Gothic Revival architecture in Canada is an
historically influential style, with many prominent examples. The
Gothic Revival was imported to Canada
from Britain and the United States in the early nineteenth century,
and rose to become the most popular style for major projects
throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Gothic Revival period lasted longer and was more thoroughly
embraced in Canada than in either Britain or the United States,
only falling out of style in the 1930s. The late nineteenth and
early twentieth century was also the period when many major
Canadian institutions were founded. Throughout Canada many of the
most prominent religious, civic, and scholastic institutions are
housed in Gothic Revival style buildings. In the 1960s and 1970s
several scholars, most notably Alan Gowans, embraced Canadian
Gothic Revival architecture as one of the nation's signature styles
and as an integral part of
Canadian
nationalism. While largely abandoned in the
modernist period, several
postmodern architects have embraced
Canada's neo-Gothic past.
History
Introduction to Canada
Gothic Architecture is a name
given in retrospect to many of the major projects of the
High Middle Ages. As this period covered
the 13th and 14th centuries, there are no authentic Gothic
buildings in Canada. The style was quite out of favour in the
seventeenth century when Europeans first began erecting structures
in Canada, and the style is absent from the early settlements in
New France and
the Maritimes.
In the eighteenth century a growing spirit of
Romanticism and interest in the Medieval past
led to a revival of Gothic styles in Britain. The style made its
way to Canada in the early nineteenth century.
One of the first
appearances is in an 1811 proposal by Jeffry Wyatt for a new legislature in Quebec City
. One of the first major Gothic Revival
structures in Canada was Notre-Dame
Basilica
in Montreal
, which was
designed in 1824 by the Irish-American James O'Donnell. The largest church
in North America upon its completion, it was one of the first
architectural works of international note to be built in Canada. It
was also one of the first Catholic Gothic Revival structures, as
the movement would not spread from Britain to France and
continental Europe until several years later. As the most prominent
church in the colony its form was much imitated by local church
builders, who constructed miniature versions of the basilica across
Quebec.
Protestants also embraced the style. As early as the late
eighteenth century certain Gothic elements had appeared in a church
in Nova Scotia, though the
Georgian and
Neo-classical styles remained
dominant for several decades.
The first stone neo-Gothic structure in the
Maritimes is St. John's
Church in Saint John, New Brunswick
. It dates to 1824, the same year work began
on Notre-Dame.
In the 1830s and 1840s four prominent
neo-Gothic Churches were built in Quebec City, representing each of that city's major Protestant
denominations.
By the 1840s the Gothic Revival style had become virtually
universal among Anglicans and used for most other Christian
denominations as well. As in much of the English speaking world the
lancet windows and buttresses of the Gothic Revival style soon
became permanently associated in most people's mind with
ecclesiastical buildings. It was soon also embraced for secular
purposes as well, such as government buildings and universities.
Canadian
universities modeled themselves on the great British universities,
Oxford
and Cambridge
, and this extended to embracing the Gothic
architecture used in their construction. Two of the first
Gothic Revival colleges were Trinity
College
in Toronto and Bishop's University
in Quebec.
Victorian High Gothic
In the later half of the nineteenth century Gothic Revival
architecture became the dominant style for major Canadian
buildings. As the style became accepted and popular, architects
became more willing to experiment and modify its conventions. While
previous Gothic Revival architects had attempted to closely
recapture the style of the Middle Ages, the new architects,
retained the Medieval motifs, but recombined them in entirely new
ways.
One of the
most important examples of this style anywhere in the world were
the Parliament
Buildings
designed by
Thomas Fuller.
While the style and design of the building is unquestionably
Gothic, it resembles no building constructed during the Middle
Ages. The forms were the same, but their arrangement was uniquely
modern. The Parliament Buildings also departed from Medieval models
by integrating a variety of eras and styles of Gothic architecture,
including elements of Gothic architecture from Britain, France, the
Low Countries, and Italy all in one building.
In his
Hand Book to the Parliamentary and Departmental
Buildings, Canada (1867), Joseph Bureau wrote, "The style of
the Buildings is the Gothic of the 12th and 13th Centuries, with
modification to suit the climate of Canada. The ornamental work and
the dressing round the windows are of Ohio sandstone. The plain
surface is faced with a cream-colored sandstone of the Potsdam
formation, obtained from Nepean, a few miles from Ottawa. The
spandrils of the arches, and the spaces between window-arches and
the sills of the upper windows, are filled up with a quaint
description of stonework, composed of stones of irregular size,
shape and colour, very neatly set together."
This style was also embraced for religious architecture. In most
towns in Ontario, and also in many parts of the newly settled west
and the Maritimes, elaborate High Gothic churches were built.
Unlike in the earlier era, the French Catholic church in Quebec did
not embrace this style. During this period the church leadership
favoured a
neo-baroque style more
closely linked to the architecture of
New
France.
The Victorian High Gothic period also saw a willingness to combine
the neo-Gothic with other styles.
Two important examples of a mix between
Gothic and Romanesque styles are University
College
in Toronto and the British
Columbia Parliament Buildings
. Variations on the neo-Gothic style
developed in Britain were also imported to Canada. The
Scottish baronial style was employed
by Chief Dominion Architect
David Ewart
to create a number of castle like structures in Ottawa. New
materials were also incorporated. Cast iron allowed stronger
structures with thinner supporting walls to be built, while some
recreated gothic forms in brick, rather than the traditional stone
or wood.
One style that rose to special prominence was the
Château Style of
Canada's grand railway hotels,
also known as Railway Gothic.
This style first appeared in the late
nineteenth century with grandiose railway hotels such as the
Château
Frontenac
and Banff Springs Hotel
. It mixed Gothic Revival with elements
borrowed from the castles of the Loire
in
France.
Architectural dominance
Gothic Revival became the dominant style of Canadian civic
architecture largely as a matter of timing. The mid and late
nineteenth century was the period that the Canadian state was
formed and when many of its secular and religious institutions were
established. Canadian Confederation occurred in 1867, and
subsequent years saw a large construction programme as the
government and civil service established itself in Ottawa and
across the country. Rapid growth of cities, especially in Ontario,
saw most Christian denominations in most cities build major
churches during this period. The downtowns of most Canadian cities
are thus dotted with Gothic Revival churches. Canada's historic
secular institutions, such as universities and museums, were also
founded in this era of rapid growth.
There are other reasons the Gothic styles became so widespread in
Canada. The steep roofs and thick stone walls were well suited to
Canada's northern climate. In the United States architects liked to
link their republic to those of Ancient Greece and Rome through the
neo-classical style. Canada's
Loyalist had no such leanings, and
the English-Canadian elite was strongly Anglophilic and monarchist.
Gothic architecture was seen as symbolic of this. In the late
nineteenth century as Canada began to see an influx of Southern and
Eastern European immigrants, the
nativist
backlash also embraced Gothic Revival architecture as emblematic of
Canada's identity as a homeland for the "northern race." In French
Canada the civic and religious authorities of the nineteenth and
early twentieth century also embraced a strident
conservatism.
While during this period the Gothic Revival style was almost
universal among Christian religious buildings, it was less so among
secular structures. Other revival styles were also popular.
Romanesque Revival buildings were
popular, as were neo-classical structures. No provincial
legislature copied the style of the Parliament buildings. Even in
Ottawa several federal government buildings of this period embraced
other styles.
Pure Gothic forms were mostly unsuited to the day to day
requirements of residential and commercial properties; however,
neo-Gothic ornamentation and principles were successfully adapted
to these uses, and these structures became quite popular in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In rural areas the
Gothic Cottage was immensely popular until well into the twentieth
century.
Neighbourhoods that grew during this period,
such as Cabbagetown
and the Annex in Toronto,
have many examples of houses that incorporate neo-Gothic
elements. This includes a highly vertical emphasis on the
structure; ornate decorations on the
gables,
often incorporating classic Gothic
trefoil
forms; and lancet windows and door frames. In rural Ontario the
ubiquitous
Ontario Cottage was often
adorned with Gothic elements.
Modern Gothic
The Gothic Revival style started to wane in popularity in the late
nineteenth century. New technologies such as steel building frames,
elevators, and electric lighting were having a considerable impact
on how buildings could be used and constructed. Newer styles such
as the
Beaux-Arts and
Art Deco came to prominence. However, this
was much less true in Canada. Gothic Revival architecture continued
to be one of the most important building styles well into the
1940s, though often in highly modified and original forms.
Just
before the First World War Toronto saw work begin on three of its
best known neo-Gothic structures, Casa Loma
, the CHUM-City Building
, and Hart House.
While the three buildings were erected for completely different
purposes, and a very distinct in style, they are all clearly Gothic
in inspiration.
In the years after the
First World
War, when the Gothic Revival was being supplanted in most of
the world, Canada was also experiencing greatly strengthened
Canadian nationalism. For the
first time the Canadian political and cultural elite began to seek
a path distinct from that being followed in the United Kingdom and
United States. As so many notable Canadian structures were Gothic
Revival in style it became closely linked to Canadian identity, and
was embraced by the new Canadian nationalism.
Perhaps the most important Gothic Revival structure was the new
Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament. The Gothic Revival
monument of Thomas Fuller was destroyed by a fire in 1917. Despite
the half a century that had elapsed since the first parliament was
built, the Gothic Revival style was still the obvious choice to the
Canadian Government.
The new building had several important
differences from the old one, most notably the new Peace Tower
. The federal government continued building
in the Gothic Revival style, of which long serving Prime Minister
William Lyon Mackenzie
King was a strong supporter, for several decades. As the
federal government expanded, two major civil service office
buildings were built in the Gothic style just to the west of
Parliament Hill in the 1930s.
After the First World War some of the most prominent Gothic Revival
structures were constructed by Canada's universities, in a style
that is often know as Collegiate Gothic.
The newer
universities of western Canada, such as the University
of British Columbia
and University of Saskatchewan
, turned to traditional styles as they underwent
large expansions. The older universities of Ontario also
built several new Gothic Revival Structures.
Gothic Revival finally almost completely disappeared after the
Second World War, as Canada embraced
Modern Architecture and the
International Style. This
was motivated by the prevailing fashion of the period, but also by
economics and technology. The stark new structures of steel and
glass were vastly cheaper than the often ornate stone constructions
of the neo-Gothic style. The style thus almost completely
disappeared.
The rise of
postmodern
architecture, with its interest in history and place, has seen
the occasional reintegration of Gothic Revival styles.
One example is
Massey
College
at the University of Toronto
. Its materials and the elements of its
design are fully modern, however the form and arrangement of those
materials directly quotes from the Gothic Revival structures on
campus.
Another is the Windsor Arms Hotel
, also in Toronto. It is a modern Gothic
styled skyscraper built on the base of an older Gothic Revival
structure from the turn of the century.
List of Gothic Revival buildings in Canada
Prominent Gothic Revival buildings across Canada listed by
city.
St John's
Halifax
Quebec City
Montreal
Ottawa
Kingston
Toronto
Guelph
Saskstoon
| Building |
Function |
Year |
Image |
College Building |
University |
1913 |
 |
| Thorvaldson Building |
University |
1924 |
 |
Edmonton
Vancouver
See also
References
- "Victorian Gothic in Canada", by R.H. Hubbard. The Journal
of the Society of Architectural Historians. Society of
Architectural Historians, 1947.
- "Canadian castles? The question of national styles in
architecture revisited," by Thomas, Christopher. Journal of
Canadian Studies, Spring 1997
- "Gothic Revival in Canadian Architecture," by Mathilde
Brosseau. Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History.
Canadian Historic Sites, 1980.
- Kalman, Harold D. A History of Canadian Architecture.
Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994.
- Canada by Design: Parliament Hill, Ottawa at Library
and Archives Canada
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