Canadian Architect Staff
June 15, 2014, Canadian Architect
On the occasion of his 80th birthday, the Canadian Museum of History is honouring architect Douglas Cardinal – the designer of its iconic and celebrated buildings – by renaming one of its principal event and meeting rooms the Douglas J. Cardinal Salon.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Museum’s two adjoining buildings. Upon opening, they received immediate international acclaim for their innovative and elegant design, inspired in part by their dramatic waterfront setting across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill. Cardinal’s work on the project earned him a place among the world’s most renowned architects.
“Our Museum and all Canadians owe a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Cardinal for this architectural treasure, which has graced the nation’s capital for almost three decades,” said Mark O’Neill, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of History. “The Museum is proud to honour Mr. Cardinal and extends best wishes on his 80th birthday.”
The Museum consists of two pavilions. One houses the Museum’s artifact vaults and administrative and curatorial offices. The other is the public museum building most familiar to millions of visitors from across Canada and around the world. The public building is especially dramatic with its flowing lines, copper-clad roof domes and the towering window wall of its Grand Hall.
“The Museum will be symbolic in form,” Cardinal wrote in his original design statement. “It will speak of the emergence of this continent, its forms sculpted by the winds, the rivers, the glaciers.” His vision was fully realized on June 29, 1989, when the Museum first opened to the public. Read more…