Architecture and heritage of the everyday II
My Session Status
Architectural history and heritage have historically been defined by superlatives. Vernacular traditions and local histories, on the other hand, have often been pushed to the margins or overlooked. These everyday spaces and places are often relegated to the quotidian, and perceived as unworthy of recognition.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has changed our daily lives, and in many cases, our values. Now, we have been forced to see the everyday in a new light. What might this new spotlight reveal? How has this made us reconsider the architecture and heritage that surrounds us? Can we re-evaluate previously overlooked spaces and places? What new practical or theoretical approaches might be considered? How might this have redefined our very definitions of architecture and heritage?
This session will examine and consider the architecture and heritage of the quotidian in Canada, both the historically overlooked and the transformations that might take place in these spaces going forward. This might include anything from housing to office spaces, the spaces of everyday labour, functional spaces, or settings of urban and rural built environments. It might also include heritage initiatives as practiced by local, grassroots organizations without the official seal of governmental approval.
In short, this session will explore how we can rethink and renew our study of the built environment, both past and present.
Sub Sessions
Oromocto, NB was known as “Canada’s Model Town” in 1959. This New Town was a collaborative design between Central Mortgage and Housing’s Architecture & Planning Division and the Department of National Defense’ s consultant, McGill Professor Harold Spence-Sales. Oromocto offered utility as a New Town and well-designed neighbourhoods servicing the needs of Canadian Forces Base Gagetown’s soldiers and their families. Oromocto was a CMHC showcase for inexpensive Modern homes and good neigh...
The little we know about John Brown (1809–76) tends to focus on his important contributions to the construction of the Second and Third Welland Canals before his untimely death. Locally, he is also known for the hydraulic cement works he operated in Thorold from the 1840s. But who this Scottish-born stonecutter was or what else he accomplished has tended to be obscured by two factors: a confusingly common name, and dying unmarried and intestate. This remained the c...
This paper documents and describes a building typology that once dotted the shorelines of Lake Erie’s southern shore: the small, seasonal cottage. Known colloquially as the “worker’s cottage”, these modest structures are typically tiny, one-story light-framed buildings, uninsulated, built on piers, with stripped-down interior finishes. This humble spatial typology, which provides the most rudimentary, undressed type of interior spaces for a life that is lived largely outdoors, is found les...