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  #41  
Old Posted Oct 7, 2014, 11:19 PM
Drybrain Drybrain is offline
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I'm surprised no one from Western Canada has said much here. Western cities don't tend to have the thick-on-the-ground historical vernacular styles of Central and eastern cities, but being from Calgary, I always associated a few things that with prairie cities, at least. In the older neighbourhoods, certainly sandstone is common for public buildings, but as far as residential architecture, two things have always leapt out at me:

In both central Calgary and Edmonton, there are districts (Beltline in Calgary, Old Strathcona and Oliver in Edmonton) where many square blocks' worth of single-family homes were demolished in large numbers in the 50s throughs 80s and replaced with low and mid-rise apartments. It ended up creating somewhat ugly but really walkable and urban-scaled neighbourhoods of what must be pretty high density. This is my old street in Edmonton.

The other thing, in Calgary at least, is houses like this one. (Which has been demolished.)



There kind of plain, concrete or stucco houses were built in the 30s and 40s, and seem to hearken to a much humbler time in Alberta's history, and always seemed sort of quintessentially prairie-style to me. There are a fairly large number of them in the peripheral neighbourhoods around downtown, though they're not numerous enough to define a real vernacular style, nor rare (or, let's be honest, attractive enough) to merit much historical protection.

But their humbleness is so at odds with the flash and glitz of contemporary Calgary that it's striking--there's no way to ignore that these are from a time when the province and city were very different, socially and economically. And Calgary has rebuilt itself so quickly in the past few years that you have to really be paying attention even to get a glimpse of the city that it was even 50 or 60 years ago.

There are a few areas--Inglewood, Ramsay, Bridgeland, parts of the Beltine--where it still feels definably "Calgary"--something besides a bunch of glass skyscrapers surrounded by subdivisions. I really hope those neighbourhoods survive development pressures, because they add something intangible but crucial to the cityscape. The standard mantra is that these cities are still inventing themselves, but I think that's a bit bogus. Calgary was founded in 1875--it's already a few layers deep, and building around that rather than just over it will be to the city's benefit. It can't all be The Bow and Herald Square and shiny glass.
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  #42  
Old Posted Oct 7, 2014, 11:34 PM
Trevor3 Trevor3 is offline
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Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
Very nice. They seem wider and grander than ours. One thing that stands out to me is that there is just a wooden ledge separating the two bay windows. Here, on most homes of this style, there's a sort of shingled, roof thing.



Side view of some others, so you can see the curve (on the left side of the street):

I'm going to hypothesize that it's a carry over of the popularity of the mansard roof line. Houses that couldn't incorporate mansards probably added this element later as they continued in popularity and the more ornate trim elements needed to be replaced. Anybody can frame out an angle and shingle that little roof, not many are skilled enough to do those varied trims you see in Halifax and throughout the maritimes.

We do know that the mansard was so popular in NL in the early 20th century that outport homes even started to incorporate them because they were in style at the time. There are tons of documented examples of gabel roofs to mansard conversions in outport communities as it grew in popularity in St. John's.

For homes that couldn't incorporate a proper mansard this could have been a way of incorporating a fashionable design element.
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  #43  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 3:21 AM
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I's just oddly small, as if to fit on a standard city block. Charles Dickens is reputed to have said it was like "looking at Westminster through the wrong end of a telescope" (though I think he may have been describing the Canada's slightly pathetic colonial devotion to replicating Westminster's parliamentary procedures).
That quotation is from his American Notes, which were written about a visit in 1842. He came across on a Cunard steamship.

It happened to be the opening of the Legislative Council and General Assembly, at which ceremonial the forms observed on the commencement of a new Session of Parliament in England were so closely copied, and so gravely presented on a small scale, that it was like looking at Westminster through the wrong end of a telescope. The governor, as her Majesty's representative, delivered what may be called the Speech from the Throne. He said what he had to say manfully and well. The military band outside the building struck up "God save the Queen" with great vigour before his Excellency had quite finished; the people shouted; the in's rubbed their hands; the out's shook their heads; the Government party said there never was such a good speech; the Opposition declared there never was such a bad one; the Speaker and members of the House of Assembly withdrew from the bar to say a great deal among themselves and do a little: and, in short, everything went on, and promised to go on, just as it does at home upon the like occasions.

The town is built on the side of a hill, the highest point being commanded by a strong fortress, not yet quite finished. Several streets of good breadth and appearance extend from its summit to the water-side, and are intersected by cross streets running parallel with the river. The houses are chiefly of wood. The market is abundantly supplied; and provisions are exceedingly cheap. The weather being unusually mild at that time for the season of the year, there was no sleighing: but there were plenty of those vehicles in yards and by-places, and some of them, from the gorgeous quality of their decorations, might have "gone on" without alteration as triumphal cars in a melodrama at Astley's. The day was uncommonly fine; the air bracing and healthful; the whole aspect of the town cheerful, thriving, and industrious.


http://ns1758.ca/quote/dickens1842.html

It wouldn't have been considered oddly small back in 1811 when construction started. There weren't many large public buildings in North America back then; there was another passage in Dickens' writing somewhere about him not expecting to see anything built to that level of quality during his visit. Saskatchewan's legislature is about 100 years newer, so built around the halfway point in time between the construction of the NS legislature and the present day.
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  #44  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 12:42 PM
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It wouldn't have been considered oddly small back in 1811 when construction started. There weren't many large public buildings in North America back then; there was another passage in Dickens' writing somewhere about him not expecting to see anything built to that level of quality during his visit. Saskatchewan's legislature is about 100 years newer, so built around the halfway point in time between the construction of the NS legislature and the present day.
Good point. I also think about the B.C. Legislature's hugeness and presence, but again, built almost a century later.
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  #45  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 1:14 PM
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Trevor3: You're right. Some homes in St. John's were later converted to have curved Mansard roofs as well. A few buildings with straight Mansard roofs were even allowed before the heritage protection laws were clarified.

*****

Regarding small government buildings in the East - it simply makes sense. Our cities were far smaller at that time.

In the 1836 census of Newfoundland, St. John's had 18,926 residents - far too small for grand government buildings, but still among the largest cities in this part of the world at the time. If you include the city's hinterland (what's now included in the St. John's CMA) the population of the region in 1836 grows to 42,151.

To compare, during the same period (Canada and Newfoundland didn't perform a census at the same time), the City of Halifax had a population of:

1828: 14,439
1841: 14,422

(No idea what to add to it to get the Halifax region's population at that time, sorry).

So our cities simply didn't need buildings larger than the ones we have.

Additionally, for St. John's, our Parliament was built for a colonial government - not a national one. It was completed five years before our independence on May 22, 1855. And then it was simply converted into a Parliament.

This is a depiction of St. John's from 1831 (just a couple of years before the need for a seat of government arrived with representative government):


Heritage NL

And this map from 1846, showing the extent of the damage of that year's Great Fire, offers an equally revealing glimpse into just how small our cities were at the time:


Heritage NL

So what we ended up with is actually just fine for the era:


Heritage NL
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  #46  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 1:37 PM
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Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
T

Regarding small government buildings in the East - it simply makes sense. Our cities were far smaller at that time.

In the 1836 census of Newfoundland, St. John's had 18,926 residents - far too small for grand government buildings, but still among the largest cities in this part of the world at the time. If you include the city's hinterland (what's now included in the St. John's CMA) the population of the region in 1836 grows to 42,151.
To play devil's advocate though, this is the B.C. legislature.



When it was built in 1897, both Victoria and Vancouver had populations under 20,000. Canada as a whole, of course, was much more established, so that might also be part of it.
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  #47  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 1:40 PM
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Well, damn. It breaks my heart to have my bury my point. Died so young.

I would say: Hey! That's only because theirs were built so much later. But by that logic, our provincial legislature built in the 1950s should be the grandest in the land.

And it's kinda not.
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  #48  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 1:40 PM
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But their humbleness is so at odds with the flash and glitz of contemporary Calgary that it's striking--there's no way to ignore that these are from a time when the province and city were very different, socially and economically. And Calgary has rebuilt itself so quickly in the past few years that you have to really be paying attention even to get a glimpse of the city that it was even 50 or 60 years ago.
Well said, Drybrain. I know exactly what you're talking about... those homes seem like something from the distant past and completely at odds with the modern-day feel of Edmonton and Calgary, even though in many cases they date back to the 30s and 40s... which is not really that old in terms of urban houses in western Canada.
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  #49  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 1:58 PM
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north american gigantism, whether commercial or institutional, was an industrial-era trend... 1890-1940 or even 1900-1930.

before that, giant buildings were not really a thing on that continent.
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  #50  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 2:30 PM
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The eastern buildings knew their cities were growing at a steady rate. Out west they were expecting a mega boom so were building bigger than they needed.
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  #51  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 2:36 PM
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i love how one of those buildings is called the "whyte champagne".

it's so hair metal. it sounds like a david coverdale side project.
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  #52  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 2:47 PM
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i love how one of those buildings is called the "whyte champagne".

it's so hair metal. it sounds like a david coverdale side project.
Don't get too excited. It's probably just because it's located at the corner of Whyte Avenue and Champagne Street!
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  #53  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 3:49 PM
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Originally Posted by kool maudit View Post
north american gigantism, whether commercial or institutional, was an industrial-era trend... 1890-1940 or even 1900-1930.

before that, giant buildings were not really a thing on that continent.
I think the bigger buildings happened as a direct consequence of the development of the technologies that allowed the industrial era to progress. By 1890 people had access to better engines, concrete, cheaper steel, and better explosives that they could use to build bigger buildings, and governments had more money to spend because they controlled much larger, wealthier economies.
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  #54  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 4:12 PM
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These kind of plain 2.5 storey houses dominate Hamilton (mostly brick, some east and north end are wood siding):



These small rowhouses with firewalls between them are seen around the city:





And houses along these lines are another distinctive Hamilton sytle:


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  #55  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 4:25 PM
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it's so hair metal. it sounds like a david coverdale side project.
As soon as I read that, I pictured a blonde 80s girl in a short dress spinning around on the hood of a sportscar. Not sure why...
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  #56  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 4:31 PM
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I pictured a drag queen.

LOVE the Hamilton rowhouses. Push them right up to the sidewalk and they'd be perfect.
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  #57  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 4:33 PM
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I pictured a drag queen.
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Hahahaha! To each his own!
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  #58  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 4:34 PM
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I actually love these common Toronto houses, dunno why.


http://ilovetoronto.com/images/2013/...onto-Homes.jpg
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  #59  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 4:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Drybrain View Post
The other thing, in Calgary at least, is houses like this one. (Which has been demolished.)



There kind of plain, concrete or stucco houses were built in the 30s and 40s, and seem to hearken to a much humbler time in Alberta's history, and always seemed sort of quintessentially prairie-style to me. There are a fairly large number of them in the peripheral neighbourhoods around downtown, though they're not numerous enough to define a real vernacular style, nor rare (or, let's be honest, attractive enough) to merit much historical protection.

And as a similar ubiquitous style, these single storey bungalows that they seemed to be building up until the 60s: http://goo.gl/maps/YSDaL

It's getting increasingly hard to find them however as they are torn down constantly for new infills, which are generally nice, urban and of course MUCH more expensive: http://goo.gl/maps/wfvgJ (just down the street from the first link). Some areas have entire blocks of these.


The picture that Drybrain posted also features something that seems unique to prairie cities, or at least I think. That weird white stucco that looks like it has small pieces of glass in it. WTF is up with that? That was the first thing about the movie FUBAR I recognized as Calgary.
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  #60  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2014, 4:43 PM
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The picture that Drybrain posted also features something that seems unique to prairie cities, or at least I think. That weird white stucco that looks like it has small pieces of glass in it. WTF is up with that? That was the first thing about the movie FUBAR I recognized as Calgary.
Unless I am unaware of a huge collection of these somewhere around here, I'll say that that style is extremely uncommon in Winnipeg... it must be an Alberta thing. I certainly saw a lot of it in older parts of Edmonton when I lived there.
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