Industrial Cathedrals of the North

James A. Love is a professor of architecture in the Faculty of
Environmental Design and an adjunct professor of mechanical engineering
at the University of Calgary. His latest publication (in press) is the
Illuminating Engineering Society’s Recommended

Photographer Louie Palu and author Charlie Angus are residents of the
Ontario–Quebec mining belt that includes Sudbury, Timmins, and Val
d’or. They wrote this bilingual book to promote mining headframes as
entities that have been as significant in Canada’s economic
development as the rail network. This intention is emphasized in the
preface, which describes Industrial Cathedrals as “not a work simply
to be ... discussed in terms of artistic esthetics.” In fact, if one
considers esthetics in the deeper sense of meaning, rather than just as
the consideration of beauty, this is the author’s purpose.

Angus and Palu strive to communicate the nature of life in mining
communities, shaped as they are by their specific economic activity and
their remoteness, and the significance of the mining structures to
locals and to the rest of the country. Hidden from most of us, mining
structures have failed to attract the affection that the populace
extends to grain elevators and railway stations. Deteriorating
off-stage, the headframes may miss the conservation efforts that have
been directed at other industrial structures. Industrial Cathedrals of
the North may arouse similar sympathies and efforts for this part of our
industrial heritage.