Beaux-Arts Modernism in Canada
Professor
Joan
Coutu,
Department
of
Fine
Arts,
University
of
Waterloo,
Ontario
Dr.
David
Galbraith,
Head
of
Science,
Royal
Botanical
Gardens,
Burlington,
Ontario
At the start of the 20th century, Canada was poised, with heady optimism, to take its place in the modern world. The proposed edited volume of essays will explore this ‘optimistic modernism’ in the country’s built environment: towns, cities, parks, roads, and buildings. The beaux arts aesthetic, with its emphasis on sound planning principles, was central to these tangible expressions of modernity. Originating in the architecture curriculum of the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, the beaux arts aesthetic was perpetuated by architects and town planners across Europe and North America in the latter half of the 19th century in the pervading spirit of social reform intertwined with ‘progress’. The City Beautiful movement in the United States and the Garden City movement in Britain would have especially strong impact in Canada moving into the new century.
In conjunction with the centenary of the formation of the Group of Seven in 2020, the Group’s iconicity will be widely acknowledged, celebrated, and interrogated, of which the correlation of land, nature, identity, and modernism will be a core theme. The proposed book on Beaux Arts Modernism in Canada will be a corollary to this – examining the concept of a constructed ‘civilized’ environment in towns, cities, and in between. In addition to specific sites, relevant topics and themes might include:
- The City Scientific and City Beautiful in Canada
- Key proponents such as Noulan Cauchon, Thomas Adams, Edward and William Maxwell, John M. Lyle, Thomas B. McQuesten, etc.
- The Commission of Conservation
- Tourism
- Dissemination through publication: The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Journal, Canadian Homes and Gardens, etc.
- New towns
- Utopia
Proposals for essays (300 words) and a brief biography (150 words) should be sent to Professor Joan Coutu at joan.coutu@uwaterloo.ca by February 28, 2020.
Each essay is anticipated to be no longer than 8000 words, including citations.