Suburban Modern: Postwar Dreams in Calgary

Nora D.S. Robins is liaison librarian, University of Calgary Information
Resources.

Calgary in 2005 is a boom town. House construction cannot keep up with
demand as the population nears one million. The city underwent similar
growth in the 1950s. The postwar boom demanded that housing meet the
influx of workers. Fortunately, the land surrounding the city was cheap,
so it was logical for Calgary to annex land on its outskirts, thereby
beginning its love affair with suburbs.

In this book, Stamp argues that it was the trends and habits of the
1950s that created the Calgary of today. He has coined the term
“suburban modern” to describe this period of movement from the
downtown to outlying areas, where young couples bought their dream homes
complete with modern furnishings and labour-saving devices. It is the
suburbs rather than the downtown that has defined Calgary’s style.

The predominant type of house was the bungalow, with a few split-levels
emerging in the late 1950s. Blocks and blocks of bungalows characterized
new areas such as Parkdale, Thorncliffe, North Mount Pleasant, and
Rosscarrick. The horizontal sprawl also meant the construction of new
schools, shopping centres, and churches.

Donald Stamp is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the
University of Calgary. When he moved to the city in 1995, it was into a
postwar split-level house in Parkdale. In 2000 Dr. Stamp worked with a
group of city architects and architectural historians on an exhibit
titled “Calgary Modern, 1947–1967.” The accompanying catalogue
included his essay on postwar Calgary, which he has now expanded into
this fascinating book. Suburban Modern will inform and entertain anyone
interested in the architectural, environmental, and historical
development of one of Canada’s best cities.