War and peace: the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa is as much about national identity and hopes for the future as it is about the horrors of war.Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work- I am the grass; I cover all. And pile them high at Gettysburg And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now? I am the grass. Let me work. Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) When Raymond Moriyama Raymond Moriyama, B.Arch , M.Arch (born Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Japanese-Canadian architect. He has designed several buildings at Brock University from the 1970s through the latest campus expansion and is the Universities former chancellor. was 12, he was interned in·tern also in·terne n. 1. a. A student or a recent graduate undergoing supervised practical training. b. with his Canadian-Japanese family for the duration of the Second World War. In perhaps his first architectural act, he made a treehouse in which he listened to the almost musical sound of the wind resonating res·o·nate v. res·o·nat·ed, res·o·nat·ing, res·o·nates v.intr. 1. To exhibit or produce resonance or resonant effects. 2. through the forest around. Five decades later, it was the memory of that sound which generated the first sketch ideas for what has become a highly acclaimed national memorial--the Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (CWM) is Canada’s national museum of military history. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the museum focuses on military conflicts that occurred on Canadian soil, involved Canadian forces, or had a significant effect on the country and its people. in Ottawa. This is a big (300m long) building which, while dealing with the inevitable themes of memory and loss, is fundamentally concerned with survival and regeneration, not least the regeneration of Canada itself, a country born out of the conflict between Britain and France in the mid-eighteenth century. In that sense, it is quite unlike recent war museums in those two countries, Henri Ciriani's L'Historial in Peronne (AR January 1993), and Daniel Libeskind's Imperial War Museum North in Salford (AR January 2003), though it shares certain characteristics with both: the use of concrete on the one hand, and angled walls and floors on the other. The dilemma for the architects of war museums is the extent to which they leave visitors, who may be there for a variety of reasons, depressed, repulsed, uplifted up·lift tr.v. up·lift·ed, up·lift·ing, up·lifts 1. To raise; elevate. 2. To raise to a higher social, intellectual, or moral level or condition. 3. or more thoughtful. Moriyama and his co-architect Alex Rankin have opted for a combination of uplift and thoughtfulness, not least through the skilful skil·ful adj. Chiefly British Variant of skillful. skilful or US skillful Adjective having or showing skill skilfully or US creation of a regeneration metaphor on the roof of the building, planted as it is with wild grasses and flowers; these recall the power of nature to grow over fields of devastation and horror, for example at Beaumont-Hamel in France, where tens of thousands of Newfoundlanders lost their lives in a single day in the First World War. Standing on the roof, which is freely accessible, the metaphor can be understood or ignored in favour of the highly contrasting views afforded: to the east the skyline of metropolitan Ottawa, with its Parliament and peace memorial prominent; to the north a pastoral scene of river, islands, and in the distance the Gatineau Hills For other uses, see Gatineau (disambiguation). The Gatineau Hills are a geological formation in Canada that makes up part of the southern tip of the Canadian Shield, and acts as the northern shoulder of the Ottawa Valley. in Quebec. The museum stands between the two aspects of Canadian life: the conventionally urban and Magnificent Nature, the ordinary and the extraordinary. That contrast is something the architects and exhibition designers have been anxious to carry through the building as a whole: the idea of ordinary Canadians doing extraordinary things under the pressure of forces beyond individual control. But the ordinary is not to be ignored: the entrance sequence is not a grand gesture, but a route with two entrances either of which could be regarded as the front. On one side is the river, on the other the 'common' and public space which is being used for celebrations and performances. The entrance lobby, which gives a certain feeling of intensity because of a lowered ceiling, is also used for public functions (it can seat 600). The plan form of the museum is simple. Galleries requiring paid admission, and administrative facilities, are to the east of the entrance lobby, while to the west are the cafe (with outdoor patio), shop, 25-seat auditorium, study rooms and libraries. The building has a life independent of the galleries themselves, and thus attempts to become more than the once-in-a-lifetime experience too many war museums seem to comprise. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is, however, one gallery space accessed from the central lobby open to all without payment: the Memorial Hall, clad in copper taken from an earlier museum building on its 'external' facade, and incised incised /in·cised/ (in-sizd´) cut; made by cutting. on its interior with a grid pattern taken from First World War Canadian war graves A war grave is a place where war dead are buried. It may contain either a combatant or a civilian. Although the victim does not need to die directly from enemy action, the main reason for calling a grave a war grave is that the death occurred as a result of active service by the . This is the spiritual home of the building, with a window view of the Peace Tower. At 11am on 11 November each year (11/11/11), the key memorial event in the Canadian calendar, sunlight shines through the window, illuminating il·lu·mi·nate v. il·lu·mi·nat·ed, il·lu·mi·nat·ing, il·lu·mi·nates v.tr. 1. To provide or brighten with light. 2. To decorate or hang with lights. 3. the headstone of the Canadian Unknown Soldier. This interior space is an oasis of quiet, interrupted only by the coming and going of silent visitors, and is in marked contrast to most of the densely occupied, visually and aurally au·ral 1 adj. Of, relating to, or perceived by the ear. [From Latin auris, ear; see ous- in Indo-European roots. overwhelming exhibitions in the main galleries. The Memorial Hall has its counterpoint counterpoint, in music, the art of combining melodies each of which is independent though forming part of a homogeneous texture. The term derives from the Latin for "point against point," meaning note against note in referring to the notation of plainsong. in the Regeneration Hall, which Moriyama describes as 'spiritual without being religious'. This element of the design, added at a relatively late stage to give some vertical presence to the otherwise low-slung building, has a powerfully claustrophobic claus·tro·pho·bic adj. 1. a. Relating to or suffering from claustrophobia. b. Uncomfortably closed or hemmed in. 2. angled steel structure, which from the mezzanine mez·za·nine n. 1. A partial story between two main stories of a building. 2. The lowest balcony in a theater or the first few rows of that balcony. entrance includes a framed view of the Peace Tower. The volume houses only sculptures; they are maquettes of Walter Allward's work in the Vimy Memorial, France. The principal piece is 'Hope'. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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