The book Canadian Modern Architecture, 1967 to the present is now available. The book is co-edited by Canadian Architect’s Elsa Lam and architectural historian Graham Livesey. It is co-published by Princeton Architectural Press and Canadian Architect.
Canadian Modern Architecture, 1967 to the present is a comprehensive review of major work in this county. It includes 15 original essays by authors including George Baird, Brian Carter, Ian Chodikoff, Odile Hénault, George Kapelos, Lisa Landrum, Steven Mannell, Sherry McKay, Marco Polo, Lola Sheppard, David Theodore, Larry Wayne Richards, Adele Weder and Mason White. It is extensively illustrated with 500 photographs and drawings.
The 50-year retrospective begins with the nation’s centennial and Expo 67 in Montreal. It covers the defining of national institutions and movements, how Canadian architects interpreted major international trends, regional and Indigenous architectural tendencies, and the influence of architects in Canada’s three largest cities—Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
The book is available at booksellers across North America, as well as from online retailers McNally Robinson, Indigo and Amazon. For bulk sales of 10 copies or more, contact Raincoast Books.
This fascinating and much-needed compendium will certainly be welcome universally, and particularly in Canada, where it will raise the consciousness of a country that has respected, but not celebrated, the wide origins of its populations and its culturally as well as physically different regions.
-Phyllis Lambert, Founding Director Emeritus of the Canadian Centre for Architecture.
This anthology […] amounts to a major achievement of collective scholarship. […] By any standards, this is an encyclopedic tour de force.
-Kenneth Frampton, Ware Professor of Architecture, Columbia University
What’s Canadian about Canadian architecture? In a country spanning almost 10 million square kilometres, it’s an imposingly big question. A trip from coast to coast to coast traverses huge swathes of cultures and climates – and equally varied architectural landscapes. […] Canadian Modern Architecture, 1967 to the Present […] explores some of the places and movements that have shaped the nation in 15 chapters by 17 authors, and some 500 pages. It takes a stab at understanding what we built – and why we built it.
-Stefan Novakovic, Azure
Lam and Livesey have brought together many of the most distinguished academics and critics in the field, and the result is a long and coherent conversation about the importance of modern Canadian architecture. The book is highly readable and heavily illustrated, an asset to professionals and to average citizens.
-Alex Bozikovic, Globe and Mail
Canadian Modern Architecture is a heroic accomplishment, and its editors and contributors have earned a standing ovation.
-Trevor Boddy, Canadian Architect
If you want a flashy clickbait building, hire one of the usual suspects; if you want something well-put-together that does the job over the long haul, get a Canadian.
-Witold Rybzynski, Architect Magazine
More accolades for Canadian Modern Architecture, 1967 to the present
#1 Non-fiction bestseller in Calgary (January 25, 2020)
10 Covetable Books for Design Lovers (Azure, December 2019)
Witold Rybzynski, “A Brief History of Recent Canadian Architecture” (Architect, December 2019)
Fabrizio Gallanti, “Canada: From 1967 to Today” (Abitare, January 2020)
Sean Micallef, “Think no good architecture has been built in Toronto in the last 50 years? This new book proves otherwise” (Toronto Star, December 15, 2019)
Alex Bozikovic, “The Golden Age of Canadian Architecture,” (Globe and Mail, November 23, 2019)
Featured in Monocle on Design’s Toronto Special podcast (November 26, 2019)
Review by Trevor Boddy in Canadian Architect (November 2019)
Stefan Novakovic, “1967 to Now: New Anthology Tackles Half a Century of Canadian Architecture” (Azure, November 1, 2019)
Sean Ruthen’s review for Spacing (May 2020)
Book launch events and panels
10/28_RAIC Festival of Architecture
Odile Hénault, Elsa Lam, Graham Livesey, Steven Mannell, Lola Sheppard
11/13_Daniels School of Architecture, Landscape, and Design
George Baird and Larry Wayne Richards
11/14_University of Waterloo School of Architecture
Elsa Lam, Martin Liefhebber, Carol Philips, Lola Sheppard
11/21_Halifax Central Library
Peter Busby, Susan Fitzgerald, Elsa Lam, Steven Mannell
11/25_University of Lethbridge
Graham Livesey
11/27_Vancouver Central Library
James KM Cheng, Elsa Lam, Sherry McKay, John Patkau
01/15/20_University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape
Jessie Andjelic, Dustin Couzens, Matt Knapik, Graham Livesey
01/16/20_Laurentian School of Architecture
Shannon Bassett, Aliki Economides, Terry Galvin, Elsa Lam
02/03/20_University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture
Lisa Landrum, Graham Livesey
02/03/20_McNally Robinson, Winnipeg
Brent Bellamy, Ryan Gorrie, Lisa Landrum, Graham Livesey, Lindsay Osler
02/15/20_Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal
Jean-Pierre Chupin, Elsa Lam, David Theodore
03/05/20_Ryerson University Department of Architectural Science
George Kapelos, Elsa Lam, Marco Polo
03/05/20_Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton
Cynthia Dovell, Jan Kroman, Graham Livesey, Vedran Skopac
03/31/20 Ottawa City Hall, Ottawa [POSTPONED]
David Fixler, George Kapelos, Elsa Lam, Colin Ripley
05/08/20 Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Alberta [POSTPONED]
Elsa Lam