Celebrating the opening of the CCA’s new building, Canadian Centre for Architecture: Building and Gardens reveals the potential of a museum of architecture as a statement: about the nature of the works it collects and exhibits; about its role in the life of a culture or a city; and about architecture itself.

Both the restoration of the nineteenth-century Shaughnessy House facing Boulevard René-Lévesque and the creation of the C-shaped facility embracing the Shaughnessy are explored. The design of the CCA by Montréal architect Peter Rose—with consulting architect Phyllis Lambert, sculpture garden architect Melvin Charney, and restoration architects Bilodeau-St.Louis—is communicated in a collage-like manner, capturing the complex and dynamic qualities of the process leading to the realization of the building. Confrontations with large-scale urban and community issues are juxtaposed with the resolution of small-scale details through more than fifty objects including architectural models, drawings, photographs, sketch books, and building materials. Richard Pare, Clara Gutsche, Geoffrey James, David Miller, Gabor Szilasi, and Laura Volkerding contribute photographs documenting the building during its various phases.

In 1991, the exhibition represented Canada in its first participation at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Curated and designed by Larry Richards, University of Waterloo.