News Releases - 2003
Canada Council to strengthen support for architecture
"Canadians are still too little aware of the power of the architect to enliven and enrich their lives."
- Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, 1951
Ottawa, 11 February 2003 – The Canada Council for the Arts has embarked on a series of new initiatives aimed at increasing public awareness of Canadian architecture and helping architectural firms achieve artistic excellence.
The Assistance to Practitioners, Critics and Curators of Architecture program will award grants to architects and architectural designers who wish to commission photographic essays and critical texts about their work, with a view toward publication or exhibition. The program will also support writers and curators working toward an exhibition or a publication on contemporary architecture.
A second new program, Support to the Promotion of Architecture, will help publishers, museums, galleries and festivals produce high-quality books and exhibitions on contemporary architecture and landscape architecture in Canada.
The new programs are part of a revamped approach which would see the Council’s support for architecture increase from approximately $500,000 to more than $900,000 annually. In the past, the Council supported architecture primarily through its Grants to Professional Artists - Architecture program, which provided grants for personal research in architecture. The Council also funds and administers two architectural awards - the Prix de Rome and the Ronald J. Thom Award - and co-administers the Governor General’s Medals in Architecture with the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
In addition to the new programs aimed at promoting awareness of architecture, the Council will initiate pilot projects aimed at helping young architectural firms reach out to respected mentors and cutting-edge professional consultants. The Council will also investigate the possibility of strategic alliances with relevant federal departments with a view toward improving the commissioning of public buildings, spaces and landscapes. To this end, it seeks to launch pilot projects in support of competitions.
As of 2004, the Council will also change its approach to the Prix de Rome, which allowed an architect to spend one year doing architectural research in Rome. The new version of the prize will give winners the opportunity to choose the destination that best advances their practice, will be open to emerging and mid-career as well as established architects, and offer shorter tenure periods to suite the realities of practice. The Council will offer its last, Rome-based version of the Prix de Rome this year.
Brigitte Desrochers, the Canada Council’s architecture officer, said these changes are based on close evaluation of the proficiency of previous grant programs, in-depth research on architecture policies around the world as well as consultation with the architectural community, with Canada Council professionals and with a special Architecture Advisory Committee formed by experienced practitioners, recognized by their peers.
"The Canada Council wants to have a positive influence on contemporary architectural practice, by strengthening criticism, publications and public debates; through prizes, exhibitions and publications, and by forming alliances with agencies involved in the commissioning of buildings," she said. "We believe our new approach better corresponds to the reality of architecture in Canada today, and look forward to establishing stronger bonds of collaboration with commissioning bodies, practicing architects, critics and curators of architecture, as well as publishers and exhibition venues as these programs are implemented.
For further information on these programs and Canada Council support for architecture, contact Brigitte Desrochers, 566-4414, ext. 5109, or 1-800-263-5588, ext. 5109. E-mail: brigitte.desrochers@canadacouncil.ca
-30-