In our September issue
Our September issue opens with an update about a court challenge to the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, which enables the province to bypass environmental assessments and heritage regulations in the redevelopment of this designated cultural landscape. While the challenge failed, it brings light on how the present provincial government has been actively reshaping the legislative environment, sidestepping heritage and planning laws for the purpose of facilitating private development.
On a brighter note, we take a look at the celebratory events underway to mark the 100th anniversary of architect Arthur Erickson’s birth. The centenary is being marked by a film festival, lectures, exhibitions, and other events across the country—as well as the reopening of the Museum of Anthropology, which has been renewed (and in large part, rebuilt) by longtime Erickson collaborator Nick Milkovich.
September is back-to-school season, and our reviews focus on new school and university buildings. First up is a look at the four completed elementary schools that were part of Quebec’s Lab-École program. Design competitions were held to create model schools on the sites, which span the province, with impressive results.
In Montreal, we also look at the HEC business school’s Hélène Desmarais building, designed by Provencher_Roy. Situated on a steep, comb-shaped site next to a basilica, the building deftly brings clarity to its challenging infill location.
We also head to the East Coast to visit the Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation at UPEI, designed by Baird Sampson Neuert architects. Like the province it’s located in, the building punches above its weight in its sustainability achievements—all on a modest budget and tight timeline.
Architects themselves are often lifetime learners. Lawrence Bird visits three designers in Western Canada whose fabrication arms—Patkau Design Lab, Omer Arbel, and Anvil Tree—allow them to explore essential ideas about architecture.
Our issue also includes reviews of new books on contemporary West Coast houses, the battle to build Toronto’s Luminous Veil, and Louise Blanchard Bethune, the United States’ first professional woman architect.
On a final sombre note, David Covo pays tribute to longtime McGill School of Architecture director Derek Drummond, who passed away last year.
-Elsa Lam, editor