Toronto Observed: Its Architecture, Patrons, and History by William Dendy and William Kilbourn, and: Toronto Modern: Architecture 1945–1965 (review)

204 LETTERS IN CANADA 1987 William Dendy and William Kilbourn. Toronto Observed: Its Architecture, Patrons, and History Oxford University Press 1986. xiv, 327, illus. $39.95 Toronto Modern: Architecture 1945-1965. Catalogue to an exhibition held at Toronto City Hall, May 18-June 5, 1987 Coach House Press and Bureau of Architecture and Urbanism. 94, illus. $19.50 Toronto Observed (winner of the 1987 City of Toronto Book Awards) is the latest ina growing line ofpublications on the city's past. As such it follows in the tradition of the historical survey aimed at a general audience inaugurated by Henry Scadding's Toronto ofOld (1873), while focusing on its architectural landmarks in the manner ofEric Arthur's Toronto No Mean City (1967). 'Unabashedly enthusiastic' about their subject, the authors present an eclectic collection of buildings ranging from Fort York to Roy Thompson Hall in an attempt to sketch a loving portrait of the city through its architecture. The structure of the book makes it accessible to a lay public while· maintaining an interest for the scholar. Each chapter is devoted to an identifiable period such as 'Colonial' or 'Edwardian' and is introduced by Kilbourn with general observations on the spirit of the times, interweaving anecdote and factual information on economics, politics, and social issues; then follows a series of short essays on representative buildings by Dendy. This catalogue component, which presents critical assessment, formal analysis, and historical fact in a very readable style, is intended to incite the reader to explore the city; it also provides a condensed summary ofscholarship useful to the architectural historian as a starting point for further research. The authors could have met this latter end more successfully without overburdening their general audience had they identified their sources and included notes and a bibliography. It was clearly not the authors' intention to present the reader with a thesis other than their appreciation ofthe quality ofthe builtenvironment ofToronto. One might be tempted to question the criteria for selecting the buildings (why, for instance, is the uninspired A.E. LePage building, which makes no effort to fit into its immediate context, chosen over, say, the Downtown YMCA?) were one not aware of this absence of stance. Though the city as a whole is ostensibly the object, it does not emerge as a synthetic organism: no maps are included, vital and identifiable areas of contemporary Toronto (Yorkville, Bloor Street) remain on the periphery of the investigation. Similarly, the authors forfeit the opportunity for a different kind of synthesis by presenting the local events and trends in architecture in isolation from the larger international picture. For example , the reception of the Modern Movement, which.constitutes the object HUMANITIES 205 of investigation of Toronto Modern, is given little attention, while the Post-Modern phenomenon is not recognized at all. On the whole the chapters dealing with the modern city seem to suffer most from a lack of critical distance (is Market Square really so successful?) and from selection based on visibility over intrinsic quality. The book is impeccably presented. The photography is of the highest quality though almost exclusively concerned with fa<.;ades and unrelieved by colour. Polychromy in architecture is too often left unmentioned in contemporary scholarship. In this instance buildings such as University College or the TD Bank would have displayed yet another dimension had their interiors been shown in colour. Nevertheless, Toronto Observed may be seen as a welcome contribution to the general public's awareness of the manifestation of its culture through built form. It is precisely the question of the city in the post-war period which the catalogue of the exhibition Toronto Modern proposes to examine in greater depth. Each member of the Bureau of Architecture and Urbanism (Mertins, Baraness, Cawker, Shim, and Kapelos) - all architects or planners - takes under close scrutiny one aspect of the city's development with which the impact of the Modern Movement is most closely identified. Mertins traces the circumspect acceptance of its tenets and the local reinterpretation of its language towards an interaction between tradition and new forms. While Baraness's essay analyses the architectural ideas at the root of his selection of significant Modern buildings, Cawker discusses issues of patronage, focussing specifically on the University of Toronto as a progressive client which identified its own aspirations with a style perceived as equally progressive. Shim and Kapelos conclude this survey with investigations of urban planning issues, focusing on the idea of the garden city (Don Mills) and of the Ville Radieuse (the 1963 Downtown Plan) respectively. While the authors of Toronto Observed remain positive but essentially non-committal, all five members of the Bureau take a very definite positionwith reference to the contribution of the Modern Movement. The intention - clearly spelled out in the preface - is both polemical and proselytizing. The recently overly critical reaction which has led to the popularity of Post-Modern philosophy among Toronto architects and has threatened the survival of Modern buildings constitutes the background against which the arguments are presented. All five essays propose a re-evaluation of Modernism which would recognize its positive aspects (and admit to its shortcomings) rather than indiscriminately reject all its tenets. It is the merit of this catalogue that in this process it highlights some very fine and usually overlooked buildings, such as the Salvation Army Headquarters, the U of T Mechanical Building, or the Anglo Canada Insurance office tower beside such old stand-bys as the TD Centre or the Toronto City Hall. The attention given to building types which 206 LETTERS IN CANADA 1987 characterize the period, such as the apartment block (Benvenuto Place) or the town-house and shopping centre (Don Mills), is equally refreshing and welcome. Where the catalogue falls short of its program is in the enthusiasm which allows buildings such as Sidney Smith Hall or the Ramsay Wright Zoological Building to dilute the sound argument which stresses the qualities of the Mechanical Building and of Massey College. Little attention is paid to the interiors, which more often than not justify all the criticism the Modern Movement has received from the users of its 'pure' and 'functional' products - Sidney Smith is a case in point. However, even if one may wish to challenge the theses of some of the writers or disagree with the statements made - as is the case with the 'dematerialization of the boundary' of entrances as a positive factor - at least by taking a position the writers invite a reaction from the reader. The audience targetted and able to enter into this dialogue is therefore not that of Toronto Observed but rather the professional architects and planners who are familiar with both the debate and the terminology. In keeping with the intent of the exhibition, the essays are a blend of criticism, personal evaluation, historical data, and stylistic analysis. The sophisticated format of the catalogue also acknowledges an audience as sensitive to the design of a book as to that of a (Modem) building. (ALINA PAYNE) Jean-Guy Quenneville. Rene Richard: Le Voyage d'un solitaire 1930-1933 Editions du Trecarre. 149. $12.95 Rene Richard is a Canadian artist whose sketches of the North are well known to many. His life served as the inspiration for Gabrielle Roy's La Montagne secrete, a novel which she dedicated to him. The volume begins with a preface by Michel Champagne, curator of modern art at the Musee du Quebec, and friend of the artist. In addition, there is a foreword by Quenneville, a political scientistat the University of Saskatchewan, who is interested in the contributions of French-speaking Westerners to Canadian culture. He furnishes important background, as the main part of the text deals with a period of only three years in the life of Richard. The narrative is based on an interview Richard gave Quenneville. Quenneville chronicles the artist's ambitious, and often dangerous, trip from Cold Lake, Alberta to Fort Churchill on Hudson Bay. Richard's aim was to paint the Canada one rarely sees, the untamed wilderness. Quenneville gives us the highlights of this three-year adventure and enhances the story with photos of twenty sketches made by Richard during his trip. There is also a l1:1ap of the impressive area covered by the artist. Quenneville does not hesitate to explore the artist's doubts and second ...