Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial Competition, Ottawa, Ontario
1969-1970
Project
The project series documents Melvin Charney's work for the design competition for the Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial (RCAF) at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. The project was identified by Charney as the MEMO Series. The competition called for the design of a building of “appropriate character” which would commemorate “the birth and growth of Canadian aviation”. The competition program was very specific, requesting a building on a predefined site, with rooms designed for specific activities.
MEMO was formally submitted by Charney and consisted of 91 pages of plans, designs, photographs and instructions on 335-5136 metric graph paper. Instead of constituting a true design for a building, MEMO consists of pages of memorandums intended for the organizers of the competition. The memos describe different ideas of how to conceptualize “the birth and growth of Canadian aviation”, as a critical response to what Charney saw as a “narrowness” in the competition’s vision. Charney referred to the idea of erecting a “singular building in an isolated part of the country” and considering it a memorial as being a “restrictive if not repressive act”.
Source: Montréal : Musée d’art contemporain. (1979) Melvin Charney: Oeuvres 1970-1979. (p. 14-17)
Material in this series was likely kept in it's original order when it was first processed upon it's arrival at CCA.
English, French
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Includes sketches and plans for the Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial Competition. Material was originally housed in a tube labelled "1969-1970 R.C.A.F. Memorial - competition drawings".
1 roll(s)
sheet (smallest): 53.2 × 52.5 cm sheet (largest): 80.3 × 140.5 cm
Rolled
Trenton Ontario Canada
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
Panels related to the Memo series.
1 panel(s)
sheets: 50,6 × 76,1 × 0,8 cm
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
Panels related to the Memo series.
1 panel(s)
sheets: 50,6 × 76,1 × 0,8 cm
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
Panels related to the Memo series.
1 panel(s)
panels: 50,6 × 76,1 × 0,8 cm
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing a colour printout pasted to matboard, and a stat.
1 file(s)
sheet (smallest): 12,8 × 17,3 cm sheet (largest): 30,3 × 26,5 cm
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing documents in French, including magazine clippings. Original folder inscribed in graphite: "ANTHOLOGY IMAGES: MANUSCRIPT FIRST DRAFT".
1 file(s)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
Box containing documents in English, French and Chinese languages, including a collage, magazine and newspaper clippings, notes, photographs, a printout, reprographic copies, sketches, and a transparency related to the Memo Series.
Original folder inscribed on side: MEMO SERIES 1969-'70
1 box(es)
sheet (smallest): 10,8 x 22,5 cm sheet (largest): 23,2 × 29,5 cm
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing dummies for the Memo series.
1 file(s)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing documents in English and French (predominant), and a sketch related to Melvin Charney's Memo series and its installation. Original folder inscribed in graphite: MEMO SERIES 1969-1970 + INST. VIEWS.
1 file(s)
sheet: 21,4 × 27,7 cm (8 7/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing documents in English (predominant) and French, including a book outlining competition requirements (with annotations in graphite and red ink), correspondence, magazine clippings, maps, notes, and sketches related to the RCAF Memorial Architectural Competition.
Original folder inscribed in graphite: RCAF MEMORIAL COMP.
1 file(s)
sheet (smallest): 21,1 × 12,5 cm (8 5/16 × 4 15/16 in.) sheet (largest): 27,7 × 21,4 cm (10 7/8 × 8 7/16 in.)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing documents in English, including notes and text related to the Memo series. Original folder inscribed in graphite: MEMO SERIES - copies of text
1 file(s)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing documents in English and French related to the Memo series. Original folder inscribed in graphite: [???] CARRE BLEU TEXT.
1 file(s)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing documents in English, including magazine clippings, notes, and stats related to the Memo series. Original folder inscribed in graphite: MEMO SERIES - MISC PUBLICATIONS
1 file(s)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing photographs, and positive film frames (all duplicates) of Memo 136 - Mies on his way to Los Angeles. Originally held in a box labelled: "PUBL / PUBS ON 2000+
1 file(s)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
Assorted documents in English and French, including magazine and newspaper clippings, notes, and publications. Includes reference materials for the Memo series. Originally held in a box labelled: "PUBL / PUBS ON 2000+".
1 textual record(s)
sheet (smallest): 16,8 × 21,5 cm (6 5/8 × 8 7/16 in.) sheet (largest): 43 × 27,9 cm (16 15/16 × 11 in.)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing documents in English, including three copies of a catalogue of artworks included in the Memo series. Possibly related to Louis Martin's 2013 book, On architecture: Melvin Charney: a critical anthology.
Original folder inscribed in graphite: CCA BOOK 1991
1 file(s)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
File containing photographs of Melvin Charney's Memo series. Original folder inscribed in graphite: MEMO SERIES, 1984, REWORK. - NAT. GAL.
1 file(s)
sheets: 25,2 × 20,1 cm (9 15/16 × 7 15/16 in.)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
Box containing negative film strips, a contact sheet, and panels (collages, photographic prints, and printouts) from the Memo series.
1 box(es)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
Box containing panels of collages, photographic prints, and printouts from the Memo series.
1 box(es)
sheets: 50,5 × 31,5 cm
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
1 panel(s)
panels: 50,8 × 31,7 × 4,1 cm sheets: 54,6 × 34,8 × 1 cm (21 1/2 × 13 11/16 × 3/8 in.)
Melvin Charney fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Dara Charney/
Gift of Dara Charney
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