An Era of Elegant Designs

New book shows rich legacy of early 20th-century Canadian architecture.

Text by Phil Koch

 — Posted March 20, 2018
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In his second book about art deco architecture, Tim Morawetz shares the results of three decades of work documenting and photographing the country’s buildings. Art Deco Architecture Across Canada: Stories of the Country’s Buildings between the Two World Wars includes over 400 photographs — most of them made by Morawetz, but also rare archival images — that portray the rich legacy of Canadian architecture and design from the early part of the twentieth century.

The book shows homes and residential buildings as well as a great variety of public and commercial buildings that incorporate elements of art deco style. Morawetz begins by explaining the material, sculptural, and decorative elements that characterize art deco and then describes some 150 buildings along with many of their marvellous details.

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  • The main facade of the Hogan Bath in Montreal uses step-back massing and vertical grooves.
    Photo Mike Streicher
  • A brass detail in the elevator of the Federal Building in Regina is an example of the frozen-fountain motif.
    Photo Tim Morawetz
  • Semicircular scalloped aluminum panels crown the vertical window strips of the limestone frontispiece of Calgary’s Barron Building.
    Photo Tim Morawetz
  • The corner of the Eaton’s department store in Montreal offers a late example of the streamlined moderne style.
    Photo Tim Morawetz
  • The second G.D. Loane house in Kelowna, B.C., features curved steps and a canopy that echo the curved outer wall on the second floor.
    Photo Tim Morawetz
  • Exotic bas-relief figures adorn the emergency exits of Montreal’s Snowdon Theatre.
    Photo Sandra Cohen-Rose and Colin Rose.
  • A boldly geometric frosted-glass fixture at the Women’s Tribute Memorial Lodge in Winnipeg.
    Photo Tim Morawetz
  • The carved stone entrance of Ottawa’s Park Square Apartments includes a bold art deco typeface that stands out from a rough-textured background.
    Photo Tim Morawetz
  • The Round Room Restaurant of Eaton’s College Street store in Toronto features soft lemon-coloured walls.
    Photo David Thompson
  • René Lalique designed a fountain with black and frosted glass for the Round Room Restaurant of Eaton’s College Street store in Toronto.
    Photo David Thompson
  • Completed in 1931, Montreal’s Police and Fire Station No. 10 received an award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
    Photo Sandra Cohen-Rose and Colin Rose.
  • Panels of flashed opal glass formed continuous ribbons of light beside and above the trading floor of the 1937 Toronto Stock Exchange.
    Photo Toronto Public Library.
  • An entrance hall at Université de Montréal features a spectacular recessed ceiling.
    Photo Sandra Cohen-Rose and Colin Rose.
  • The addition of a wide front porch has only partly hidden the art deco features of the Colisée in Trois-Rivières, Que.
    Photo Sandra Cohen-Rose and Colin Rose.
  • At the Seven Sisters Generating Station near Whitemouth, Man., wave motifs adorn the tops of the turbine hall’s multi-pane windows.
    Photo courtesy Manitoba Hydro.

In the process, he shows not only where but also how Canadians lived, worked, travelled, and enjoyed themselves, particularly between the late 1920s and early 1950s. While highlighting remarkable structures and craftsmanship, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada is also a story of Canadians’ lives and aspirations as reflected in elegant and inventive designs.

This article originally appeared in the April-May 2018 issue of Canada’s History Magazine. 

Buy this book at Chapters-Indigo

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