Phyllis Lambert discusses the Storm Collection with Richard Landon and Phillip Oldfield of the Fisher Library, and GaTTon Wells, University of Toronto Archivist.

PER NA 11 (,)52x v.4

2 ,q'lb NO.

ARCH

Storm's intricaJe hallmark

OF THE ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS

Storm Library provides first hand look at the past

~Vv'e Wanr [0 make archirecrure a public concern:' Phyllis Lambert demonstrated her facility for doing just that at the dedication of the William G. Storm collection at the University of Toronto April 19. Speaking to over 100 OAA members and guests at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Ms. Lambert emphasized the importance of strong historical collections as a means of learning about great architects and their work first hand .

"There is no more fitt ing way to celebrate your lOath anniversary," said Ms. Lambert, "than by honouring your first president with the securing of his library."

The founder and director of the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal said that the Storm library is an impressive record of the culture of the 19th century.

"It provides invaluable references for books of specific periods," she said, noting that the collection also contains imprints from the United States.

Drawing on her own experience during research for the recently mounted Ernest Cormier exhibition in Montreal, Ms. Lambert illustrated the importance and vitality of archival material.

"We studied Ernest Cormier's background, his culture, through his library," she said. "We found out what was important to him, and what was not. And like Cormier's, Storm's library is the library of a working architect. Through them, we can discover how an architect has been affected by history."

Historian Stephen Otto, who first informed the OAA of the existence of the Storm collection, noted that the library contains 230 titles in 288 volumes.

"It' s the largest collection of such works in the country," he said, "and will enrich the work of scholars and architects alike. "

Richard Landon, director of the Thomas Fisher Library, thanked the OAA Centennial Committee for its contribution of the Storm collection, and pointed out that it contains interesting material covering a variety of disciplines.

The Storm Library was acquired by the OAA from the Horwood family of Toronto. At the dedication, Jim Horwood presented the OAA with William Storm's instrument case to complete the collection.

OAA members interested in researching the Storm collection can do so from 9-5 Monday to Friday, at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, U of T downtown campus, (416) 978-5285. A library card is not required.

President's Message ... page 2 Calendar ... page 4 Convention Awards ... page 3 Awards ... page 4

UBRA~

Frampton confronts the architectural future

Kenneth Frampton delivered a complex and provocative message to OAA members attending the ]990 Convention at The Old Mill in Toronto April /9-21. The eminent Professor of Architecture at Columbia University's Graduate School of A rchitecture, Planning and Preservation challenged his audience with a thesis which addresses the joint issues of place-making and constructional form.

Frampton contends that both the present and the emerging future are "a Pandora 's Box, in which ill-related objects are chaotically proliferated over the face of the Earth. .. In a global sense, there is very little that the (architectural) profession can do about this apocalyptic reality. "

The second part of Frampton 's thesis finds some order ill this current and future chaos, offering hope to the architect willing to "concentrate more and more on the creation of significant fragments, ... from which (we can) revisit, however marginally, the juggernaut of consumerism. "

An architect and architectural historian, Kenneth Frampton has worked ill England, Israel, and the United States. His numerous publications include Modern Architecture: A Critical History, and Modern Architecture 1851 to 1945. His forthcoming books include Labor, Work, and Architecture and Studies in Tectonic Culture.

Anticipating the impact of Frampton 's presentation, Perspectives asked Susan Speigel alld Francesco Scolozzi for their thoughts on his lecture. The intriltuing results follow.

Let the work transmit By Susan Speigel B.Arch., Graduate Associate

On the contrary. To suspend your point of view for a moment, and be attentive, is to see that "something" is happening. And we don't understand it yet.

Could anyone disagree with Kenneth Frampton's lecture, or his distinctions between sentimental versions of appropriated "critical regionalism" and the real thing? No!

Frampton 's 10 urgent thoughts for "future" work made five very distressing, yet salient points. If: (1) Architects mediate in only 10 per cent of all architectural work done in the U.S. (2) The delimited, neoclassical city is a lost cause. (3) We cannot follow impassioned reactionaries (such as Leon Krier) because they ignote modernism. (4) We are in ecological trouble. (5) No one is listening to the reasonable solutions of low density for suburban housing.

Then: (6) We must concentrate on strategic urban fragments, because (7) the stable referential base has been lost.

(see "Speigel" page 4)

Trading spirituality for materialism

By Francesco Scolozzi M. Arch., OAA, MRAIC

With 1990 marking the last decade of the millennium, examinations of the direction architecture will take in the future are becoming more and more prevalent.

This last part of our century has been a stage for great events, as was the beginning. The thaw in relations between East and West at one end and the First World War at the other mark the era of the cybernetic and the industrial revolution.

All aspects of culture and architecture are affected by socio-economic and media events. At this point, the question arises: "Is architecture still an art?"

The answer is unclear. I agree with Kenneth Frampton when he says that today 's architecture has lost some of its intrinsic qualities. Economic and media factors have indeed encroached upon the artistic side of architecture. We have practically lost the sense of craftsmanship, the love and dedication to things well-built. (see "Seoloui" page 2)

2

"If it is the bricklayers one season, it is the carpenters the

next ... "

Plus ~a change ...

In the March issue of Perspectives, I spoke of our need to adapt to the changes taking place in our profession. Most of us recognize that changes are really challenges that have been with us for a long time, and tbat we must confront those challenges forthrightly if the profession is to survive.

The handwritten minutes of our association dating back to 1889 lend credence to the idea tbat we're still dealing with the same issues and challenges. These minutes tell the absorbing story of the endless battle for better professional training, greater public recognition, effective professional practice, improvement of our professional organizations in Ontario and across Canada, and greater emphasis on the practical education of our students.

It is interesting to note a few expressions of opinion recorded in the minutes of tbe Architectural Guild around 1888.

"Tbe long winters make tbe building season a busy one, and because the summer is short, the workmen do their worst and are always striking. If it is the bricklayers one season, it is the carpenters the next, and it is the carpenters' tum tbis year. Wages are very high. Thirty-three cents an hour for briCklayers, the carpenters getting 25 cents and wanting 27 cents with one hour a day less.

"The Guild concerns itself with several matters of recurring importance, notably the conditions under which competitions are to be held, the relations with the press and with local governments, the terms of settlement of current building strikes and the controversy which has proven to be recurrent with the Brickmakers Association on the size and quality of bricks ."

In these early days, most major architectural commissions were awarded as a result of design competitions among several firms, and concern for public image was just as important then as it is today.

Two early concerns of the association around the tum of the century were the requirements for registration of architects

and the education and examination of prospective architects. Of all the issues, I believe these are two of the most important challenges we continue to face.

The real issue for architectural education is to determine the proper market and social roles for the architect, and realistically assess the effect this has on the universities' curricula.

In his OAA presidential address of 1909, H.B. Gordon said:

"As superior education and general culture become more common, architects will require a more extended education if they are to occupy their proper place in society and uphold the status of the profession. "

We need graduates wbo are highly skilled, assertive, tough-minded and persevering, yet altruistic. They must be capable of aligning tbemselves with constructors, engineers, construction technologists and developers. This is bitter medicine for a profession that deliberately separated itself from the building industry in the 19th century . Perhaps this is our greatest challenge.

There is a continuing concern over the widening gap between what the practising professional expects of the architectural graduate, and the views of some of the schools of architecture.

The schools and apprenticeship of our graduates must serve the whole profession, not just certain aspects. As part of the licenSing requirement, Canada has now adopted the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards examinations. We face the spectre of high levels of failure on these post-graduate examinations, unless the schools place more emphasis on courses that prepare the applicant to meet the generally accepted standards of practical skill required to engage in the practice of architecture. For the same reasons, after graduation, the learning experience in the office must be of the highest quality. If we do not continue to improve in both areas, we will have lost the challenge.

It is important now, as it was in the past, that we take an active interest in the academic education of students and the continuing education and training of our graduates; that we maintain the highest standards of ethical practice; that we continue to strengthen our associations at the provincial and national levels; and that we protect the legislated rights and privileges of a self­governing profession that were created over more than a century of tireless effort on the part of those architects who came before us.

Douglas Neville B. Arch., OAA, MRAIC

Letters

The Prince's debate carries on Sir: It was a pleasure to study Eberhard Zeidler's response to A Vision of Britain (Perspectives, March 1990). Special architectural insight is required to constructively respond to the challenge put forward by Prince Charles, and Mr. Zeidler has risen to the occasion.

Mr. Zeidler's immensely successful career allows him to understand the market place, human behaviour, and their interaction. He can also analyze, organize, and conceptualize both scientific and human

characteristics into a unified whole.

In May, I spoke to the Belleville Kiwanis on A Vision of Britain and architects' response to it. Thanks to Prince Charles for initiating this intense architectural debate, to Perspectives for soliciting responses, and to Eberhard Zeidler for his valuable analysis.

William R. White, OAA, MRAlC, P. Eng. Belleville, Ontario

Perspectives welcomes letters to the editor. Letters may be edited, and authorship will be verified. Letters should be sent to The Editor, Perspectives, Ontario Association of Architects, 50 Park Road, Toronto, Ontario M4W 2N5. Include a daytime telephone number for verification.

Scolozzi... (continued from page 1)

What is more tragic, we have traded our spirituality for materialism.

The crucial decisions on building projects remain in the hands of those with no interest in preserving the urban fabric or the environment in general. The quest for maximizing profits is paramount. The inadequacy of our urban legislation often allows permanent scars to be inflicted upon our cities. The concept that the city is for the common good of the community at large is almost dead.

It is not overstating the case to say that a very small proportion oftoday's construction achieves the level of "architecture". Consumerism is the latest virus to infect an already weakened discipline.

With the media spreading the notion that fashion is everything, architecture is in danger of becoming a consumer product, like cars or clothes. Architecture is losing its semantic background to become arbitrary, ephemeral, and meaningless. Regional and national characteristics are disappearing.

The ultimate conclusion is the loss of cultural identities. In The Imperial Facade (1924), Lewis Mumford wrote: "The opulence, the waste of resources and energies, the perversion of human effort represented in this architecture are but the outcome of our general scheme of working and living. Architecture, like government, is about as good as a community deserves. The shell that we create marks our spiritual development..."

Post modern architecture has revised classicism, art deco, and regionalism, with the urge to repudiate the sterility of modernism. It attempts to find the lost values of our culture through the past. However, like any revivalism, this transplant offorms only becomes meaningless, sterile formalism, without an understanding of the philosophy that produced it. What many designers have not understood is that an old philosophy cannot be proposed as such, but only works through a cathartic process. The gestaltung or semantic of the form can only be translated into a contemporary expression through a process of distillation with our contemporary culture.

Deconstructivism, on the other hani!, is an ephemeral exercise of dissolution. It is a celebration of fragmentation and arbitrary expression, a subversion of harmony, order, and security traded for a precarious insecurity. It all seems to carry the seeds of nihilism.

Are these ominous premonitions that we are on the eve of destruction? The 1920 constructivism exhibition in Moscow anticipated the most baleful events in human history: the death and destruction of the Second World War. What is deconstructivism predicting for us?

Does today's pattern of things offer any hope for an enlightened future? We must turn to our educational system, and our media, to lead us toward the rediscovery of our spiritual values. We must seek baukullst, the art of building, which transcends today's hedonistic approach to life.

As Kenneth Frampton said, " It is not a matter of command of his craft, that an architect can lay a building into place and mark the ground." It is the research of our revived spirituality, to retrace some of our steps, and seek a new point of departure. In the architecture to come, we must find symbolic expression which reflects our human needs, aspirations, sentiments, and values.

1990 Convention Awards

Winners of the Residential Design Awards and their clients: (from left) Lynda Colville-Reeves, Canadian House and Home Publisher; Ted Wood, John Cowie Architect Inc.; Murray Cornblum, Trivest Development; Roger DuToit, architect; Catherine Nott, Windward Housing Co-Operative Inc.; Julian Jacobs, architect; Myron Gottlieb, owner Gottlieb Residence; David Day, owner Day Residence; John Hix, architect; Douglas Neville, President.

President Douglas Neville with Graduate Associate Steven Mannel, who won the Raymore Medalfor the highest standing in the 1989 Admission Course.

President Douglas Neville congratulates Crescent School graduate Michael Mercier, winner of the 1989 OAA/Vladan Milic scholarship awarded for the pursuit of excellence.

At the Annual Meeting, Irv Rayman (past President), Ronald Hershfield (Past President) and James Jorden (missing from photo) received Certificates of Appreciation for their service as retiring Councillors.

Jeanne Arnold, former Registrar and 1989 recipient of the Order of da Vinci, invests the 1990 recipient Irv Rayman (Past President). The Order of da Vinci was established by Past President Alfred Roberts to recognize those who have made a major contribution to the profession. The medal was designed by the renowned sculptor Dora de Pedery Hunt.

Retired members George Abram and Martha Leitch Crase, who, along with Member Alfred C. Roberts, were elected Honorary Members at the Annual Meeting. Mr. Roberts was out of the country.

Thefirm of Young + Wright, Architects was honored for unstinting service to the profession. Richard Young and James Wright (Past President) received the Association's Certificate of Appreciation.

j

3

David Hodgson has been appointed Deputy Executive Director and Director of External Affairsfor the OAA.

4

Appointment In late 1989, OAA Executive Director Brian Parks advised Council of his intention to take early retirement in 1991, wben the new headquarters building is completed. The Executive Committee felt it was imperative to have a successor in place at the earliest possible date, in order to provide the maximum amount of overlap time and to assist in the completion of the building and the OAA's move to new headquarters at 111 Moatfield Drive in North York.

After an extensive search, Council is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. David Hodgson as Deputy Executive Director and Director of External Affairs.

Mr. Hodgson is already well known to many members of the profession througb his previous position as Director, Buildings Branch, Ontario

Calendar

Viewpoints

Ministry of Housing, which brought him into frequent contact witb architects, builders, and building officials across the province. In that position, he was responsible for the Ontario Building Code, initiatives to streamline the municipal building approvals process, the development of a comprehensive education and training program, and the reform of building legislation. As a member of the ministry 'S senior management team, he also directed programs to increase the productivity and efficiency of the building industry.

David was very active in the development of national codes and standards. He was the chairman of the Provincial Territorial Committee on Building Standards, a member of the Associate Committee on the National Building Code, and the Associate Committee on Construction Materials. He was also a member of the Board of

The Ontario Association of Architects Centennial exhibition Viewpoints: 100 Years of Architecture in Ontario will be on show until August 2, 1990 at the Art Gallery of Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie; Arts Court Gallery August 23 to September 23, 1990 in Ottawa; Rodman Hall Arts Centre in St. Catharines, October 5-28, 1990. Watch for 1991 tour dates in the next issue of Perspectives.

Brampton Design Awards The City of Brampton is pleased to announce the 1990 City of Brampton Development Design Awards. Submissions will be received until Wednesday, August 22, 1990 at the Planning and Development Department, 3rd fioor, 150 Central Park Drive, Brampton, Ontario L6T 2T9.

Preservation Technology Preserving for the 21 st Century, Montreal, September 2-9. The international conference of the Association for Preservation Technology incorporates specialized training courses (September 2-5), a conference (September 5-8) and a symposium (September 7-8). For further information, contact the association cia Heritage Montreal, 406 Notre­Dame East, Montreal, Quebec, H2Y lC8, telephone (514) 842-8678, fax (514) 842-8670.

Awards

Residential Design Awards The 1989190 OANCanadian House & Home magazine Residential Design Awards were presented at the 100th Annual Meeting and Convention: Single-family homes - Julian Jacobs Architects for Myron Gottleib Residence; Honourable mentions: David Parrish Architect for David Parrish Residence, Miller Bobaljik Architect Iuc_ for M. Rollins Residence. Single-family homes, additions or renovations: John Hix Architect Ltd. for D.& J. Day Residence; Honourable Mention: Kathleen Kurtin Architect for Denis Lefebrve & Bob Sirman Residence. Conversion of non-residential to residential use, single or multiple housing: John Cowie Architect Inc. for Cloakwell Close Developments. Multiple housing, new, additions andlor renovations: Honourable Mention, G. Randall Guthrie Architect Inc. for the Bellair Townhomes, Annau Associates Architects Inc. for The Balmoral Club Rest Home. Non-profit housing, Roger du Toit Architects for Windward Non-profit Homes, Honourable Mention Allen Ensslen Barrett Architects for St. Nicholas Co-operative Inc.

AlA Citation for Excellence New York Chapter of tbe American Institute of Architects, citation for design excellence, Dunlop Farrow Inc. Architects, Toronto, in association with Ellerbe Becket of New York City for the CN Real EstatelRoyal Trust Development at Front and Spadina, Toronto.

Directors of the Canadian Welding Bureau, and the Canadian Construction Research Board.

Prior to his career with the Ontario Public Service, David was employed at the municipal level of government and held the positions of Deputy Clerk, Township of King and Deputy Town Clerk, Town of Oakville. Along with his broad knowledge and understanding of government affairs and the building industry, he brings

Speigel ... (continued from page 1)

to the association excellent communication and organizational skills. He holds a degree in economics from the University of Western Ontario.

In his new position as Deputy Executive Director, he will assist in the overall management and direction of the association. In addition, as Director of External Affairs, he will focus on strengthening the OAA's relations with government and the building industry at large.

This is all true, but as critical versions of why we' re in trouble, Frampton's unhappy last three points are openings into the future, rather than precursors of its doom: (8) There is no longer an avant garde. Those who think of themselves as avant garde have iost their convincing innocence, leaving an interior absence. (9) Architects servicing developers have become media pawns, practising packaging rather than architecture. (10) Instantaneous communication, computer technology, and cybernetics ...

On this last point, Frampton had no position. This is precisely what leads to his disinterestedness in The New Work. (see below)

Kenneth Frampton believes that The New Work derives from a non-belief, an angst that the end has come. Anything goes until the day of redemption. Progress is a dirty word.

On the contrary. To suspend your point of view for a moment, and be attentive, is to see that "something" is happening. And we don ' t understand it yet.

Attaining this attentiveness requires believing that progress is the onslaught of time, against which nothing can (or ought to be) done. Progress is a word which describes the movement of time, both transformations and regressions.

Interior absence, the packaging phenomenon, and cybernetic spatial vision have meaning, meaning whicb demands insider comprehension. What is needed is a huge shift in perception, analogous to that moment after long labour on a drawing, when one is suddenly propelled "inside", to walk around as if the drawing were real. This shift to the actual momentum set by a project does not mean abandoning one's point of view -- except for the instant it takes to get inside the work.

The people producing The New Work are young, just young enough to have been brought up on cyberspace, the architecture of television. As Lyotard so astutely and ambiguously described:

"Our task is to cultivate a 'thought of non-control,' which Jets us emerge from ideas, from associations, from those images which can look odd, dangerous, certainly disquieting, but which are true resources of thought. I see our task in being ' present' ."

The metaview of television channel switcbing constructs an intriguing "set" of architectures. If we postpone our critical position in relation to the content of television, and instead imagine the parade of switching channels as the actual program we're watching, we will be quiet long enough to let the work transmit.

To suspend one ' s habitual criticism is to be allowed in.

The New Work Examples of people (and things) representing The New Work include: Neo·modern: Jacques Rousseau. Steven Hall, Ungers, Tadao Ando. Deconstructivist: MorphOSiS, Wes Jones, Assymtope, Co-op Himmelblau, Diller and Scoffidio, Anton Furst. Techno-theoretical work (Post-Deconstructivist): new student work, Nintendo.

mnm~mnmnnnn~ A PUBLICATION OF THE ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS

Produced by the Ontario Association of Architects 50 Park Road, Toronto M4W 2N5 (416)968-0188

Editor: Paul Lebel

Editorial Board: David P. Lienert, B. Comm., MBA, B. Arch.,OAA Robert B. Stiff, B.Arch., OAA, FRAlC James M. Wright, B.Arch., OAA, FRAIC

Articles may not be reproduced without the permiSSion of the OAA.