concernent, plus particulirement, larticulation entre lanalyse morphologique et les projets dintervention. Il a fond avec Ccile Baird, lAtelier B.R.I.C. une firme darchitecture et durbanisme, spcialise dans les tudes typo-morphologiques ainsi que les projets de design architectural et urbain.
> Franois raCinE
Carte a. le teRRitoiRe ltude, dessin PaRtiR du Plan de Cane datant de 1846. | banq.
e texte vise dmontrer lintrt de la dmarche danalyse en morphologie urbaine, permettant de comprendre le processus de formation et de transformation du tissu urbain dun secteur donn de Montral, soit le quartier ouest de larrondissement Ville-Marie1. Cette dmarche, sinscrivant dans une perspective de continuit historique, peut fournir les grandes orientations suivre lors dun projet de ramnagement urbain. Le quartier situ sur le flanc sud du mont Royal est dlimit par la falaise SaintJacques, la rue Guy et lavenue Atwater. Nous nous attarderons en particulier sur le rle des institutions dans la fabrication de ce tissu urbain. Au rythme des cycles de croissance du faubourg, les rapports stablissent et se complexifient entre les btiments institutionnels et le tissu urbain en fonction des mutations de la socit qubcoise : priode de colonisation, formation des lites, Rvolution tranquille, etc. Ds le dbut de la fondation de VilleMarie, nous assistons durant prs de deux cents ans la mise en place et la consolidation du chteau des Messieurs de SaintSulpice sur leur domaine juch flanc de montagne. Au milieu du dix-neuvime sicle, un plan de lotissement est dress par larchitecte John Ostell afin de convertir le domaine religieux en un quartier rsidentiel bourgeois. Ce qui est hrit de ce plan densemble du dix-neuvime sicle, ce sont des parcelles, des lots et un rseau viaire qui seront passablement malmens par les oprations typiques de lurbanisme fonctionnaliste de la seconde moiti du vingtime sicle. La priode actuelle est marque par lattnuation du phnomne drosion du tissu du faubourg, grce notamment limplantation
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57
Franois raCinE > essAY | essAi
ill. 1. les touRs du Chteau des messieuRs de saint-sulPiCe. | f. RaCine.
des artefacts (phnomnes dorigine humaine), et, ce titre, elles peuvent tre tudies en elles-mmes2. Cette optique est diffrente de celle des sciences humaines (homme-environnement) o lenvironnement bti est considr comme une toile de fond secondaire par rapport aux interactions sociales qui y prennent place3. La discipline sattarde directement lobjet, cest--dire aux formes urbaines comme tant le rsultat dune action humaine, plutt que de sintresser au sujet, lindividu dans son environnement urbain et social. Lorsque nous tudions la ville, nous nous attardons lobjet physique, cest-dire aux formes urbaines en tant que rsultat dune action humaine. Ce postulat signifie que les formes urbaines sont rvlatrices de lactivit humaine ddification, soit de laction de construire des btiments, des villes. euxime principe : la forme de la ville D ne peut tre comprise qu partir de la manire dont elle a t produite dans le temps, dans lhistoire 4 . Selon ce postulat, les formes urbaines actuelles reprsentent lenregistrement dun processus de formation saisissable uniquement dans une perspective historique et volutive. Ltat actuel de la forme urbaine nous renseigne sur les multiples tapes de son long processus de formation et de transformation. La morphologie urbaine considre la forme urbaine comme une entit dynamique et constamment changeante insre dans une relation dialectique avec les producteurs et les usagers5. roisime principe : les formes urbaiT nes ne se fabriquent pas au hasard ou de faon chaotique ; elles obissent des rgles, des lois propres quil est
ill. 2. la maison de J.-w.-a.-R.-masson. | f. RaCine.
et la croissance de nouvelles institutions telle lUniversit Concordia. En fait, notre recherche en morphologie urbaine nous amne analyser les phases de formation et de transformation de Montral afin de montrer le rle dterminant des institutions dans la structuration de lespace urbain.
Afin de situer notre recherche dans le domaine de la morphologie urbaine, revenons dabord sur les trois principes lorigine du systme thorique de cette discipline : remier principe : les formes urbaiP nes sont des objets culturels, soit
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JSSAC | JSAC 35 > N o 1 > 2010
possible de dcoder et de rvler6. Ce postulat saveur structuraliste sinscrit dans les courants dides qui ont permis lmergence de la morphologie la fin des annes 19507 et il permet donc dtudier les formes comme une structure, en dautres termes, comme un systme dans lequel les lments entretiennent des relations mutuelles de solidarit et de complmentarit qui assurent la prennit de lorganisme urbain. Cette vision du monde struc ture et organise est une conception centrale en morphologie urbaine. tudier les formes urbaines permet de dceler les traditions constructives dune collectivit et ses modes de spatialisation ; cest rvler les mcanismes spontans luvre avant lmergence au Qubec dune discipline la fois thorique et pratique visant lorganisation des tablissements humains, lurbanisme8. Plusieurs chercheurs europens en morphologie urbaine ont mis laccent sur limportance des monuments dans la structuration de la ville traditionnelle. Certains lments singuliers de la ville, les btiments monumentaux, sont les points fixes de la dynamique urbaine et, de ce fait, ils forment en quelque sorte sa mmoire9. De ce ct de lAtlantique, nous avons notre disposition de nombreuses tudes historiques sur les difices des communauts religieuses, dont ceux qui nous intressent, les difices rigs par les Sulpiciens10. Cependant le rle de ces derniers dans la fabrication de la ville demeure encore lucider. Pour ce faire, nous allons tudier le dveloppement dun ensemble institutionnel dans la structuration dun quartier particulier de Montral11. Le quartier ouest du centre-ville de Montral est un maillon important du tissu urbain montralais et tmoigne des facteurs de continuit
assurs par les ensembles monumentaux dans la ville, sorte de mmoire de la forme urbaine, et ce, du dix-septime au vingt et unime sicle12. Les limites actuelles de ce quartier correspondent au domaine des Sulpiciens qui stendait au dix-septime sicle louest de lactuelle rue Guy, au nord de lactuel boulevard Ren-Lvesque, lest de la rue Greene et au sud du chemin de la Cte-des-Neiges. Le secteur dtude recoupe grosso modo le domaine des Sulpiciens aujourdhui englob dans le tissu urbain montralais. Pour voir comment stablissent les rapports morphologiques entre les institutions et le tissu urbain du quartier ouest de larrondissement de Ville-Marie, nous procderons une analyse diachronique polyphase. Des plans darchives13 et actuels14 permettent de reconstituer les grandes phases de formation et de transformation du tissu urbain de 1642 1842, de 1842 1890, de 1890 1949 et de 1949 aujourdhui. Lanalyse approfondie des cartes des dates cls 1842, 1890, 1949, 2006 permet didentifier les lments qui ordonnent la fabrication de lespace urbain. Des photos darchives15 sont aussi utilises afin de montrer les caractristiques du bti et des espaces urbains aux diffrentes phases. Les vnements ethnohistoriques significatifs qui ont contribu au dveloppement urbain du territoire sont aussi retracs. Voici les quatre phases telles que dfinies dans cette recherche : a premire phase, de 1642 1842, L stend sur une priode de deux cents ans. Elle est caractrise par les premiers dcoupages agricoles de lle de Montral aprs la fondation de Ville-Marie et par lamnagement du domaine des Sulpiciens sur le secteur ltude.
a deuxime phase, de 1842 1890, L illustre la formation, au cours de cinquante ans, dun quartier rsidentiel sur le domaine des Sulpiciens et autour du couvent des surs grises. a troisime phase, de cinquante ans L aussi, de 1890 1949, montre la densification presque complte du quartier et la confirmation de la vocation commerciale de la rue Sainte-Catherine. a d e r n i r e p h a s e , d e 19 4 9 L aujourdhui, est celle de la transformation du tissu urbain du quartier. Lespace urbain est modifi par llargissement et le percement de voies de circulation et par la construction de btiments de plus grand gabarit, dont ceux de lUniversit Concordia. Voyons maintenant en dtail les phnomnes morphologiques observables partir des cartes, des illustrations et des photographies utilises dans la prsente recherche.
1642 1842 : les pRemIeRs dcoupages du teRRItoIRe

Daprs le plan de James Cane (voir la carte A), de 1846, le chteau des Messieurs de Saint-Sulpice situ sur le flanc sud de la montagne est encore cette poque en pleine campagne. Le btiment a t rehauss de deux tages dans sa partie centrale, renforant ainsi la perspective visuelle de lalle de desserte. Le chemin daccs dbouche sur le portique dentre de la partie sud du mur denceinte cadr par deux tours dangles en poivrire qui sont encore prsentes aujourdhui (illustration 1). Lalle dbouchant sur le chteau des Sulpiciens dfinit un axe visuel encadr par les deux tours dfensives. Grce cet axe monumental, le btiment tablit une forte relation avec le domaine limitrophe. limage des chteaux mdivaux, le fort
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Carte B. le teRRitoiRe ltude, dessin PaRtiR du Plan de goad datant de 1890. | banq.
domine la campagne environnante. Cette configuration particulire porte en elle larmature dun tissu urbain en devenir. Des villas, riges sur de grandes parcelles, bordent le Grand-chemin-de-la-HauteFolie. Ce chemin ceinture la limite sud du domaine des Sulpiciens (aujourdhui le boulevard Ren-Lvesque) et longe la crte de la falaise Saint-Jacques. Les vues offertes sont un lment de valorisation foncire expliquant linstallation dans ce secteur de rsidences cossues. La premire de ces villas, le chteau SaintAntoine, construit en 1803, ferme laxe monumental de lalle desservant le chteau. Cette disposition traduit linfluence, quoique encore timide, de la tradition noclassique europenne en Amrique du Nord. Directement lest de cette villa, la cte de la rue des Seigneurs permet de rejoindre le faubourg Saint-Antoine qui se dveloppe rapidement au sud-est du domaine. Au milieu de dix neuvime
sicle, on difie la maison Masson louest du chteau Saint-Antoine (ill. 2). Plus au nord, la rue Sherbrooke sinterrompt la rue Guy, dont un seul ct est loti.
1842 1890 : la FoRmatIon dun quaRtIeR RsIdentIel

Au milieu du dix-neuvime sicle, une pression foncire se fait sentir sur le domaine des Sulpiciens. Lexpansion progressive de la ville vers louest incite ces derniers morceler leur domaine et vendre des parties de leurs terrains. En 1842, John Ostell, architecte et arpenteur de la Ville de Montral, est charg de llaboration dun plan directeur devant orienter le dveloppement urbain de la portion nord-ouest de la ville en incluant les terrains du domaine. Notons que ce dernier est galement responsable de la construction du btiment phare du nouveau quartier, le Grand Sminaire, qui remplace le chteau des Sulpiciens.
La trame en damier dOstell dfinit des lots de base orients dest en ouest (voir la carte B). Ainsi la configuration du tissu diffre du mode traditionnel de lotissement des faubourgs montralais driv du cadastre agricole, gnralement orient du nord au sud. Conformment lorientation volumtrique du Grand Sminaire, le lotissement de John Ostell stire dest en ouest. La relation entre ldifice monumental et le domaine saffirme ainsi davantage. La carte B montre la grande flexibilit de la trame urbaine propose par Ostell. Les lots rectangulaires peuvent tre scinds en deux, permettant la constitution de rues locales, sorte de ruelles bordes dhabitations. Notons aussi la volont dOstell dinstaller une place publique le long de la rue Sainte-Catherine, afin de dfinir un espace darticulation avec le quartier en formation de Westmount. Cela dmontre sa volont dordonner la croissance de la trame urbaine montralaise en prvoyant une articulation avec le quartier situ louest du Grand Sminaire. Notons enfin limplantation en 1871 du couvent des Surs grises et ldification de btiments rsidentiels sur les lots qui ceinturent, au nord et louest, cette institution. La fine modularit du lotissement et le parcellaire troit dfinis par Ostell constituent un systme de partition de lespace au service dune nouvelle typologie : la maison bourgeoise en range. Un aspect intressant de cette typologie comprenant une ou deux habitations superposes est la similarit de leurs traits architecturaux avec ceux des difices monumentaux voisins. La pierre grise est le matriau dominant de parement. De plus, chaque maison sinscrit selon une composition gnrale o la continuit des frises horizontales et des couronnements et la rigueur de la composition rappellent les traits architecturaux des ensembles monumentaux voisins (ill. 3 et 4).
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1890 1949 : la densIFIcatIon du quaRtIeR

Au dbut du vingtime sicle, la trame urbaine imagine par John Ostell durant la phase prcdente est pratiquement entirement btie (voir la car te C). Lors de cette phase de densification du quartier, nous assistons limplantation dune nouvelle typologie rsidentielle : les conciergeries. Ces immeubles sont rigs principalement dans la portion nord-ouest, le long de la rue Saint-Luc (actuellement nomme le boulevard De Maisonneuve). Ces logements compacts pourvus dune lumire naturelle abondante et dquipements sanitaires modernes sont destins des familles aises16. En face du collge de Montral, le long de la rue Sherbrooke, les conciergeries sont groupes entre elles afin de former des btiments lots dlimitant des cours intrieures aux proportions monumentales. Nous constatons ici le passage une chelle doccupation plus intense des lots ostelliens, qui passe des maisons accoles un linaire de btiments plus pais avec des redents slevant sur quatre tages. Ces immeubles sont aussi organiss autour de cours intrieures de plus petite taille. Le parcellaire dorigine commence seffacer au profit de formes urbaines dfinies lchelle des lots entiers. Ces nouvelles typologies semblent toutefois encore sadapter la forme des lots hrits de la phase prcdente17. De plus, ces ensembles dfinissent un front bti qui rpond lordre monumental du Grand Sminaire de Montral. La rue Sainte-Catherine se spcialise avec limplantation de typologies mixtes, rsidentielles et commerciales, parmi les typologies des maisons bourgeoises de la priode prcdente. Les nouveaux btiments couvrent gnralement plusieurs parcelles. Le Western Square (aujourdhui nomm le square Cabot), prvu dans le
ill. 3. maisons en Range ConstRuites veRs 1890. | f.RaCine.
ill. 4. aile du Couvent des suRs gRises. | f.RaCine.
projet initial de lotissement de John Ostell, est amnag limage des squares montralais au coin des rues Atwater et Sainte-Catherine, avec sentiers convergents et fontaine centrale (ill. 5). Dans les annes 1920, le Forum occupe le ct nord de la place et lhpital de Montral pour enfants, le ct sud. La bibliothque
Atwater, la plus ancienne bibliothque du Canada, fonde en 1828 mais occupant maintenant un difice de 1920, borde le ct ouest. Ces quipements ainsi que le thtre Sville, construit en 1924 au coin des rues Sainte-Catherine et Chomedey, font de ce secteur un lieu trs anim de la vie montralaise.
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1949 2006 : la tRansFoRmatIon du tIssu uRbaIn

Aprs la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le paysage urbain du secteur se transforme encore une fois (voir la carte D). Llargissement du boulevard Dorchester (actuel boulevard Ren-Lvesque) fait partie des grands projets urbanistiques de lpoque, visant amliorer la fluidit de la circulation automobile vers le futur centre des affaires de Montral. Cette stratgie damnagement dcoule dune vision fonctionnaliste o les planificateurs de cette priode tentent de transformer la vocation du centre-ville en lieu de travail et daffecter la couronne montralaise en lieu de rsidence dortoir18. Des oprations importantes de voirie vont faciliter les mouvements vhiculaires quotidiens entre les lieux de travail situs au centre-ville et les quartiers rsidentiels la priphrie. Dans cette optique, des lots entiers et des btiments isols bordant la portion du boulevard Ren-Lvesque qui traverse le quartier sont dmolis. En vue de limplantation de lautoroute Ville-Marie, des tunnels et des bretelles sont installs lextrmit sud des rues du Fort et Guy, de part et dautre de lactuel lot quoccupe le Centre Canadien dArchitecture. Lors de la construction du mtro et de la station Guy-Concordia, des dmolitions ont lieu afin de relier le nouveau boulevard De Maisonneuve lancienne rue SaintLuc, situe louest de Guy. La station est ouverte en 1966, langle de la rue Guy et du boulevard De Maisonneuve, lendroit o sinstallera lUniversit Concordia. En 1976, lespace triangulaire rsiduel devant la station est nomm place NormanBethune. Le cadre bti dfinissant lespace de cette place reste toutefois dfinir19. Des tours dhabitation et des tours de bureaux remplacent progressivement les btiments rsidentiels de petit gabarit du
Carte C. le teRRitoiRe ltude, dessin PaRtiR dun Plan de la ville de montRal datant de 1949. | banq.
ill. 5. le squaRe Cabot. | f.RaCine.
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boulevard De Maisonneuve et de la rue Lincoln. Ce phnomne de transformation du cadre bti se produit aussi ailleurs dans le secteur. Ces ensembles btis refltent la vision moderniste applique au quartier avec lide dune ville verticale devant effacer progressivement la ville hrite du dix-neuvime sicle. Lillustration 6 montre la coexistence des deux conceptions de la ville, celle hrite du dix-neuvime sicle et celle de la ville verticale telle que vhicule dans la doctrine de lurbanisme fonctionnaliste dcoulant des congrs internationaux darchitecture moderne (CIAM), vision formelle fort adapte au phnomne de spculation foncire affectant le quartier ouest. Depuis les annes 1980, il y a une remise en question du modle fonctionnaliste avec la sauvegarde et la restauration de nombreux btiments dintrt patrimonial, comme les maisons en range hrites de la deuxime phase de formation du tissu urbain (ill. 3). Des mesures ont permis de mettre en valeur le patrimoine bti du quartier ouest, par exemple lancienne maison Shaughnessy, dsigne site historique en 1974. Cette maison a t restaure et intgre au Centre Canadien dArchitecture, construit en 19851988. Limplantation du CCA et de son jardin a permis la restructuration dune portion du boulevard Ren-Lvesque et la mise en valeur de la rue Baile. Notons aussi la prise en compte du gabarit des immeubles de trois tages, hrits des priodes prcdentes, dans la dfinition du socle du nouveau btiment de lUniversit Concordia (ill. 7).
Carte d. le teRRitoiRe ltude, dessin PaRtiR dun Plan de la ville datant de 2006. | base CaRtogRaPhique ville
de montRal.
conclusIon : un quaRtIeR en deVenIR

Lhistoire urbaine du quartier ouest de Montral stale sur une priode de trois cent cinquante ans. La forme urbaine actuelle est le rsultat de laction combine de plusieurs facteurs, dont la volont des congrgations religieuses de stablir
ill. 6. enfilade de touRs ConstRuites suR la Rue linColn entRe 1970 et 1990. | f.RaCine.
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ill. 7. le nouveau Pavillon de luniveRsit ConCoRdia, Rig en 2004. | f.RaCine.
dans un lieu privilgi, flanc de montagne. La transformation de leur vocation sociale a pouss celles-ci mettre en place des oprations foncires servant financer leur croissance. Le rsultat de ces actions se lit encore dans le quartier avec la prsence de grands btiments institutionnels dfinissant une srie despace de jardins en relation avec la trame urbaine de John Ostell. Lillustration 8 montre que le cadre bti, constitu de villas en range du dixneuvime sicle, a perdur principalement dans la portion sud du quartier. La forte spculation foncire a quant elle favoris la mise en place de btiments en hauteur dans la portion nord-est sur le parcellaire trs fin dOstell. Celui-ci est visiblement mal adapt ces implantations, crant des vis--vis et des contrastes dchelle avec les fragments de la ville du dix-neuvime sicle encore en place. La prsence de murs mitoyens aveugles de plus de vingt tages marque fortement le paysage bti du quartier. De fait, ces interventions des
annes 1960 et 1970 illustrent une volont de transformer la ville ancienne selon les dictats de lurbanisme fonctionnaliste. Cette vision est en rupture avec le mode de structuration du quartier en lien avec la croissance des institutions. Lrosion de la structure spatiale du square Cabot lors des oprations de percement et dlargissement des voies est aussi accentue par la disparition de btiments phares que sont le Forum et lHpital pour enfants. Limportance de cette place dans la structuration de la trame urbaine montralaise, pice importante du lotissement de John Ostell, est ici redfinir20. La configuration du boulevard Ren-Lvesque est aussi dfinir, une priode de forte pression foncire favorisant la disparition de plusieurs btiments institutionnels ayant contribu la mise en place du tissu urbain la frange sud du quartier. Le processus de transformation dcrit prcdemment montre les enjeux
urbains actuels pour la revitalisation de ce secteur central de Montral. Notons que le paradigme de la protection patrimoniale est en voie de modifier lapproche guidant la transformation de ce tissu urbain exceptionnel. Dans cette optique et la suite des pressions des acteurs du milieu 21, larrondissement a procd llaboration dun Plan particulier durbanisme (PPU) pour le quartier ouest du centre-ville22. Cet outil urbanistique vise la dfinition dun programme dintervention assurant le dveloppement dune institution denseignement majeure, lUniversit Concordia, et la mise en valeur dun riche patrimoine rsidentiel et institutionnel. Souhaitons que la publication de recherches en morphologique urbaine puisse, comme le mentionne Franoise Choay23, tre utile pour comprendre, et donc pour savoir comment aborder, les problmes des quartiers anciens, quil sagisse de la prservation du patrimoine ou de son volution, voire de son remplacement .
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ill. 8. image de synthse du quaRtieR ouest | atelieR b.R.i.C.
notes
1. Notons que, pour les historiens, le quartier ouest dsigne au dix-neuvime sicle un secteur situ dans le Vieux-Montral actuel. (Linteau, Paul-Andr, 2007, Brve histoire de Montral, Montral, Boral.) Ce toponyme est utilis ici afin de dsigner la portion ouest de larrondissement de Ville-Marie Montral. Il sagit dune appellation contemporaine utilise par les instances publiques pour distinguer le secteur situ louest du centre des affaires de Montral. Notons que le territoire comprend deux entits importantes : le village de Shaughnessy et lUniversit Concordia. Le village de Shaughnessy tire son toponyme de la maison Shaughnessy, dont la restauration et la transformation en muse par le Centre Canadien dArchitecture (CCA) marquent un point tournant dans la renaissance du patrimoine bti rsidentiel du quartier. Anne Vernez-Moudon (1992, A Catholic Approach to Organizing, What Urban Designers Should Know , Journal of Planning Litterature, vol. 6 (mai), p. 332-349 [ Vers une approche globale du design urbain , trad. Catherine Blain, LADRHAUS, p. 10]) affirme quil est possible dtudier les environnements vernaculaires car ce sont des objets culturels qui []
peuvent rvler la relation profonde existant entre les individus et les environnements, et reprsentent les traditions et des habitudes intrinsques du savoir-faire urbain . 3. Anne Vernez-Moudon avance que la plupart des recherches aux tats-Unis portent sur ltude des individus dans leur environnement. Dans les annes 1960, cette orientation est apparue comme un lment essentiel du planning et du design urbain. Selon cette auteure, cette approche est largement critique, parce quelle nglige souvent le ct environnement du couple personne-environnement. Un retour ltude de lobjet a t jug ncessaire par plusieurs architectes influencs par des thoriciens, dont le fondateur de la discipline de la morphologie urbaine, Saverio Muratori. Selon Pier Giorgio Gerosa (1992, lments pour une histoire des thories sur la ville comme artefact et forme spatiale (XVIII e-XXe sicle), Strasbourg, Universit des sciences humaines de Strasbourg, coll. Villes-Socits-Ides , vol. 7, p. 179), lapproche typo-morphologique doit tre envisage comme un historicisme absolu, selon lequel la ralit est histoire et se conoit comme un processus dauto-formation : le pass explique le prsent et le prsent contient lavenir .
5.
Lespace urbain est un langage spatial par lequel sexprime le systme social [] Ce sont les modes de production qui le faonnent. (Allain, Rmy, 2004, Morphologie urbaine, gographie, amnagement et architecture de la ville, Paris, Armand Colin, p. 18.) Lide principale et commune ces travaux (en morphologie urbaine) consistait postuler lexistence dune logique sous-tendant lorganisation du tissu urbain (une morphologie du tissu), et cela diffrentes poques, la reconnaissance de catgories invariantes, de phnomnes de permanence, de rgles de transformation diachronique responsables des mutations tissulaires : lorganisation et le dveloppement dun tissu urbain ne sont pas le fruit du hasard, ils obissent des lois propres. (Lvy, Albert, 1992, La qualit de la forme urbaine. Problmatique et enjeux. Tomes I et II, Nantes, Rapport pour le ministre de lquipement, du Logement et des Transports, Secrtariat permanent du Plan urbain, p. 3.) Les premires recherches morphologiques ont t ralises en Italie en 1959 sous la direction de Saverio Muratori (1910-1973), fondateur de la discipline. En Italie, il nexiste pas de coupure entre la formation de larchitecte et de lurbaniste. Cette particularit permet Muratori de mettre sur pied un enseignement
6.
4.
2.
7.
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analytique et scientifique sur les formes urbaines, dabord lcole darchitecture de Venise, puis celle de Rome. Celui-ci dsire tudier la forme et lorganisation des btiments dans la ville afin dy dceler les savoir-faire anciens. La diffusion des travaux des morphologues italiens va permettre aux tudes morphologiques de prendre ancrage en Europe et de se dvelopper en Amrique du Nord. Louvrage fondateur de Camillo Sitte, intitul LArt de btir les villes et paru en 1889, fait partie des travaux qui ont favoris lmergence de la discipline de la morphologie urbaine. 8. Merlin, Pierre et Franoise Choay, 1988, Dictionnaire de lurbanisme et de lamnagement, Paris, Presses universitaires de France. Notons quen 1948 Harold Spence-Sales fonde la School for Physical Planning de lUniversit McGill. Il faut attendre en 1961 pour voir linstauration dun programme de formation en urbanisme lInstitut durbanisme de lUniversit de Montral. (Voir ce sujet Beaudet, Grard, 2004, LInstitut et lurbanisme au Qubec : 1961/62-2001/02 , dans Un urbanisme ouvert sur le monde, Montral, Universit de Montral, ditions Trames.) 9. Rossi, Aldo, 1981, Larchitecture de la ville, Paris, Lquerre. Ce livre met laccent sur la persistance des monuments travers le temps dans la forme de la ville. Voir galement Castex, Jean, Patrick Celestre et Philippe Panerai, 1981, Lecture dune ville : Versailles, Paris, ditions du Moniteur. Les auteurs ont dmontr le rle du chteau dans la dfinition du tissu urbain de Versailles.
John Alexander Dickinson et Ollivier Hubert, 2007, Les Sulpiciens de Montral. Une histoire de pouvoir et de discrtion 1657-2007, Montral, Fides. 11. Une chronologie illustre du site a t ralise de 1964 1988 par Robert Lemire dans : Richards, Larry, 1989, Centre Canadien darchitecture, architecture et paysage, Montral, CCA. 12. Cette prise de conscience a dailleurs suscit la cration dun regroupement de citoyens vou la prservation de la qualit du milieu de vie rsidentiel. 13. Bibliothque et Archives nationales du Qubec (BAnQ), Collection des cartes et plans : Cane, James, Topographical and Pictorial Map of the City of Montreal, diteur Robert W.S. Mackay, 1846 ; Goad, Charles E., Atlas of the City of Montreal, sous la dir. de Charles E. Goad, ingnieur civil, 1848-1910 ; Underwriters Survey Bureau, Insurance Plan of the City of Montreal, Toronto and Montreal, Underwriters Survey Bureau Limited, 1949-1954. 14. Base numrique de la Ville de Montral, Service de lurbanisme et du dveloppement urbain, arrondissement Ville-Marie, 2006. 15. Notman, William, 1866, archives de la Ville de Montral ; Fonds Edouard Gariepy, archives de la Ville de Montral ; cartes postales de la BaNQ ; Lessard, Michel, 1992, Montral mtropole du Qubec, images oublies de la vie quotidienne 1852-1910, Montral, ditions de lhomme. 16. Communaut urbaine de Montral, 1991, Rpertoire darchitecture traditionnelle sur le territoire de la Communaut urbaine de Montral : architecture domestique II, les appartements, Montral, CUM. 17. Pour en connatre davantage sur le phnomne dautonomisation des typologies architecturales par rapport au tissu urbain, voir : Castex, Jean, Jean-Charles Depaule et Philippe Panerai, 1980, Formes urbaines : de llot la barre, Paris, Dunod. 18. Lortie, Andr, 2004 Les annes 60, Montral voit grand, Montral, CCA, et Vancouver, Douglas & McIntyre. 19. La Ville de Montral a lanc en 2007 un concours visant lamnagement de la place Bethune. 20. Mentionnons que le CCA a lanc en avril 2008 une charrette damnagement visant la restructuration et la revitalisation du square Cabot.
21. Il sagit dun regroupement de citoyens soucieux de questions patrimoniales, de gens daffaires et des reprsentants de lUniversit Concordia. 22. Llaboration du PPU suit un effort de planification initi par lUniversit Concordia concernant les espaces publics aux abords de ses pavillons situs dans le quartier ouest : place Bthune, rue Guy et boulevard de Maisonneuve. (Groupe Cardinal et Hardy, 2006, Plan damnagement du quartier de lUniversit Concordia, Montral, Groupe Cardinal et Hardy.) 23. Dfinitions de la morphologie urbaine dans Merlin et Choay, op. cit.
10. Lahaise, Robert, 1981, Les difices conventuels du Vieux Montral, Montral, Hurtubise HMH ; Bourque, Hlne, 2002, Synthse et valuation patrimoniale des ensembles conventuels de Montral, Rapport synthse et fiches analytiques, Montral, Fondation du patrimoine religieux du Qubec ; Dubuc, Caroline, 1996, Le collge de Montral, mmoire de matrise, Universit de Montral ; Grand Sminaire de Montral, 1990, Le Grand Sminaire de Montral, de 1840 1990, Montral, ditions du Grand Sminaire ; Communaut urbaine de Montral, 1984, Rpertoire darchitecture traditionnelle sur le territoire de la Communaut urbaine de Montral : architecture religieuse II, les couvents, Montral, CUM ; Pinard, Guy, 1987-1995, Montral, son histoire, son architecture, Montral, ditions du Mridien ; Young, Brian, 1986, In their Corporate Capacity, The Seminary of Montreal as a Business Institution, 18161876, Montral et Kingston, McGill-Queens Universit y Press ; Deslandres, Dominique,
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RepoR t | RappoR t
John M. lYle (1872-1945)

NICOLAS mIQUELON est historien de larchitecture Parcs Canada, o il prpare des rapports pour la Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada, ainsi que pour le Bureau dexamen des difices fdraux du patrimoine. Il sintresse une varit de sujets concernant larchitecture de la premire moiti du vingtime sicle.
> niColas miquElon
architecte John MacIntosh Lyle, de Toronto, a fait lobjet dune dsignation fdrale en 2008. Un architecte de tradition beaux-arts trs actif au Canada au cours de la premire moiti du vingtime sicle, il a eu beaucoup dinfluence sur ses pairs et sur les gnrations darchitectes qui lui ont succd, que ce soit par la conception de nombreuses banques, de rsidences ou ddifices monumentaux, que par ses ides sur lutilisation de motifs canadiens et le dveloppement dun thme national. Le prsent article reprend presque intgralement le rapport au feuilleton prsent la Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada (CLMHC), en juillet 2007, afin dvaluer le personnage1. la lumire de ce rapport, la CLMHC avait recommand la dsignation de John M. Lyle comme personnage dimportance historique nationale pour les raisons suivantes : l est un des principaux architectes i canadiens de son poque avoir contribu diffuser les principes Beaux-Arts au Canada, et ce, la fois comme thoricien de larchitecture et architecte prolifique ayant produit des uvres de qualit, entre autres des difices bancaires ; l a grandement particip la crai tion dune esthtique typiquement canadienne en architecture par son approche personnelle tant de la conception des btiments que de lornementation. En incorporant divers motifs dinspiration canadienne dans son uvre, il a contribu lui donner un caractre national ;
ill. 1. John m. lyle en ComPagnie de m. band, PRsident, au moment de louveRtuRe du muse des beaux-aRts de lontaRio, 1942. | aRChives Publiques de lontaRio C 33-2-0-3.
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67
niColas miquElon > rePort | rAPPort
ill. 2. banque toRonto-dominion, 420, Rue blooR est, toRonto, 1912, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
ill. 3. RsidenCe Cowan, 174, ave teddington PaRk, toRonto, 1931, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
l a t une figure cl de larchiteci ture. Ses ides, quil a fait connatre de diverses faons, notamment par le moyen de confrences, de publications, dexpositions et dateliers, auront aid la reconnaissance de la profession et contribu la formation et au perfectionnement de nouvelles gnrations darchitectes. John M. Lyle est lune des premires recommandations darchitectes faites par la CLMHC la suite de ladoption dune ligne directrice particulire sur ceux-ci2. Cette ligne directrice est venue outiller les membres de la Commission afin de leur permettre de catgoriser, puis de qualifier, lapport la fois des praticiens et des thoriciens en architecture, dont certains avaient dj fait lobjet de soumissions. En effet, en 1982, un rapport au feuilleton3 avait t prpar sur John M. Lyle la demande de Geoffrey Hunt, chercheur en architecture de Toronto. la lumire de ce document, la Commission avait mentionn lpoque avoir un prjug favorable, ajoutant que la question devrait tre reporte en attendant
la rdaction dun document comparant la carrire de M. Lyle celle dautres architectes du dbut du XXe sicle ayant travaill dans les Beaux-Arts et les traditions classiques modernes 4. Le rapport intitul Guidelines for Evaluating Canadian Architects of Potential National Historic Significance 5, rdig en 2003, est venu guider la Commission dans la cration de nouvelles lignes directrices particulires (relatives aux personnes) et a identifi vingt-deux architectes potentiellement importants, dont John M. Lyle, ce qui explique quil ait t de nouveau prsent lattention de la Commission.
grandement lavancement des ides en matire darchitecture. Actif au dbut du vingtime sicle au Canada, cest Toronto quil stablit pour crer, lchelle du pays, une architecture personnelle et originale, empreinte de ses idaux (ill. 1). N en Irlande du Nord, John M. Lyle arrive au Canada en 1878 et grandit Hamilton. Son pre, le rvrend Samuel Lyle, dirige lglise Central Presbyterian de Hamilton pendant trente-quatre ans. Ce dernier est impliqu dans beaucoup dorganisations et a plusieurs intrts et talents, notamment dans les domaines artistiques. Il cre dailleurs la premire cole des beaux-arts de Hamilton en partenariat avec des personnalits locales. Cette Hamilton Art School connat un grand succs, au point dtre considre comme lun des principaux centres artistiques de lOntario pendant cette priode. Cest l que John Lyle reoit sa premire formation artistique, de 1887 1889. Il apprend ds cet ge le dessin dobservation, dont les motifs floraux qui feront sa renomme plus tard.
apeRu bIogRaphIque
John MacIntosh Lyle (1872-1945) est principalement reconnu pour sa carrire darchitecte, mais il a contribu de manire importante diffrents aspects de la profession. Par ses confrences et ses articles, par son implication dans le domaine de lurbanisme, par la grande place quil accordait la conception graphique ou simplement par le lieu de rencontre qutait son atelier, il a contribu
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ill. 4. RsidenCe R.J. ChRistie, 3, Route fRybRook, toRonto, 1929, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
ill. 5. RsidenCes whitney hall, Pavillon de luniveRsit de toRonto, 1931, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
Par son environnement familial 6 , John M. Lyle grandit avec les valeurs et les traditions britanniques victoriennes des classes moyennes, o latteinte du succs occupe une place importante7. Cest dans cette optique quil visera les plus grandes coles pour obtenir la meilleure formation possible. Puisque les programmes en architecture sont peine mergents au Canada avant 1890, il va tudier aux tats-Unis, lUniversit Yale, puis quitte pour la France afin de complter ses tudes, de 1892 1894. Cette formation europenne reprsente un gage dapprentissage important et cette exprience va lui donner les bases de rfrence qui le suivront sa carrire durant. John M. Lyle revient en Amrique en 1896, pour parfaire son apprentissage en travaillant New York centre amricain important pour larchitecture lpoque , dabord avec la firme Howard & Cauldwell, puis en sassociant Carrre & Hastings8. De retour au Canada en 1905, il ouvre son bureau Toronto et obtient peu aprs le contrat pour le thtre Royal Alexandra Toronto (1906-1907).
Au fil de sa carrire, tout en se prononant rgulirement devant diffrentes tribunes au sujet du dveloppement de larchitecture au Canada, il dveloppe une pratique architecturale originale et personnelle, tourne vers lidentit canadienne. Avant tout marqu par linfluence des beaux-arts, enseigns pendant ses formations en France et aux tats-Unis, cest le style classique quil privilgie dans sa pratique, bien quil ait aussi recours dautres styles. Les formes architecturales quil utilise tendent, partir des annes 1920, se simplifier, tandis que lornementation se personnalise peu peu avec lapport de sources dinspiration canadienne : la faune, la flore, les industries et les biens manufacturiers, entre autres. Lapproche libre et le style plus dpouill quil dveloppe au fil des ans respectent toujours les principes beaux-arts. Pour ce qui est de ses concepts thoriques, John Lyle est plutt oppos lide moderniste o la forme doit uniquement suivre la fonction : pour lui, larchitecte doit plutt rpondre aux besoins du client en composant un ensemble artistique fonctionnel harmonieux, aussi bien intrinsquement (le btiment
comme un tout) quextrinsquement (le btiment dans son environnement). John M. Lyle a ralis une grande varit de btiments commerciaux (ill. 2), rsidentiels (ill. 3-5), industriels (ill. 6), des monuments et du mobilier public, en plus duvrer comme urbaniste et de concevoir des parcs et des jardins (ill. 7). Bien quil ait travaill dans diffrentes rgions de lest louest du pays, cest principalement en Ontario quil a complt ses commandes. Plusieurs de ses ralisations existent toujours et certaines sont des uvres importantes pour lhistoire de larchitecture au Canada : le thtre Royal Alexandra Toronto (LHN, 1985) (ill. 8), la gare Union Toronto (1914-1921) (LHN, 1975)9 (ill. 9), un jardin classique pour le domaine Parkwood Oshawa (LHN, 1989)10, lArc commmoratif du Collge militaire royal du Canada Kingston (1923), la Banque de Nouvelle-cosse Ottawa (1923) (ill. 10-11), la Banque de Nouvelle-cosse Toronto (conue en 1928, construite en 1951), la Banque Dominion Toronto (1929) (ill. 12), la Banque de Nouvelle-cosse Calgary (1929-1930) (ill. 13), la Banque de Nouvelle-
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ill. 6. manufaCtuRe de botes de CigaRes adam beCk, toRonto, 1913, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
cosse Halifax (1929-1930) (ill. 14-15) et la bibliothque Runnymede Toronto (1930) (ill. 16). Dans le domaine de lurbanisme, il est considr comme une figure de proue du mouvement City Beautiful11 en raison de son implication dans le Toronto City Plan12, et parce quil a dvelopp des concepts inventifs pour la Toronto Civic Improvement League. Enfin, ses soumissions pour la Dominion Coin Competititon (1936) ont influenc ladoption danimaux et de motifs vgtaux (feuilles) pour la monnaie canadienne contemporaine. Non seulement John Lyle a-t-il t un membre important de diffrentes associations professionnelles qui lui offraient une plateforme propice pour vhiculer ses ides13, mais le lieu de rencontre et de formation que reprsentait son atelier a grandement contribu au partage des ides et lavancement de larchitecture canadienne.
du Canada. On entend par contribution remarquable lhistoire du Canada : 1) une uvre architec turale crative importante et/ou dun grand impact, faite titre de praticien ou de thoricien de larchitecture, et qui sincarne dans un ensemble de ralisations14 systmatiquement considres comme exceptionnelles et/ou ; 2) une contribution importante et/ou dun grand impact la profession et la discipline architecturales au Canada soit comme ducateur, auteur ou organisateur remarquable, soit dautres titres sans rapport direct avec le processus de conception architecturale. Luvre de John M. Lyle est avant tout base sur une approche stylistique en architecture, mais elle saccompagne aussi dun volet plus thorique ayant favoris de manire importante la promotion et le dveloppement de nouvelles ides en architecture au Canada. Trois thmes sont dvelopps ici. Nous noterons dabord que dans sa pratique il a t lun des architectes les plus influents du mouvement beaux-arts au pays. Ensuite, son uvre btie a particip au dveloppement dune architecture canadienne. Enfin, il a contribu la reconnaissance de la profession par ses nombreuses allocutions, ses publications et son implication dans diffrentes organisations.
ill. 7. fontaine gage, hamilton, 1926, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | [wikipedia.org].
analYse de lImpoRtance hIstoRIque de la peRsonne

John M. Lyle est valu sous le critre 2 de la Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada, qui stipule quune personne (ou des personnes) peut tre dsigne dimportance historique nationale si cette personne, individuellement ou en tant que reprsentante dun groupe, tmoigne dune contribution remarquable et durable lhistoire du Canada . De plus, il est valu sous les deux aspects de la ligne directrice particulire 4.6 concernant limportance darchitectes canadiens : Pour tre considr comme un sujet dimportance nationale, un architecte ou, le cas chant, une socit darchitectes devra avoir apport une contribution remarquable et durable lhistoire
ill. 8. thtRe Royal alexandRa, toRonto, 1906 (en 1907), John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. lieu histoRique national, 1975. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
architecte important du mouvement beaux-arts au canada

Un aspect important de luvre de John M. Lyle tient au fait quil a t lun de ceux qui ont introduit au Canada un nouveau style darchitecture influenc par les ides du mouvement beaux-arts, dcouvert lors de sa formation en France et aux tatsUnis. Ses ides ont t rpandues par ses
ill. 9. intRieuR de la gaRe union, toRonto, 1919-1927, Ross et maCdonald, John m. lyle et h.g. Jones, aRChiteCtes, lhn, 1975. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
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constructions, mais aussi par ses articles, ses discours et par ses amnagements dans le domaine de lurbanisme. Larchitecture beaux-arts se dveloppe en Amrique du Nord au tournant du vingtime sicle. Il sagit avant tout dune mthode de composition qui privilgie la symtrie et la monumentalit des plans et des lvations. Le classicisme est prfr, mais dautres influences stylistiques peuvent aussi tre prsentes. Une grande place est accorde aux arts graphiques dans la conception, de sorte que la dcoration et lornementation architecturales puisent dans diffrentes sources dinspiration pour voquer leur sujet, do lappellation darchitecture dite parlante . Si les influences sont dabord purement europennes avec des rfrences aux antiquits grecques et romaines, certains architectes dveloppent par la suite une ornementation plus personnalise. Tel est le cas de John M. Lyle, dont luvre contribue diffuser les principes beaux-arts, tant en architecture quen urbanisme. Lengouement pour larchitecture beauxarts en Amrique du Nord prend dabord forme aux tats-Unis avec les firmes des architectes Richard Morris Hunt et McKim, Mead et White, qui ont t forms lcole des beaux-arts de Paris15. Ces derniers marquent le paysage new-yorkais avec des difices classiques, auxquels sont appliqus de riches motifs sur les faades la manire de lcole franaise. Dans lobjectif de hausser le niveau de spcialisation des architectes amricains et de les duquer cette forme darchitecture plus rudite, ils crent la Society of Beaux-Arts Architects16, pour promouvoir les principes de lcole des beaux-arts de Paris. Vers la fin du dix-neuvime sicle, lconomie amricaine favorise lapparition de nouvelles formes architecturales. Les villes senrichissent par la densification, les
investissements et limmigration. De nouvelles fortunes personnelles stablissent et les villes ont besoin de btiments dignes de leur statut. Le vent de prosprit souffle encore sur New York au moment o John Lyle y travaille (1896-1905). Pour sa gnration, le contexte stylistique mtropolitain est idal. Lapproche beaux-arts a dj remplac le style roman richardsonien et promet de devenir le principal vhicule dexpression de la prosprit nord-amricaine17. Parce quelle faisait appel plusieurs styles architecturaux, mais surtout au style classique, et permettait lintgration de nombreux symboles dans son ornementation, larchitecture monumentale beaux-arts tait le courant le plus propice dvelopper et personnaliser lidentit dune nation par son architecture. Aprs son retour de lcole des beauxarts de Paris en 1894, John M. Lyle parfait dabord son apprentissage chez Howard & Cauldwell, o Howard donne une place prdominante au ct esthtique plutt que technique18. Il travaille ensuite pour Carrre & Hastings, responsables cette poque dun difice des plus influents pour la mtropole : la New York Public Library (1897-1911) (ill. 17). Lyle travaille enfin pour Warren & Wetmore, auteurs du New York Yacht Club19 (1900) et de la gare Grand Central (1907-1913) (ill. 18), en collaboration avec Reed & Stem20. Le contexte conomique favorable au dveloppement de larchitecture qui rgnait New York rejoint peu aprs le Canada, et cest sur cette vague que John Lyle y dmnage sa pratique. Entre 1896 et 1914, le Canada accrot ses activits conomiques de manire importante. La population passe, de 1881 1906, de quatre millions huit cent mille habitants huit millions. Les nouvelles richesses, bases sur les ressources naturelles, laissent entrevoir une continuit conomique fort
ill. 10. vue extRieuRe, banque de nouvelle-Cosse, Rue sPaRks, ottawa, 1923, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | niColas miquelon, PaRCs Canada, 2009.
ill. 11. dtails de bas-Reliefs, banque de nouvelleCosse, Rue sPaRks, ottawa, 1923, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | niColas miquelon, PaRCs Canada, 2009.
ill. 12. banque dominion, angle des Rues yonge et geRRaRd, toRonto, 1929, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
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ill. 13. banque de nouvelle-Cosse CalgaRy, 1929-1930, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | aRChives de
la banque de nouvelle-Cosse.
favorable pour le pays. Sir Wilfrid Laurier dclare dailleurs : Le dix-neuvime sicle fut le sicle des tats-Unis ; le vingtime sicle sera celui du Canada21. Pour btir son identit architecturale, le Canada ne peut ignorer son voisin et tout ce qui sy dveloppe depuis quelques dcennies. On y adopte alors une attitude favorable lemploi de modles monumentaux qui rpondent aux ambitions nationales, en offrant des sentiments de stabilit, dexpansion, de prennit, de confiance et de puissance. John Lyle emporte cette exprience et cette idologie de lapproche beaux-arts avec lui lorsquil revient stablir en Ontario en 1905. cette poque, il ny avait quune poigne darchitectes au Canada anglais ayant reu une ducation lcole des beaux-arts de Paris, et la formation des architectes en place tait ancre dans un systme institutionnel britannique, y compris le compagnonnage local. Quand Lyle dbute sa pratique au Canada, en 1905, les gots architecturaux sont en pleine transition entre le style nogothique, encore trs prsent, et le style beaux-arts, introduit par certains architectes ayant tudi aux tats-Unis22. En 1905, larchitecte ouvre son bureau au 14, Leader Lane, Toronto23. Contrairement dautres Canadiens qui servent dagents de liaison pour la supervision de contrats de firmes new-yorkaises, John Lyle prfre travailler son propre compte24. Un an plus tard, il sattaque dj dimportants projets tels que le thtre Royal Alexandra (ill. 8), le collge Pickering et lglise Central Presbyterian25, qui dnotent ses comptences26. On trouve dailleurs parmi ses clients plusieurs personnages importants : le colonel J.B. McLean, qui allait connatre un grand succs dans ldition, Sir William Mulock, juge en chef de lOntario, Jake Englehart, fondateur de lImperial Oil et du Timiskaming and Northern
Ontario Railway, et Duncan Coulson, directeur de la Banque Dominion27. Alors que Lyle navait quun seul dessinateur en 1906, il en a dj douze en 191228. En 1913, il dmnage son studio au 230, rue Bloor West, et lagrandit en 1919. John M. Lyle privilgie le style classique, bien quil soit laise avec dautres styles, comme en tmoignent ses esquisses pour le concours du Departmental and Justice Buildings dOttawa en 1907 ou le projet du Knox College de lUniversit de Toronto en 1911, tous deux dvelopps dans un style nogothique, ou encore quelques rsidences ralises dans le style no-Tudor avec des intrieurs arts and crafts avant les annes 1920 (ill. 1 et 19). Sa polyvalence lui permet aussi de dessiner diffrents types de btiments, dont des demeures, des gares et des btiments industriels, o il met profit ses aptitudes plus organisationnelles que stylistiques. Aprs la Premire Guerre mondiale, le studio de John M. Lyle voit ses activits diminuer dans la foule dun ralentissement conomique. Il produit alors les plans de succursales bancaires et de rsidences, avant davoir de nouvelles commandes plus importantes pendant les annes 1920. Dans ses uvres les plus complexes comme les plus simples, John M. Lyle injecte les mmes principes de base issus de sa formation beaux-arts, lesquels reposent sur des bases classiques simples (lignes et proportions harmonieuses). Au fil des ans, cela conduit lentement son uvre vers le style classique moderne et parfois vers lArt dco par la stylisation de lornementation. Dans un article publi dans The American Architect en 1922, il continue sa croisade pour larchitecture beaux-arts en numrant certains principes gagnants de larchitecture amricaine, applicables tout aussi bien au Canada quailleurs, et qui rejoignent ses propres conceptions de
ill. 14. sige soCial de la banque de nouvelleCosse, halifax, 1929-1930, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | niColas miquelon, PaRCs Canada, 2008.
ill. 15. intRieuR du sige soCial de la banque de nouvelle-Cosse, halifax. | aRChives de la banque
de nouvelle-Cosse.
ill. 16. bibliothque Publique de toRonto, Runnymede bRanCh, 1930, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
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larchitecture : celle-ci doit tre recherche en ce qui a trait son inspiration, elle doit aussi tre simple et classique, solide, sobre, soigneusement excute, en plus de faire bnficier la ville de sa monumentalit par son emplacement. Plusieurs de ses uvres tmoignent de ses principes beaux-arts. Parmi les plus remarquables, notons limmeuble Thornton-Smith de Toronto (1922) (ill. 20), o les principes classiques sont rsums leur plus simple expression et o lornementation beaux-arts ne surcharge pas la faade. Les ranges darches, les diffrentes textures et les surfaces nues des murs sont autant dlments qui permettent aux proportions et aux jeux de lumire dtre bien mis en vidence. Mentionnons ensuite la Banque de Nouvelle-cosse dOttawa (1923) (ill. 10-11), dernire banque beaux-arts inspire de sources antiquisantes. Ici, larchitecte affiche clairement son sens des proportions dans la composition. Tantt il regroupe de faon simple et originale des lments comme les colonnes pour offrir du volume et favoriser le jeu dclairage, tantt il orne stratgiquement et avec modration les surfaces de dtails. Plusieurs commandes monumentales sont proprement axes sur la place quelles occupent dans la ville et dans leurs fonctions. La gare Union de Toronto (avec Ross et Macdonald, et H.G. Jones, 1919-1927), pour laquelle Lyle conoit lornementation de la salle des pas perdus (ill. 9), saffiche ouvertement comme tant la gare principale du Canadien Pacifique, celle devant relier le rseau du chemin de fer travers la nation29. Dautres commandes monumentales tmoignent dun aussi grand souci dans leur conception, comme le dmontrent le complexe Departmental and Justice dOttawa (1914), la fontaine Gage de Hamilton (1926) (ill. 7) ou certains projets urbains dans le cadre du plan de Toronto30. Puisque lenseignement beaux-arts est une mthodologie et une approche,
cela lui permet galement daborder des notions autres que larchitecture. Lexemple le plus marquant de sa polyvalence est son apport lurbanisme du dbut du vingtime sicle, notamment par sa collaboration lInstitut durbanisme du Canada. Ardent dfenseur du concept City Beautiful, il simplique dans le Toronto Civic Improvement Committee (1911) pour la conception du plan de la ville de Toronto. John Lyle ragit contre la normalisation des plans en grille pour les grandes villes et prne ouvertement que ces plans soient conus par un architecte. Selon lui, un architecte offre une vision plus inclusive de la ville, mettant en valeur larchitecture urbaine et joignant ces bnfices esthtiques lamlioration de la fonctionnalit. Toujours partir du concept City Beautiful, il voit lintrt dutiliser diffrents mcanismes durbanisme tels que la cration de places et de squares, des avenues diagonales, la prservation de certains aspects naturels du site (par exemple un ravin), et va mme jusqu rserver des espaces pour un mtro. Par des communications orales et crites, Lyle met en exergue les bnfices de cette thorie urbanistique devant le public. En mai 1921, il ritre cette opinion dans larticle Monumental Architecture and Town Planning publi dans la revue Construction31. Cest dans les annes 1920 que le bureau de John M. Lyle connat la plus grande visibilit, alors que sa production est trs fructueuse, que larchitecture beaux-arts est en grande demande et quil prsente de nombreuses communications sur le sujet de larchitecture. La rputation de son uvre et de ses positions dpasse les limites du Canada et plusieurs de ses constructions, dont ldifice ThorntonSmith de Toronto (1922) (ill. 20), sont vantes ltranger. En 1925, il est reconnu par ses pairs en devenant membre associ de lAcadmie royale des arts du Canada ;
ill. 17. new yoRk PubliC libRaRy, new yoRk, 1897-1911, CaRRRe & hastings, aRChiteCtes. | niColas miquelon,
PaRCs Canada, 2006.
ill. 18. gaRe gRand CentRal, new yoRk, 1907-1913, waRRen & wetmoRe / Reed & stem, aRChiteCtes. | niColas miquelon, PaRCs Canada, 2006.
ill. 19. maison geoRge l. Robinson, 2, Chemin beaumont, toRonto, 1907, John m. lyle. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
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il en devient membre part entire lanne suivante 32 . En 1926, la section torontoise de lassociation des architectes de lOntario lui dcerne dailleurs la mdaille dor du mrite et, en 1928, le Royal Institute of British Architects en fait un de ses membres associs33. Pendant les annes 1930, alors que John M. Lyle est dans la cinquantaine, son bureau est bien en place et un noyau de collaborateurs permet de faire tourner les oprations. Lyle est de moins en moins prsent, sinon pour complter certaines esquisses ou pour conclure des ententes avec les clients et entreprendre les nouveaux contrats. Il meurt en 1945 dun infarctus. Ses collaborateurs John J. Beck et Arthur Eadie prennent alors la succession de la firme. En tout, John Lyle et son quipe ont complt une grande diversit de btiments, parmi lesquels on compte une impressionnante quantit de banques, plusieurs rsidences, des immeubles de bureaux, certains monuments, quelques gares, des structures industrielles et dautres types de constructions. John Lyle a introduit, puis diffus grandement le style beaux-arts au Canada grce ses ralisations, mais aussi grce ses nombreuses publications sur le sujet. Comme la crit Robert Swain, directeur de lAgnes Etherington Art Centre de lUniversit Queen, Kingston, en 1982, La faon denvisager la construction au Canada aurait [] t diffrente sans sa prsence sur la scne architecturale. Car Lyle ne sintressa pas seulement aux btiments publics, il fut aussi un proslyte de larchitecture au Canada34.
ill. 20. difiCe thoRnton-smith, toRonto, 1922, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
beaux-arts, John M. Lyle se sert de ces mmes occasions pour suggrer le dveloppement dune architecture saveur nationale, une architecture aux formes et lornementation canadiennes. Ce quil semploie prcher, il le met galement en pratique dans ses uvres, notamment dans les banques et dans certains grands btiments publics. De plus, il participe diffrents groupes de discussions, ainsi qu llaboration dexpositions sur le concept de la canadianisation des arts et de larchitecture. Larchitecture beaux-arts est gnralement adopte au Canada avec un grand enthousiasme auprs des architectes, et plusieurs dveloppent mme une certaine forme de nationalisme. Les architectes se voient comme les responsables de la redfinition architecturale du pays et, pour cette raison, certains dentre eux vont mme ragir au fait que la plupart des grands chantiers retenaient des firmes amricaines35. Il en va de mme pour Lyle. Il croit que le dveloppement dune architecture beaux-arts est appropri au contexte canadien parce que, tout comme larchitecture amricaine, le Canada a connu un pass marqu par des influences classiques britanniques36. John M. Lyle entame sa carrire canadienne avec diffrents types de commandes. Toutefois, il obtient rapidement de nombreux contrats pour des banques, lchelle du pays. Les banques sont une des premires manifestations du dveloppement dune architecture canadienne dans son uvre. Selon Geoffrey Hunt, spcialiste de luvre de John M. Lyle, larchitecture bancaire dveloppe depuis les dbuts de sa carrire reprsente une forme darchitecture originale et distincte, dautant plus quelle est particulire au contexte canadien37. Avant la Premire Guerre mondiale, il conoit des succursales pour la Banque impriale, la Banque
ill. 21. la bibliothque Runnymede a t le PRemieR btiment Choisi PouR illustReR une sRie de timbRes suR laRChiteCtuRe, en RegaRd de son style, de sa Rgion, de sa fonCtion et de son aRChiteCte. | Postes Canada.
ill. 22. exemPle de bas-Relief dCoRatif PeRsonnalis; sige soCial de la banque de nouvelle-Cosse halifax, 1929-1930, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | 1932, JouRnal de la RaiC, no 9, maRs, P. 69.
lyle et son apport au dveloppement dune architecture canadienne

ill. 23. exemPle de bas-Relief dCoRatif PeRsonnalis; banque dominion, avenue Road toRonto, 1930, John m. lyle, aRChiteCte. | 1932, JouRnal de la
RaiC, no 9, maRs, P. 68
Alors quil se prononce, oralement ou par crit, sur le sujet de larchitecture
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de Toronto, la Banque de Commerce, la Banque Sterling, la Banque dOttawa, la Banque mtropolitaine et la Banque Dominion. Son bureau ralise plus dune vingtaine de banques avant 1914, sur un total dune soixantaine avant la Seconde Guerre mondiale38. En raison du nombre de banques conues sur une longue priode, on peut voir facilement lvolution de sa pratique vers un style plus personnel. John M. Lyle commence trs tt adapter sa pratique architecturale au contexte canadien. Dune part, en prsentant plusieurs caractristiques formelles et stylistiques semblables, la typologie stylistique de ces banques vient renforcer le modle bancaire nord-amricain39. Dautre part, cest par les matriaux ou le symbolisme de lornementation quil vient distinguer les difices, leur emplacement ou leur client, offrant parfois aux institutions des possibilits dallger la composition pour raliser des conomies sur le cot sans nuire au style ou la monumentalit. Jusquaux annes 1920, Lyle emploie les formes lourdes et historicisantes de larchitecture noclassique avec une ornementation savante. Non seulement il dessine consciemment ces modles daprs lide quil se fait de la continuit architecturale dveloppe pour larchitecture monumentale au Canada40, mais il laisse aussi cette saveur nationale voluer au contact des nouvelles sources dinspirations. Ainsi, la tendance beaux-arts semblait jusquaux annes 1920 le meilleur vhicule stylistique ses yeux pour exprimer la monumentalit et les valeurs de prosprit et de permanence propres au contexte national. Le point culminant de cette forme stylistique historicisante dans son uvre est sans doute la succursale de la Banque de Nouvelle-cosse de la rue Sparks Ottawa (1923) (ill. 10-11). Certaines critiques au sujet de ldifice, dont celle de Jean-Omer Marchand41, lui signalent que
la tendance quil dveloppe dmontre une grande inspiration de larchitecture des dix-huitime et dix-neuvime sicles de lAngleterre. Ces commentaires ont pour effet principal de porter Lyle rflchir sur les formes canadiennes et sur limage que les architectes se faisaient de larchitecture nationale. Il va mme dclarer que cette banque fut responsable de lveil de [s]on grand intrt pour le nouveau mouvement architectural canadien 42. Aprs la Premire Guerre mondiale et au cours des annes 1920, la tendance gnrale de construire des difices monumentaux sous lesthtique du style des beaux-arts diminue progressivement, bien que plusieurs architectes continuent lemployer. Tout comme Lyle qui simplifie ses compositions, lensemble de la pratique architecturale tend vers une plus grande gomtrisation et un plus grand dpouillement de lornementation. En souvrant au modernisme, larchitecture classique moderne voit galement poindre lArt dco et lArt nouveau comme alternative possible. Parce que lutilisation dune ornementation de style grec ou romain dcrot en popularit, plusieurs architectes utilisent de nouvelles sources dinspiration pour orner lenveloppe du btiment, allant des influences gyptiennes, mayas et prcolombiennes jusquaux produits manufacturiers contemporains 43. Trs connu cette poque aux tats-Unis comme au Canada, Louis Sullivan avait dj utilis pour le Carson, Pirie, Scott Building de Chicago (1899-1904) des motifs vgtaux non historiques afin de renouveler la forme. Pour favoriser ce changement, en 1925, lExposition des arts dcoratifs et industriels modernes de Paris met parmi ses critres que Les immeubles doivent faire preuve dune inspiration nouvelle et dune originalit vritable. Les reproductions, imitations et contrefaons de
styles anciens sont interdites 44. Le message qui circulait aux tats-Unis au sein de la New York Beaux-Arts Institute for Design (successeur de la Society of BeauxArts Architects) tait assez semblable : dans un style personnel plutt que par imitation, se tourner vers de nouvelles influences pour les ornementations qui, selon elle, taient toujours de mise en architecture traditionnelle. Lyle se rallie cette socit 45. Ainsi, avec lvolution vers le style classique plus moderne, cest--dire lemploi de formes plus sobres et plus dpouilles, John Lyle modifie galement son approche. Il conserve dans son uvre limportance de la reprsentation allgorique dans la dcoration, puisque le symbolisme des lments dcoratifs continue dvoquer les occupants du btiment, limage quils projettent, leurs aspirations, ou simplement lutilisation de ldifice. Ses sources classiques se transforment nanmoins sous le contexte architectural canadien et nord-amricain, pour devenir plus canadiennes . Lvolution des sources dinspiration quutilise John M. Lyle passe des antiquits traditionnelles un style plus personnel au fil des ans. Comme ses premires grandes uvres le dmontrent, ses sources taient originellement classiques : par exemple, lintrieur du thtre Royal Alexandra (Toronto, 1906-1907) avait ses rfrences aux comdies et tragdies antiques. Construite pendant la dcennie suivante, la gare Union de Toronto (1914-1921) sinspirait des thermes de Caracalla, mais Lyle choisit dlibrment dy ajouter des lments personnaliss : des personnages comme Sir W.C. Van Horne ou lord Strathcona dont les noms sont associs au chemin de fer, de mme que des motifs de castors incorpors aux ornementations mtalliques, et le nom de gares dautres stations majeures du pays
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afin de rappeler la connexion entre ces gares et la gare Union. Pour ce qui est des banques, malgr quil continue dessiner des profils traditionnels, John Lyle russit relativement bien convaincre ses clients dadopter les nouvelles tendances ornementales grce la bonne relation quil entretient avec eux 46 . La Banque de Nouvelle-cosse Ottawa (1923), par exemple, voit lintroduction dlments plus personnels comme des symboles commerciaux (enclume, balance, haches) et locaux (culture du bl, motifs marins et forestiers). Par ailleurs, John M. Lyle fait partie dun petit groupe informel darchitectes qui se regroupe chaque jour la Diet Kitchen de la rue Bloor Toronto (connue sous le nom de Diet Kitchen School) pour discuter de diffrents sujets lis larchitecture canadienne. En 1927, ils organisent notamment une exposition intitule Architecture and the Allied Arts lArt Gallery de Toronto o, pendant deux semaines, vingt-neuf mille visiteurs sy dplacent47. Cette Diet Kitchen School organise lexposition sur larchitecture et ses arts connexes avec lobjectif de faire connatre ses auteurs, tout en dgageant les dnominateurs communs de cette canadianisation . La plateforme vers les thmatiques canadiennes est bien connue ce moment et Lyle, qui fait le discours douverture de lexposition, reprsente un pilier des plus importants de cette faon de penser. La publicit que cre cette exposition pour les formes canadiennes, conjointement avec tous les efforts faits pendant ces nombreuses annes par le biais des articles et des confrences sur le sujet dune architecture propre au pays, aide le milieu souvrir lintroduction de motifs nouveaux. Cette tendance de larchitecture fait cho un fort sens de lidentit nationale en gestation. Sur le plan artistique, le Groupe des Sept48 (EHN,
1974) prend forme Toronto et expose en 1920 pour la premire fois. Sur le plan politique, William Lyon McKenzie King prend le pouvoir en 1921 pour orienter les efforts du gouvernement fdral vers une autonomie du pays (plutt quun tat de colonie). La fiert et la propagande nationalistes peuvent tre dmontres lchelle du pays par lrection de diffrents monuments, dans lesquels Lyle simplique : il cre dailleurs une arche importante pour le Collge militaire royal de Kingston (1923)49, de mme que la fontaine Gage Hamilton (1926) (ill. 7), en plus de voir aux normes de conception de monuments en gnral50. Avec lapparition du modernisme et lintrt quil suscite en architecture, John Lyle dcide en 1928 deffectuer un voyage dtude en Europe pour se familiariser avec les principes et les exemples de ce nouveau mouvement. Il y voit loccasion de donner aux principes beaux-arts une application plastique et une personnalisation originale de lornementation, toujours afin den dgager la saveur nationale. Ce voyage de dix mois cre un moment charnire dans son uvre, puisquil roriente de manire significative sa conception son retour. Selon lui, deux avenues soffrent larchitecture au Canada : un modernisme bas sur les formes internationales ou un modernisme bas sur les formes canadiennes. Il choisit de se battre pour la seconde option51. Parmi les premires uvres quil dessine son retour au Canada, notons le projet de la succursale de la bibliothque Runnymede Toronto (ill. 16 et 21), conue en 1928 et construite en 1929. La forme est une interprtation directe de la maison canadienne-franaise, avec son grand toit en pente, ses proportions et ses murs en pierre des champs. John Lyle y ajoute dautres dtails trs canadiens , comme des totems amrindiens dans le
portail et des motifs inspirs par la flore et la faune du pays. La canadianisation de sa pratique se poursuit avec une proposition pour la succursale de la banque Central Canada Savings and Loan Oshawa (1929), une proposition pour son sige social Halifax (1929) et le concept dune tour de bureaux pour cette mme banque Toronto (1929), ainsi que des travaux plus modestes, comme lornementation pour des succursales de la Banque Dominion Toronto (1929) (ill. 12). Si les principes esthtiques gnraux de John M. Lyle restent les mmes aprs ce voyage, et que la composition demeure un legs de sa formation aux beaux-arts, cest lornementation qui tend vers le modernisme. Afin de renouveler la forme tout en la liant lhistoire canadienne, il pouvait envoyer, par exemple, ses employs au Royal Ontario Museum pour tudier les motifs amrindiens qui lui serviraient de modle pour son ornementation 52 . Plastiquement, larchitecte dveloppe un style gomtrique plat dans ses bas-reliefs, se rapprochant beaucoup de la manire de faire de lArt dco des annes 1920-1930. Les thmes quil utilise deviennent aussi de plus en plus nationaux, rfrant la faune, la flore et certaines thmatiques rgionales (ill. 22-23). La Banque de Nouvellecosse Calgary (1929-1930) (ill. 13) et le sige social de la Banque de Nouvellecosse Halifax (1929-1930)53 (ill. 14-15) montrent bien cette approche canadienne de lornementation. Tous deux dvoilent une forme monumentale assez semblable des banques beaux-arts quil pouvait dessiner pendant les annes 1920, mais avec des dtails dont la ligne, le volume et les sources dinspiration affichent une grande modernit pour lpoque. Selon lhistorienne de larchitecture Nathalie Clerk, cette canadianisation constitue sans doute lune des contributions les plus influentes et originales de Lyle au domaine de larchitecture canadienne 54.
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ill. 24. banque de montRal, Rue wellington, ottawa, 1930-1934, eRnest i. baRott, aRChiteCte. | niColas miquelon, PaRCs Canada, 2009.
ill. 25. anCienne annexe au Palais de JustiCe de montRal, 1920-1926, auJouRdhui ldifiCe eRnest CoRmieR, eRnest CoRmieR et l.a. amos et C.h. saxe, aRChiteCtes. | [flickr.com].
En complment sa pratique artistique, John Lyle a prsent une douzaine de maquettes pour le concours numismatique du Dominion de 1936. Les pices de monnaie sculptes par Emmanuel Hahn seraient inspires des soumissions de Lyle 55. Ces motifs ont eu un impact immense sur le dveloppement de lidentit canadienne. Au moment o Lyle dveloppe ces nouvelles formes, la rcession clate (1931) et paralyse bientt lconomie. Les possibilits de continuer la cration dune architecture monumentale sestompent peu peu pour le bureau de Lyle, les commandes diminuant considrablement et les clients se tournant progressivement vers une architecture plus abordable, et bientt plus moderne.
Premire Guerre mondiale avec lobjectif premier de mettre en relief la comptence de larchitecte canadien et de rehausser son statut56. En ce sens, Lyle a contribu de manire importante la reconnaissance de la profession. John Lyle crit beaucoup pendant sa carrire. En 1916, par exemple, il publie dans la revue Construction larticle The Status of the Architect , o il fait des suggestions pour normaliser la profession darchitecte. limage de ce qui se fait aux tats-Unis, et toujours dans le but damliorer la profession, Lyle, dj une figure de proue du nationalisme de son poque, prne que la normalisation soit faite par des Canadiens, selon les besoins nationaux, plutt que selon les standards internationaux. Ses recommandations pour la rgularisation de la profession sont dautant plus motives que les architectes canadiens doivent, selon lui, trouver des moyens pour contrer linvasion amricaine 57. Il est davis que cette normalisation et ltablissement du statut de larchitecte passent obligatoirement par le dveloppement dune expertise canadienne.
John m. lyle et son apport la profession

Si John M. Lyle se prononce haut et fort pour le dveloppement dune architecture nationale pendant toute sa carrire, il le fait toutefois jusquaux environs de la
Il est membre actif de plusieurs organisations, ce qui lui vaut une grande visibilit pour promouvoir ses ides. Nous avons mentionn plus tt le Toronto Civic Improvement Committee, pour lequel il sert de concepteur et de conseiller en matire de planification urbanistique de la ville de Toronto. Pendant les annes prcdant la Premire Guerre mondiale, il devient galement membre de la Society of Beaux-Arts Architects de New York. Vers la fin du dix-neuvime sicle, cette socit cherche hausser le statut de larchitecte en exigeant par diffrents moyens que les architectes nord-amricains reoivent une solide formation architecturale, bien encadre58 . Par ces exigences, la socit reprsente une voix considrable pour la reconnaissance des architectes. Elle reprsente un canal important des beaux-arts en Amrique du Nord au tournant du vingtime sicle, au moment o le Canada cherche dvelopper son image par le biais dune architecture monumentale. Simultanment, sinspirant de cette Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, John Lyle devient un acteur notable pour la voix de la profession au
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ill. 26. montReal aRt assoCiation galleRy, 1911, auJouRdhui le muse des beauxaRts de montRal, edwaRd et w.s. maxwell, aRChiteCtes. | stPhane batigne,
[www.wikipedia.org].
ill. 27. banque mtRoPolitaine, 440, Rue College, toRonto, 1913, daRling et PeaRson, aRChiteCtes. | bob kRawCzyk, [www.tobuilt.ca].
Canada. Non seulement il crit plusieurs articles dans les priodiques canadiens en citant la socit amricaine, mais inversement il rdige galement des articles professionnels en tant quarchitecte canadien pour des revues aux tats-Unis. Il serait dailleurs le seul auteur canadien publi dans limportant priodique amricain The New York Architect59. En plus de chercher valoriser le travail des architectes auprs du public, John Lyle propose dautres ides proactives pour mettre en valeur la profession. Cest ainsi quil recommande la cration dune chaire darchitecture dans toutes les universits canadiennes, la planification des villes par des architectes et non des ingnieurs, la tenue de confrences destines stimuler lintrt public quant ltude de larchitecture en tant que lun des Beaux-Arts 60. Il encourage par ailleurs la tenue dexpositions et la publication de revues, tout en insistant sur les concours architecturaux, allant mme jusqu faire des suggestions pour les amliorer. Enfin, il met beaucoup dautres commentaires sur des notions comme la ncessit de
gnraliser larpentage ou limportance dune grande qualit dexcution dans les dessins architecturaux, dont les dtails grandeur nature. Par son idologie, John Lyle sinscrit dans une longue tradition en ce qui a trait limportance de larchitecture parmi les arts 61. son tour, il donne une grande place son positionnement. Tout au long de sa carrire canadienne, il mentionne cette importance, dans ses allocutions comme dans ses articles. Pour lui, larchitecture doit occuper le premier rang des arts non seulement par sa pure monumentalit et ses principes de construction matriels , mais vritablement parce que cest un art qui en englobe dautres 62. cet effet, ses dessins et ses plans tmoignent dune vritable matrise des arts graphiques, de la forme sculpturale et des dtails ornementaux. Comme nous lavons vu dans les sections prcdentes, Lyle a acquis cette sensibilit pour les arts et larchitecture auprs de diffrents matres, souvrant tout au long de sa carrire dautres approches et
dautres sources dinspiration. Cest toutefois sur lcole des beaux-arts de Paris et la Society of Beaux-Arts Architects de New York que se fonde son profond engagement pour sa profession. De la mme faon, il sefforcera tout au long de sa carrire de retransmettre cet hritage son entourage, par la voix de discours, darticles, de groupes de discussions informelles et dateliers dapprentissage. John M. Lyle met en pratique la transmission de son savoir dune manire similaire celle apprise lcole des beaux-arts. ses yeux, lenseignement occupe une place privilgie pour la reconnaissance du caractre professionnel de larchitecte la qualit de la formation dterminant la qualit de llve. En 1909, il fait un pas de plus dans sa dvotion pour la cause de larchitecture au Canada. Cette anne-l, il ouvre un atelier langle des rues Yonge et Yorkville Toronto, afin doffrir des cours de perfectionnement une trentaine dtudiants. Les grandes lignes de cet enseignement pratique portent alors sur des principes esthtiques et des techniques de construction. Lyle conseille et
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supervise les tudiants, critiquant leur travail tout comme il leur enseigne cette critique hrite des beaux-arts63. Dune part, le principe gnral de latelier sappuie sur une suite de concours64, limage de lcole des beaux-arts de Paris, et, dautre part, les thmes proposs pour ces exercices sont directement bass sur ceux qui circulent au sein de la Society of BeauxArts Architects. Lenseignement de larchitecture au Canada a t lent mettre sur pied. Le premier programme complet en architecture voit le jour en 1896 lUniversit McGill de Montral, alors que les formations similaires offertes en Ontario taient rattaches dautres disciplines 65. LUniversit de Toronto offre un programme darchitecture par le biais dun baccalaurat en sciences appliques, mais lcole darchitecture ne voit le jour quen 1934, et ce, au sein de la Facult de gnie et de sciences appliques (section indpendante de lUniversit de Toronto jusquen 1948)66. Un Architectural Club est toutefois organis en 1911 lUniversit de Toronto. John M. Lyle en est nomm prsident honoraire en 1913, ce qui lui permet dlargir son cercle de discussion et denseignement. Pendant la Premire Guerre mondiale, il enseigne quelques cours de conception luniversit et profite de loccasion pour faire des expositions et inviter des confrenciers issus des milieux architectural et artistique67. Pour ses contemporains, John Lyle a t remarquable en raison de son nationalisme, qui sest exprim par ses uvres, ses crits et ses allocutions. Pour la postrit, il aura t un matre duvre important de lorganisation de la profession et un enseignant marquant. En plus de tenir un atelier dapprentissage pendant longtemps68, de collaborer activement et de diffrentes manires avec lUniversit de Toronto, son bureau compos dun
noyau permanent de quelques employs seulement avait pour mthode habituelle dembaucher des tudiants ou demprunter des employs dautres compagnies, ce qui avait pour effet daccentuer un roulement rgulier et successif de nombreux architectes entre ses murs. Geoffrey Hunt, dans le cadre du catalogue dune exposition prpare sur John M. Lyle en 1982, numre plusieurs architectes qui ont bnfici dun apprentissage avec cet architecte : Alvan Sherlock Mathers de Mathers et Haldenby ; James Craig de Craig et Madil ; Arthur Watson et Isadore Feldman de Hynes Feldman et Watson ; Harland Steele de Page et Steele ; Harry P. Smith de Smith, Mill et Ross ; T.C. Pomphrey ; W.L. Somerville ; D.E. Kertland ; Wilfred Whaley ; James H. Haffa ; Jack Ryrie ; Bert Langley ; Gordon Secord ; Harold Greensides ; William Ing et F.A. Abrey69. Par ailleurs, larchitecture et lornementation telles que dveloppes par Lyle semblent avoir eu une influence sur diffrents architectes contemporains70, comme en tmoignent le North American Life Building de Toronto (Marani et Lawson, v. 1932), le magasin Eaton de la rue College Toronto (Ross et Macdonald, v. 1931) ou la Banque de Montral, rue Wellington Ottawa (Ernest I. Barott, 1930-1934) (ill. 24). En somme, lhritage de John M. Lyle est des plus impressionnants. La quantit et la qualit de ses uvres, de ses articles, de ses discours et de toutes ses activits connexes font de sa carrire un moment fort en architecture du dbut du vingtime sicle au Canada. Il a non seulement jou un rle important dans lintroduction du style beaux-arts et sa diffusion au Canada, mais il a galement dvelopp un style personnel en sinspirant de sources canadiennes. Enfin, par son bureau, son atelier et ses enseignements, il a contribu grandement lorganisation et la reconnaissance de la
ill. 28. banque Canadienne de CommeRCe, watson, saskatChewan, 1906, daRling et PeaRson, aRChiteCtes, lhn, 1976. | PaRCs Canada.
ill. 29. anCienne glise sainte-Cungonde, montRal, 1905-1906, auJouRdhui saints-maRtyRsCoRens, Jean-omeR maRChand et samuel stevens haskell, aRChiteCtes. | Conseil du PatRimoine
Religieux du qubeC, site web inventaiRe des lieux de Culte du qubeC, [www.lieuxdeculte.qc.ca].
ill. 30. intRieuR de lanCienne glise sainteCungonde. | Conseil du PatRimoine Religieux du

qubeC, site web inventaiRe des lieux de Culte du qubeC, [www.lieuxdeculte.qc.ca]).
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profession darchitecte au Canada. Selon Geoffrey Hunt, lincidence de John M. Lyle sur le milieu architectural canadien fut si grande quon pourrait la comparer celle des firmes Richardson, Hunt, ou McKim, Mead et White aux tats-Unis71.
ernest cormier (1885-1980)

Parmi les architec tes dont luvre cratrice peut tre considre comme exceptionnelle, Ernest Cormier est probablement celui qui est le plus prs de John Lyle. Ayant tudi lcole des beaux-arts de Paris de 1909 1914, il rentre Montral en 1918 aprs stre perfectionn Rome et avoir travaill en France. Il travaille un court temps en collaboration avec J.-O. Marchand, pour construire notamment lcole des beauxarts de Montral (1922-1923). De mme, en collaboration avec L.A. Amos et C.H. Saxe, il ralise lAnnexe au Palais de justice de Montral (1920-1926) (ill. 25). Ces deux difices monumentaux peuvent tre considrs comme des uvres remarquables dans le style beaux-arts. Tout comme John M. Lyle qui se sensibilise aux nouveaux courants stylistiques et modifie sa pratique, Cormier touche partir de la fin des annes 1920 deux nouvelles approches : le classicisme moderne et lArt dco. Pour le premier des deux styles, il produit notamment en 1938 le nouvel difice de la Cour suprme du Canada Ottawa et, pour le second, il ralise lUniversit de Montral partir de 1925. Malgr le dcalage de gnration, Ernest Cormier insiste dans toutes ses conceptions pour utiliser des principes beaux-arts, tout comme Lyle72. Tous deux sont considrs comme des leaders de larchitecture classique, ayant dvelopp lun et lautre une tendance personnelle fort influente dans lhistoire de larchitecture canadienne.
contexte compaRatIF
John M. Lyle sera compar un petit groupe darchitectes qui lui sont contemporains et qui malgr le dveloppement diffrent de leur cheminement respectif prsentent certaines caractristiques communes sa carrire. Ces derniers ont reu une formation ltranger, certains dentre eux lcole des beaux-arts de Paris. La plupart ont contribu dvelopper une nouvelle approche architecturale issue du classicisme. De mme, quelquesuns ont diffus leurs ides sur la scne canadienne par de lenseignement, par des publications ou par des confrences. Ces architectes sont Ernest Cormier, Edward et William S. Maxwell, Frank Darling et John Andrew Pearson, JeanOmer Marchand et Percy Erskine Nobbs. Tous, sauf J.-O. Marchand, figurent dans le document Guidelines for Evaluating Canadian Architects of Potential National Historic Significance. Ce rapport suggre une liste de vingt-deux candidats principaux, parmi lesquels se trouvent John M. Lyle, Ernest Cormier, Edward et William S. Maxwell et Percy Erskine Nobbs, et une liste de vingt-trois candidats secondaires, o se situe la firme de Darling et Pearson. Les architectes et les thoriciens qui y sont mentionns sont tous de trs haut calibre, et ceux retenus pour fins de comparaison peuvent tre rapprochs de Lyle pour leur priode de production, leur style architectural ou un aspect spcifique de leur carrire, en fonction de la ligne directrice particulire 4.6 (portant sur lvaluation de limportance darchitectes canadiens).
1902, Montral. Les premires annes de leur production affichent clairement linfluence de William, dessinateur principal de la firme74. Ils conoivent selon les principes beaux-arts et la qualit de leurs compositions et de lornementation qui sy greffe a tt fait de les faire se dmarquer de la scne architecturale. titre dexemples, notons la succursale de la Banque Royale Westmount (1903), la gare du Canadien Pacifique Winnipeg (1904) (LHN, 1982), ldifice de lAssemble lgislative de Saskatchewan (1907-11912) (LHN, 2005) et la Montreal Art Association Gallery (1911, devenue le Muse des beaux-arts de Montral) (ill. 26). Un de leurs grands mrites est davoir t lavant-garde de leurs contemporains en dveloppant, pendant les annes 1910 et 1920, une approche stylistique tourne vers une plus grande simplification des formes.
darling et pearson (1893-1923)

La firme de Frank Darling et John Andrew Pearson, de Toronto, est trs prsente sur la scne architecturale au dbut du vingtime sicle. Non seulement elle produit de nombreux difices dans le style beauxarts, mais elle entre parfois directement en comptition avec le studio de John M. Lyle pour certaines commandes75. J.A. Pearson a reu sa formation en Angleterre, avant dintgrer les rangs de Darling et Sproatt (de Sproatt et Rolph, une autre firme beaux-arts importante Toronto), qui ne tarde pas devenir Darling et Pearson en 1893. Parce quils construisent dans le style de lcole des beaux-arts, leur prsence Toronto avant dautres architectes beaux-arts comme Lyle les avantage pour lobtention de contrats76 . Au cours de leur carrire prolifique, ils se spcialisent dailleurs dans les commandes de banques et dimmeubles de bureaux. Tout comme Lyle, ils ont ralis beaucoup duvres dun bout lautre du pays, comme en tmoignent la Banque mtropolitaine de Toronto (1913) (ill. 27), ou les modles de
edward et William s. maxwell (1902-1923)

Parmi les firmes darchitectes ayant eu une influence majeure au Canada par leur architecture dinspiration classique, les frres Maxwell sont un autre exemple exceptionnel. William Sutherland Maxwell (1874-1925), qui tudie lcole des beauxarts de Paris vers 1893-189673, sassocie son frre Edward Maxwell (1867-1923) en
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banques prfabriques conus pour cette mme institution financire et implants dans les Prairies (ill. 28) et en ColombieBritannique entre 1906 et 191077.
Jean-omer marchand (1873-1936)78

Jean-Omer Marchand fait aussi partie de ce petit groupe darchitectes qui ont tudi lcole des beaux-arts de Paris. Lui et John M. Lyle sont dailleurs les deux premiers tudiants canadiens admis au programme darchitecture. ltranger pendant neuf ans, cest Paris quil se lie damiti avec Lyle de 1892 1894. Il revient en 1902 Montral pour y entreprendre une carrire prolifique base sur la pratique, accompagne galement de publications dans les journaux et les revues. Au fil des annes, il conclut diffrents partenariats avec dautres architectes, mais sa pratique demeure toujours fidle aux principes beaux-arts. Parmi ses collaborations, notons la conception de lglise Sainte-Cungonde de Montral (19041906) (ill. 29-30) avec Samuel Stevens Haskell, la prison de Bordeaux (1905) avec R.A. Brassard, lglise Saint-PierreClaver (1915) avec Joseph Venne et lcole des beaux-arts de Montral (1922-1923) avec Ernest Cormier. Si toutes ces uvres affichent un haut calibre architectural et une monumentalit propre sa formation, Marchand na pas construit autant de banques et de rsidences que Lyle. Par contre, il a produit beaucoup darchitecture institutionnelle et publique, o il dmontre une matrise du style beauxarts et, plus tard, du style Art dco. On le considre comme le principal architecte canadien-franais de son poque grce la visibilit de ses uvres79.
la ligne directrice particulire 4.6 (soit comme ducateur, auteur ou organisateur remarquable). Nobbs a construit plusieurs difices, mais son apport larchitecture canadienne est principalement ax sur la thorisation, lducation et la transmission du savoir. Son grand apport larchitecture canadienne est quil a su adapter les principes du mouvement anglais Arts and Crafts un nouveau pays et un contexte universitaire 80. En 1903, il devient professeur et directeur de la Chaire darchitecture de lUniversit McGill, Montral. Sa formation europenne (dimbourg, puis Londres) lui donne une exprience et des connaissances stylistiques plus grandes quune majorit de ses pairs. Ds son arrive au Canada, il prconise ltude de larchitecture vernaculaire du pays81. Percy Nobbs croit quune mthode moderne de pratiquer larchitecture est de puiser mme les sources canadiennes. Lyle et Nobbs deviennent, dans leur milieu respectif, la voix de la nationalisation de larchitecture82. Larchitecte de Montral tend se pencher sur ltude de larchitecture vernaculaire canadienne, tandis que Lyle, de son ct, demeure plus laise dans le monumental, en dveloppant une forme stylise plus prs de lArt dco ou de larchitecture classique moderne. Percy Nobbs agit galement titre de conseiller important pour divers plans durbanisme de la Ville de Montral et simplique dans lamnagement de divers campus, dont ceux de lUniversit McGill et de lUniversit dAlberta. Son enseignement, ses discours et ses publications, dans le domaine de larchitecture et de lurbanisme, en auront fait un personnage de premier plan pour sa profession83. Comme John M. Lyle, Ernest Cormier, Edward et William S. Maxwell, Frank Darling et John Andrew Pearson, JeanOmer Marchand et Percy E. Nobbs ont tous t trs actifs sur la scne canadienne par leur uvre architecturale ou
par la diffusion de leurs ides. De plus, ils partagent avec lui leur formation ltranger, ainsi quune production de btiments de grande qualit inspire par cette formation. Par contre, John Lyle se distingue deux de deux faons : par son uvre et par la transmission des ides. Sur le plan de sa production architecturale, si on le considre comme un architecte des plus influents en architecture de style beaux-arts, cest son approche personnelle qui le fait se dmarquer des autres praticiens. Les formes classiques de plus en plus dpouilles que Lyle dveloppe, que lon peut rapprocher de Cormier, des Maxwell ou de Marchand, adoptent au fil de sa pratique une ornementation originale, tourne vers des sources dinspiration nationales. Cette architecture dite canadienne est accompagne chez Lyle de nombreux crits, discours et enseignements, qui supportent ses positions et diffusent ses thories. Au sujet de la transmission de ses ides et de son enseignement, il se distingue aussi de ses semblables. Contrairement Nobbs qui prsente ses cours magistraux dans un cadre universitaire, Lyle utilise plutt le principe de latelier, limage de lcole des beaux-arts de Paris. De mme, si Nobbs contribue au domaine de lurbanisme par ses concepts de la cit-jardin, Lyle est plutt tourn vers les principes du mouvement City Beautiful.
ImpoRtance hIstoRIque en Rsum

John M. Lyle est un personnage dimportance historique pour les raisons suivantes : l est lun des principaux architectes i canadiens de son poque avoir contribu la diffusion du style beaux-arts au pays, tant comme thoricien de larchitecture que par la qualit et le nombre de ses uvres, dont ses banques ;
percy erskine nobbs (1875-1964)

Percy Erskine Nobbs, en raison de limportance de son rle de thoricien et dducateur, est le seul architecte qui peut tre considr comme tant comparable John M. Lyle sous laspect 2 de
JSSAC | JSAC 35 > N o 1 > 2010
81
l a grandement particip au dvelopi pement dune pratique canadienne en architecture par son approche personnelle, tant sur le plan de la conception des btiments que de leur ornementation. En incorporant divers motifs dinspiration canadienne ses constructions, il a contribu donner un caractre national son uvre ; l a t une figure cl pour la proi fession architecturale. Ses ides, diffuses notamment par le biais de confrences, de publications, dexpositions et dateliers, auront aid la reconnaissance de la profession et contribu la formation comme au perfectionnement des nouvelles gnrations darchitectes.
6. Trois de ses frres ont uvr dans des professions librales : deux taient mdecins et un avocat ; deux dentre eux ont exerc leur profession aux tats-Unis, New York. (McArthur, op. cit.) 7. Ibid.
8. Pendant cette priode, il devient membre de la Society of Beaux-Arts Architects. 9. Le design de la gare Union est principalement attribu la firme Ross et Macdonald, laquelle Lyle tait associ comme architecte de Toronto. Si le plan semble principalement lapport de Ross et Macdonald, Lyle a plutt laiss sa trace dans la grande salle des pas perdus.
15. Fleming, John, Hugh Honour et Nikolaus Pevsner, [4 e d.] 1991, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, Hammondsworth (Eng.), Penguin Books, p. 37 (sous Beaux Arts Style ). Beaucoup dautres minents architectes amricains bien connus de Lyle y avaient tudi dans la seconde moiti du dix-neuvime sicle, dont H.H. Richardson, Louis Sullivan et Charles McKim. Aller tudier au cur mme de la vieille Europe, lcole des beaux-arts de Paris, reprsentait le summum lpoque pour la formation dun architecte. 16. Incorpore en 1894, la Society of Beaux-Arts Architects promeut le mouvement architectural issu de lcole des beaux-arts, cherche hausser le statut des architectes aux tatsUnis et collabore diffrents programmes, tel le prix de Paris mis sur pied pour encourager les tudiants parfaire leurs tudes dans la mtropole franaise. 17. La trs influente Exposition universelle de 1893, Chicago, est dailleurs conue dans le style beaux-arts par les firmes darchitectes numro un de lpoque. (Maitland, Leslie, Jacqueline Hucker et Shannon Ricketts, 1992, A Guide to Canadian Architectural Styles, Peterborough, Broadview Press, p. 111.) 18. Howard tait le principal concepteur de la firme, tandis que Cauldwell tait plutt responsable des travaux de gnie. (Hunt, p. 20.) 19. Le New York Yacht Club est considr comme lun des immeubles de style Beaux-Arts les plus plastiques et les plus flamboyants aux tats-Unis . (Id., p. 22.) 20. Il est noter que la gare Grand Central de New York eut une influence majeure sur la gare Union de Toronto, laquelle John M. Lyle collabore plus tard. 21. Hunt, p. 24. 22. Boddy, Trevor, 1981, Regionalism, Nationalism and Modernism: The Ideology of Decoration in the Work of John M. Lyle , Trace, vol. 1, no 1, p. 10. 23. McArthur, op. cit. 24. Hunt, p. 26. 25. Son pre, qui y tait pasteur, lui servit de contact pour la reconstruction. 26. La revue Construction dcrit le thtre Royal Alexandra comme one of the most praiseworthy theatres from an architectural standpoint on the continent of America . (1907, Royal Alexandra Theatre , Construction, vol. 1, novembre, p. 37. Tir de Johnson et Clerk, op. cit.)
10. Ce jardin a t dcrit comme unique in North America Undoubtedly it is the foremost modern garden achievement in America, and ranks with the finest gardens of the world . (1936, A Garden Unique in North America , Canadian Homes and Gardens, vol. 13, nos 10-11, p. 30-33. Tir de Johnson et Clerk, op. cit.) 11. Le mouvement City Beautiful, actif au Canada de 1893 1930, favorise la promotion planifie dune beaut urbaine au moyen de lharmonie architecturale, de luniformit de la conception et de la varit visuelle. (von Baeyer, Edwinna, Mouvement Cit y Beautiful , LEncyclopdie canadienne, [www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com], consult le 12 septembre 2006.) 12. En 1909, Lyle est trs impliqu dans le Toronto City Plan, qui combine le mouvement City Beautiful larchitecture beaux-arts. 13. Il tait membre actif de lOntario Association of Architects (qui lui a remis une mdaille dhonneur en or en 1926) ; il a t lu compagnon du Royal Institute of British Architects en 1928 ; il a t deux fois dcor par le gouvernement franais pour ses travaux architecturaux en priode de guerre, en plus dtre lun des rares architectes canadiens tre lu la Royal Canadian Academy et de servir de prsident lArt Gallery of Toronto (aujourdhui lArt Gallery of Ontario), de 1941 1944. En 1945, peu avant sa mort, lUniversit de Toronto lui a dcern un certificat honorifique pour ses activits. 14. Lorsque le renom dun architecte tient une seule ralisation dexception (ou un petit nombre seulement de telles ralisations), cest limportance nationale ventuelle de cette ralisation (ou de ces quelques ralisations) quil faudra valuer plutt que celle de larchitecte lui-mme.
notes
1. Le prsent rapport de recherche sappuie sur plusieurs articles et rfrences biographiques, dont deux sources en particulier : Hunt, Geoffrey, 1982, John M. Lyle: Toward a Canadian Architecture / Crer une architecture canadienne, Kingston, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queens University, p. 20 ; et McArthur, Glenn, 2006, The Architecture of John M. Lyle, 1872-1945: A Progressive Traditionalist , bauche de publication (ce livre a t publi par Coach House Books en 2009). Lauteur tient particulirement remercier M. McArthur de la gnrosit de sa collaboration et pour la somme dinformations fournies.
2. Deux autres architectes, Percy Erskine Nobbs et George Browne, ont t valus au mme moment. 3. Johnson, Dana et Nathalie Clerk, 1982, John M. Lyle, Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada, rapport au feuilleton 1982-18.
4. Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada, procs-verbal, juin 1982. 5. Fulton, Gordon et Andrew Waldron, 2003, Guidelines for Evaluating Canadian Architects of Potential National Historic Significance, Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada, rapport au feuilleton 2003-35.
82
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27. Hunt, p. 27. 28. Id., p. 36. 29. Boddy, p. 11. 30. Parmi ces projets, notons un groupe ddifices que Lyle voulait riger en 1914 au bout de lavenue Federal o se trouve maintenant le Nathan Philips Square. 31. 1921, Monumental Architecture and Town Planning , Construction, mai. (Tir de Hunt, p. 32.) 32. Cinq autres architectes reoivent le mme privilge en 1926 : Ernest Cormier, Hugh G. Jones, Jean-Omer Marchand, J. Melville Miller et Hugh Vallance. 33. Lyle tait le cinquime recevoir cette reconnaissance parmi les architectes ontariens. (Hunt, p. 43.) 34. Hunt, p. 6. 35. Les architectes amricains taient souvent employs au Canada parce quils avaient les moyens et lexprience, et surtout la renomme, pour entreprendre les nouveaux grands chantiers canadiens. (Id., p. 25-26.) 36. Id., p. 20-21. 37. Id., p. 28. 38. Ces chiffres ne tiennent compte que des conceptions ralises, en omettant les modifications et les propositions. Comparativement, la seconde typologie en quantit serait les rsidences, avec une quinzaine dexemples produits avant la Premire Guerre mondiale, sur un total de plus de vingt-cinq avant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. (Information compile par Glenn McArthur, op. cit.) 39. Les formes des banques suivaient le modle classique : une base dans le registre infrieur de la composition, des pilastres slevant en faade et une corniche (et parfois une balustrade) terminant les difices. Les intrieurs, quant eux, taient dgags et spacieux. 40. Pour ce qui est des architectes antrieurs ayant dvelopp une architecture selon les principes classiques, notons William Thomas (1800-1860) (PHN, 1974) ou George Browne (1811-1885). 41. J.-O. Marchand, la demande de John M. Lyle sur ses impressions, lui rpond que la banque a un got anglais . (Boddy, p. 12.) 42. Hunt, p. 46. 43. Aux tats-Unis, par exemple, le Chrysler Building de New York prsentait des motifs voquant lautomobile (William Van Alen, architecte, 1927).
44. Hunt, p. 43-44. 45. Hamilton, Robert D., Megan J. Hobson et Sharon L. Vattay, 1994, A Catalogue of the John M. Lyle Collection of Architectural Books, Hamilton, Heritage Hamilton Foundation, p. 4. 46. Lyle est dailleurs considr comme one of the foremost designer of small banks in this country . (1931, Dominion Bank (Yonge and Gerrard Street Branch) Toronto , Construction, vol. 34, no 2, p. 47. Tir de Johnson et Clerk, op. cit.) 47. Cette exposition reprsentait alors le plus grand succs que la galerie ait connu. 48. Lyle connat certains dentre eux, particulirement Lawren Harris (PHN, 1970) et A.Y. Jackson (PHN, 1974). Le parallle entre les pratiques de larchitecte et des artistes est toutefois de nature plus formelle quidologique, Lyle tant dj trs actif sur le sujet de la canadianisation avant leur organisation. 49. Le critique Eric Arthur la dcrit dailleurs comme luvre la plus russie de Lyle. (Arthur, Eric, 1926, Toronto O.A.A. Architectural Exhibition , Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, vol. 3, p. 52. Tir de Johnson et Clerk, op. cit.) 50. John M. Lyle participe dailleurs un comit consultatif du monument de guerre WellandCrowland (1934-1937), uvre dElizabeth Wynn Wood. 51. Lyle, John M., 1929, Address by John M. Lyle, 22 February 1929 at the Art Gallery of Toronto , Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, avril, p. 135-136, 163. (Tir de Geoffrey Simmins, rd. 1992, Documents in Canadian Architecture, Peterborough, Broadview Press, p. 148-160.) 52. Lyle, John M., 1931, Canadian Ornament Goes Native , American Architect, dcembre. (Tir de Hunt, p. 57.) 53. Le sige social de la Banque de Nouvelle-cosse Halifax, par exemple, utilise plus de quatrevingt-six motifs diffrents pour exprimer ces thmatiques dans son intrieur. (Johnson et Clerk, op. cit.) 54. Ibid. 55. Hunt, p. 58-60. 56. Tel que dcrit plus tt, son discours sur le dveloppement dune architecture nationale se distingue ensuite de son propos sur le rle de larchitecte.
57. Lyle, John M., 1916, The Status of the Canadian Architect , Construction, vol. 9, aot, p. 271. (Tir de Hunt, p. 37.) 58. Son message et son activit ont t suivis par le congrs de lAmerican Institute of Architects, en 1900, o un rglement a t adopt au sujet de lobligation des nouveaux candidats ladhsion dobtenir un diplme dune cole reconnue ou avoir t reu des examens spciaux . En cho ces mesures, des exigences du mme type ont t mises en pratique par lArchitectural Eighteen Club et lassociation des architectes de lOntario, bien quil faille attendre en 1931 avant que ces informations ne figurent dans le registre provincial. 59. En 1932, un article a mme t publi sur la contribution de Lyle la profession dans la revue britannique Architectural Review. On y mentionnait que les tudes de Monsieur Lyle ont eu pour rsultat la cration non seulement de nouveaux types de conception, mais encore ont-ils un caractre essentiellement national . (1932, Architectural Review, janvier, p. 12. Tir de Hunt, p. 57-58.) 60. Hunt, p. 33. 61. LEncyclopdie de Diderot et dAlembert, en 1752, mentionne la notion de Beaux-Arts pour dsigner quatre volets artistiques, larchitecture, la sculpture, la peinture et la gravure, considrs encore aujourdhui comme la section classique enseigne lAcadmie des Beaux-Arts de France. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), dans son ouvrage posthume sur lEsthtique (1835), tablit une chelle de six arts (1-architecture, 2-sculpture, 3-peinture, 4-musique, 5-danse, 6-posie) o le positionnement de chacun correspond une chelle dcroissante de matrialit, inversement proportionnelle une chelle croissante dexpressivit. 62. Johnson et Clerk, op. cit. 63. Lyle ntait pas ladministrateur et ny enseignait que deux soirs par semaine, la manire des patrons lcole des beaux-arts de Paris. Son rle tait de servir de ressource litiste structurante cet atelier. (McArthur, op. cit.) 64. Dans des dlais tablis, des esquisses devaient tre prpares (avec plans et coupes), puis les rsultats taient soumis la critique darchitectes locaux pour tre exposs et jugs. 65. McArthur, op. cit. 66. Hunt, p. 35.
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83
67. Au sujet des artistes, John Lyle prnait toujours une grande qualit de ralisation et la pratique dexcution de menus dtails, accordant une grande importance aux arts graphiques. 68. Avant la Premire Guerre mondiale, ainsi que dans les annes 1930. (Johnson et Clerk, op. cit.) 69. Hunt, p. 42. 70. Id., p. 58. 71. Id., p. 33. 72. France Vanlaethem, Cormier, Ernest , LEncyclopdie canadienne, [www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com], consult le 6 septembre 2006. 73. Johnson et Clerk, op. cit. 74. L e mire , Ro b e r t , M a x well , Ed ward , LEncyclopdie canadienne, [www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com], consult le 6 septembre 2006. 75. Johnson et Clerk, op. cit. 76. Gowans, Alan, Pearson, John Andrew , LEncyclopdie canadienne, [www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com], consult le 6 septembre 2006. 77. Entrepris par la B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Co., cest prs de soixante-dix banques qui ont t implantes dans lOuest canadien selon ces modles. (Kalman, Harold D., Architecture des banques , LEncyclopdie canadienne, [w w w.t h e c a n a d i a n e n c y c l o p e d i a . c o m] , consult le 6 septembre 2006.)
78. J.-O. Marchand na pas t inclus la liste darchitectes du rapport Guidelines for Evaluating Canadian Architects of Potential National Historic Significance. Toutefois, le rapprochement existant entre sa formation et sa pratique architecturale et celles de Lyle semble tout fait pertinent, dautant plus quil tait galement mentionn dans le rapport de 1982 de Dana Johnson et Nathalie Clerk sur John M. Lyle (op. cit.). 79. J.-O. Marchand a notamment redessin ldifice du Centre pour le Parlement canadien, Ottawa, avec John Andrew Pearson de Darling et Pearson. (Gersovitz, Julia, Marchand, JeanOmer , LEncyclopdie canadienne, [www. thecanadianencyclopedia.com], consult le 6 septembre 2006.) 80. Wagg, Susan, Nobbs, Perc y Erskine , LEncyclopdie canadienne, [www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com], consult le 6 septembre 2006. 81. Lintrt de Nobbs pour larchitecture vernaculaire est dj attest en 1906 lorsquil fonde le Sketching Club ; en 1920, son collgue Ramsay Traquair sy intresse galement. (Charrois, Genevive, 2006, Percy Erskine Nobbs (18751964), Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada, rapport au feuilleton 2007-22. 82. Hunt, p. 57-58. 83. Fulton et Waldron, op. cit.
84
JSSAC | JSAC 35 > N o 1 > 2010
c al l fo r PaPEr S | a PPEl tE xtE S
Editorial statEmEnt
the Journal of the society for the study of architecture in canada is a bilingual
refereed publication whose scope encompasses the entire spectrum of canadian architecture from all historical periods and all cultural traditions. in addition to historical, cultural, and sthetic inquiries, the Journal also welcomes articles dealing with theoretical and historiographical issues generally relevant to the study of canadian architecture and architectural practice. discussions of current methodological issues, for example, fall within the scope of the Journal, as do critical issues of preservation and restoration. articles should be original and provide a new contribution to scholarship, whether they are mainly factual and documentary or whether they develop a new interpretation on a specific theme. it is the aim of the Journal to forward the understanding of canadian architecture in as many ways as possible.
politiquE ditorialE
le Journal de la socit pour ltude de larchitecture au canada est une revue bilingue
avec comit de lecture dont le champ englobe larchitecture canadienne de toutes les priodes historiques et toutes les traditions culturelles. En plus darticles de nature historique, esthtique, ou culturelle, le Journal accepte aussi les textes traitant de questions thoriques ou historiographiques pertinentes ltude de larchitecture et de la pratique architecturale au canada. lexamen des questions mthodologiques dactualit, par exemple, fait partie du champ couvert par le Journal, tout comme les dbats de conservation et de restauration. les textes soumis au Journal doivent apporter une contribution scientifique originale, que ce soit par le biais dinformations factuelles jusqualors inconnues ou encore par le dveloppement dune nouvelle interprtation concernant un thme particulier. lobjectif du Journal est de promouvoir une meilleure comprhension de larchitecture canadienne par le plus grand nombre de voies possibles.
submissions to the Journal are encouraged and welcomed from ssac members and non-members alike. please send proposed articles, relevant to the study of canadian architecture, to:
Prof. luc noPPen, editor
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le Journal invite tous les chercheurs en architecture canadienne, quils soient membres de la sac on non, soumettre leurs articles. on peut soumettre un article en lenvoyant :
Prof. luc noPPen, rdActeur
journAl de lA sAc chairE dE rEchErchE du canada En patrimoinE urbain institut du patrimoinE univErsit du qubEc montral, cp 8888, succ. cEntrE-villE montral (qc) h3c 3p8 courriEl : noppen.luc@uqam.ca tl. : (514) 987-3000 p-2562 | tlc. : (514) 987-6881
submission of articlEs in English

authors should send to the editor a copy of their manuscript, prepared according to the guidelines of the Journal. although articles in the analyses section usually comprise 7000 words and fifteen to twenty illustrations, shorter or longer articles may be considered for the other sections: Essays can comprise 2500 to 3500 words and five to ten illustrations. reports may vary in length as they are preferably published integrally. the necessary permission to publish must have been secured from the organization for which reports were intended. authors must submit their article on an electronic medium or by email. illustrations should accompany the manuscript. these consist of photographic prints, slides or, preferably, digital files (360 dpi, 4 x 6 minimum, tiff or Eps format), on cd-rom. photocopies or facsimiles are acceptable only for line drawings. it is the responsibility of the author to obtain the required reproduction authorizations for the illustrations and to pay copyright fees when necessary. ssac and the editor of the Journal decline responsibility in that matter. all illustrations should have captions, including, where applicable, subject, date, and name of architect, author or source. illustrations will be returned to authors. all manuscripts are submitted for review to the ssacs Editorial review panel who reports to the editor. the editor informs authors of the decision, no later than sixty days after initial submission; the editor also ensures that the requested modifications have been made before the final acceptance and proposition of the publication date. authors will receive three copies of the issue in which their article is published.
soumission darticlEs En franais

les auteurs doivent faire parvenir au rdacteur un manuscrit prsent selon les rgles de la revue. habituellement, un article de la section analyses compte environ 7000 mots et de quinze vingt illustrations ; pour la section Essais on pourra cependant considrer des textes de longueur diffrente : 2500 3500 mots et de cinq dix illustrations. par ailleurs, la longueur des rapports peut varier puisque la revue les publie, de prfrence, intgralement. les rapports doivent tre soumis avec lautorisation de lorganisme qui ils ont t destins. les textes sont soumis en format lectronique (sur support informatique ou transmis par courriel). les illustrations doivent tre soumises en mme temps que le manuscrit. ce sont des photographies ou des diapositives ou, de prfrence, des fichiers numriques (rsolution 360 ppp au format minimal de 10 x 15 cm, format tiff ou Eps), sur cd-rom. les photocopies et les fac-simils ne sont accepts que pour les dessins au trait. les auteurs doivent fournir des illustrations libres de droits ; le cas chant, il leur appartient dobtenir les autorisations ncessaires et de dfrayer les droits de publication. la sac et le rdacteur de la revue dclinent toute responsabilit en cette matire. toutes les illustrations doivent tre accompagnes dune lgende comprenant, normalement, lidentification du sujet, la date, le nom de larchitecte, lauteur ou la provenance de limage. les illustrations seront retournes aux auteurs. tous les manuscrits sont valus par le comit de lecture qui fait rapport au rdacteur. le rdacteur transmet lavis du comit aux auteurs, au plus tard soixante jours aprs la soumission initiale ; il sassure que les modifications requises sont apportes avant daccepter le texte et de proposer une date de publication. les auteurs recevront trois exemplaires du numro de la revue dans lequel leur texte est publi.
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VOL. 35 > N o 1 > 2010

the society for the study of Architecture in cAnAdA

provincial rEprEsEntativEs | rEprsEntant(E)s dEs provincEs

Journal Editor | rdactEur du Journal

assistant Editor | adJoint la rdaction

assistant Editor | adJoint la rdaction

WEb sitE | sitE WEb

graphic dEsign | concEption graphiquE

Editor of nEWs & viEWs | rdactEur dE nouvEllEs Et coups dil

pagE makE-up | misE En pagEs

printing | imprEssion covEr | couvErturE

administrativE assistant | assistantE administrativE

marquis imprimEur inc., montmagny (qc)

Memorial Tower National Historic Site, Halifax (photo : Peter Coffman).

contents | table des matIRes

> Elsa lam

> Paul Christianson

> lEsliE maitland

> rhodri Windsor lisCombE

> Franois raCinE

> niColas miquElon

VOL. 35 > N o 1 > 2010

A Fertile Wilderness the Canadian Pacific railways ready-made Farms, 1909-1914

> Elsa lam

pRaIRIe settlement and cpR IRRIgatIon

JSSAC | JSAC 35 > N o 1 > 2010 > 3-16

E lsa lam > AnAlYsis | AnAlYse

fig. 2. CPR Ready-made faRm, 1913. | Canadian PaCifiC aRChives, a12028.

JSSAC | JSAC 35 > N o 1 > 2010

E lsa lam > AnAlYsis | AnAlYse

agRaRIan Ideals and the ReadY-made FaRm concept

fig. 4. a Cottage of the smallest tyPe. | loudon, John

JSSAC | JSAC 35 > N o 1 > 2010

E lsa lam > AnAlYsis | AnAlYse

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begInnIngs oF the cpR ReadY-made FaRm pRogRam

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the englIsh colonY nIghtIngale, albeRta

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fig. 11. CPR Ready-made faRm PosteR, 1912. | glenbow

densItY, IRRIgatIon, and socIetY

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ReadY-made FaRms and VaRIants, 1912-1914

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suspensIon oF the ReadYmade FaRm pRogRam, 1914

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E lsa lam > AnAlYsis | AnAlYse

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E lsa lam > AnAlYsis | AnAlYse

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> Paul Christianson