Located here in Montreal, the Canadian Centre of Architecture (CCA)is more of an anti-precedent than a precedent. This institution was built to display and archive important architectural documents. The CCA is primarily a museum space with a vast archival space situated below. The Centre also houses a 130,000-volume library, which along with the Royal Institute of British Architects and Columbia's Avery, ranks as one of the world's largest. Built in 1989, Peter Rose Architects acted as the main designer with Phyllis Lambert (the main beneficiary) assisting as consulting architect. The building is quite large, occupying an entire city block in a somewhat removed downtown site. This un-ideal siting was the result of an effort to save the Shaughnessy House, a 19th century double mansion purchased by Phyllis Lambert in the late 1970's. The CCA wraps itself around the Shaughnessy House, which occupies a central position in the building's Rene Levesque façade.
The CCA headquarters has met with mixed reviews. Though unarguably an asset to Canada's architectural culture, the CCA works to isolate the architect from the public. The stark, pristine design of the building, sited amidst a vast manicured lawn draws the visitor towards it in a slightly uncomfortable way. One feels he must very consciously and carefully visit this building. Once inside this mood persists with an expensive entry fee, a public library that requires booking appointments days in advance and exhibits that quite literally place architecture behind beautiful display cases heavily guarded. Furthermore, the CCA has no space for architects to meet and discuss professional issues. The building has no restaurant or even café spaces for such casual or planned meetings to occur.
..What has evolved instead, however, is architecture as an acquired taste, a precious artifact that can only be truly interpreted and understood by an elite, educated few. That the building sends this curious, limited, though perhaps subliminal, message to the public about the relationship between the public and architecture is unfortunate.
Derek Drummond The Montreal Gazette May 6, 1989
Alienating the same public that might potentially support architecture is dangerous. The CCA should be a building celebrating architecture, inviting users to better understand and appreciate this art. Instead, it is a beautifully crafted object, that further works to isolate the architect and his role from common society.
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