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National Library News |
by Marie-Josée Tolszczuk,
Research and Information Services
The National Library is always proud to collaborate on the most daring projects. Once you find out the subject of the doctoral thesis of Ms. Marie-Josée Therrien, you won’t find it difficult to imagine the number of hours spent going through different titles of Canadian periodicals and newspapers of the National Library in order to trace government and political news from the 1920s to the 1990s.
Since the subject of her doctoral thesis obviously transcended Canada’s boundaries, you will also see why the Library’s reference staff had to locate numerous works required by the researcher. We were happy to be able to share the results of her work on Canadian embassies throughout the world during a Savoir Faire seminar last February.
If ever there was one, the architecture of Canadian embassies is a fascinating subject indeed. In the company of our speaker, we got an amazing overview of the architecture, and sometimes of the history, of these buildings. Ms. Therrien presented slides of some 20 buildings, from the embassy in Kyoto to those in Canberra, New Delhi, Warsaw and Bonn. She finished with the most recently constructed embassies, in Mexico City and Washington.
Firstly, we learned that we can distinguish three major periods in the construction, purchase or rental of the buildings of Canadian embassies. The first begins right around the 1920s and continues until just before the 1950s. Following this comes the post-war period that extends to the 1970s. Finally, the last stage takes shape after the 1970s under Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s government and ends at the beginning of the 1990s. In conclusion, we saw how Ms. Therrien foresees the future of Canadian embassies at the turn of the millennium. As a summary, diplomacy, politics, the climate of the host countries, culture and the architects themselves are all involved in colouring the architecture of our embassies.
The 1920s introduced Canada to foreign diplomacy. Embassies were perceived as prestigious dwellings used particularly for receptions, political discussions and official visits. During the 1950s, the post-war and cold war periods, security, office and state secrets dictated the architecture of our embassies. Security was paramount, and the more austere embassies were under the joint responsibility of the Department of Public Works and the External Affairs Department up until the 1960s. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, as it is now known, gradually assumed full control over the construction of embassies, for which it had a new vision: to offer the Canadian culture a window to the world. Our culture would be greeted by the people who were our hosts; the architects reached a maturity and control over their art, which reveals itself in all the details of the new embassies, both at the level of interior design and of exterior architecture. The embassy in Mexico City, under the inspiration of architect Ernest Gaboury, is the most striking example of this vision.
Ms. Therrien highlighted the importance of the atriums, the open spaces which create links with the surrounding nature as well as with the climate in the host country. How can we not succumb to the charm of the embassy in New Delhi, with its sparkling swimming pools, or not be moved by the representation of the Canadian landscape in the Japanese garden at the Tokyo embassy? And what a spectacular way for Canada to take its place in the heart of Washington—with its new embassy which sparked so much controversy.
The atriums, gardens, reception halls and libraries in our modern embassies are new means of getting to know and appreciate Canadian culture. The heart of the country beats throughout these buildings; its history and the history of humanity exude from the walls marked by the different eras during which the Canadian embassies were built.
From Vincent Massey to Pierre Elliott Trudeau, from Antoine Monette to Arthur Charles Erickson, as ambassadors, politicians or architects, they all had one vision in common: to reunite, in one building, the essence of the Canadian people in the context of the host countries.
What about the future of Canadian embassies? We will need to consolidate our acquired knowledge and develop partnerships with countries worldwide, thus ensuring our presence throughout the world. Ms. Therrien concluded the seminar by asserting that the technological development era will certainly influence the role and the presence of Canada’s embassies throughout the world.
(Marie-Josée Therrien is responsible for the Web site project on history at the National Film Board. Her doctoral thesis is entitled Au-delà des frontières: L’architecture des ambassades canadiennes, 1930-1990.)