Douglas J. Cardinal Ltd. won the contract for the construction of
the Canadian Museum of Civilizations in 1983, completing it in
1989. Museum costs came in at $340M, while it covered 1,076,000
square feet of land in Hull, Quebec.
In his design, Cardinal stressed the importance pictures and images
played into his interpretation of life."Symbols are the way we
communicate. Words and sounds are symbols of thought; writings are
linear symbols of words and sounds. Pictures are symbols of
feelings and events that can move beyond words to communicate
impressions in two dimensions; sculpture goes beyond pictures to
communicate impressions in three dimensions. Architecture, which is
living sculpture, goes further still to symbolize the goals and
aspirations of our culture. My challenge was to create images in
sculptural and architectural forms that symbolize the goals and
aspirations of this national museum."
The museum consisted of two components: the public areas - the
exhibit halls and galleries, the lobbies and grand hall, the
auditorium, the IMAX-Omnimax theatre, and the eating areas; the
second was made up of the curatorial areas, closed off from the
public - administrative offices, collections holding areas,
laboratories, and workshops.
When completed, architectural critics hailed this as his best work,
exemplifying his design style and sense of vision. Others hail the
museum as "the very symbol of Canada as a nation, a monument to
man's achievement in this country, and a symbol of the nation's
promise for the future."
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