Ordinary Buildings

Peter Cardew is an increasingly influential architect in Canada whose work has significantly contributed to the development of architecture on the west coast. The work evokes that spirit of early modernism evident in the work of architects such as Alvar Aalto, by exploring issues beyond the merely functional, and challenging our preconceptions about the essential issues involved in building. The exhibition presents a selection of the most significant projects spanning a twenty-year period from 1976 to the present, which not only documents the range of Cardew’s work but is intended to provoke the public into a more thoughtful consideration of architecture in general.

In describing the intent underpinning his architecture, Peter Cardew refers to both his own work and it’s inspirational source as ordinary buildings. Ordinary, because the monumental in architecture has passed away with the shift in social structures which occurred during the Industrial Revolution. The essential buildings of the twentieth century are no longer the monuments of tradition, but the common building; schools, office buildings, houses and stores. And the buildings Cardew describes as the inspirational source for his work are also ordinary, such as the buildings of the rural vernacular tradition or the common British row house.

This interest in the vernacular is not predicated on a romantic historicism but is grounded in an appreciation of the appropriateness with which both material and form are coordinated to answer to the particular challenges of its context. Manifest also, is a directness in construction and use of materials which results in a clarity of form and absence of superficial detail. Cardew’s work, based on a critical, exploratory analysis of the contextual and programmatic issues particular to each project, combined with his pragmatic approach to their resolution, captures this directness, simplicity and relevance, much admired in the ordinary building

Accompanying the exhibition is a photographic essay by Robert Keziere which presents an interpretive and personal view of Cardew’s work in contrast to the analytical and documentary intent of the main exhibition.

Organized by Charles H. Scott Gallery, the exhibition toured to The School of Architecture at the University of Manitoba, Design Exchange, Toronto, Ontario, Triangle Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, and Kamloops Art Gallery.