|
Digesting architecture Three CCA exhibits display the blocks of building by KEITH MARCHAND
Now you too can learn all about architecture! There are three exhibitions happening at the Canadian Centre for Architecture that might help you to learn the difference between Kenneth Frampton and Peter Frampton, or le Corbusier and Corpusse. First up is an installation by Quebec architect Sophie Charlebois, titled Moonlight Table: Still Life. Charlebois presents us with a three-dimensional study of the impact of objects and space on the senses. The installation breaks down into three basic elements: a table, a chair and a screen. The table, partially draped in white cloth, is strewn with a selection of objects (a mirror, driftwood, sherry glasses, a penknife and a vase). The chair sits at the head of the table; its back is a scale model for a three-storey urban building, rendered in careful detail. Forming a backdrop to the installation is a screen which is a large-scale representation of one detail from the chair. Also showing is an exhibit titled Richard Pare--Tadao Ando: The Colours of Light. English-born photographer Pare has successfully captured the sublime and poetic qualities of one of Japan's greatest architects. Through 41 photographs concentrating on Ando's use of solids and voids, volume and sequencing, we begin to realize this exhibit is more about the relationship between these two artists than a show about the architect's more notable buildings. The photos capture Ando's work in a unique and beautiful way, making this a must see for anyone--not just architectural enthusiasts. A third show, The New Spirit: Modern Architecture in Vancouver, 1938-1963, has been open for quite some time. This is a large and well-researched exhibition devoted to the creative flurry in the post-depression architectural scene in Vancouver. Attracting young architects from around the world due to its sudden growth, temperate climate and openness to new ideas, the city became Canada's centre for Modernist architecture. The show is especially interesting as many of the buildings are either seriously threatened by reckless development or have been demolished. Moonlight Table runs to Oct. 26, Tadao Ando to June 1 and The New Spirit until May 25 at the CCA, 1920 Baile, 939-7026 |
During my tenure as towel-boy for the Bauhaus School's intramural badminton team (I was there when Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe won the Pan-Weimar men's doubles competition), I picked up a few valuable tips about architecture. Such as: always put the roof on after the walls, faux-wood panelling adds the perfect touch to any room and there is nothing more exotic than aluminium siding.