Architecture Canada 1999: The Governor General's Awards for Architecture

Stephen Fai is an assistant professor in the School of Architecture at
Carleton University.

Ten projects from ten of Canada’s top architectural offices are
handsomely represented with photographs, drawings, and concise
narratives. Five of these projects were awarded the biennial Governor
General’s Medal for Excellence in 1999 and five received the Governor
General’s Medal for Merit.

Qualitative differences between those projects deemed excellent and
those projects receiving the lesser award of merit are not obvious from
the information provided. The editorial decision to distinguish between
the Medal for Excellence and the Medal for Merit by using color
photography for the former and black-and-white photography for the
latter seems heavy-handed. Rather than having to rely on a graphic cue,
the critical reader could presumably make out the distinctions in the
projects themselves. This may, however, be more of a shortcoming in the
structure of the medals. Comparing architectural projects as diverse as
the Centre de Chibougamu and the National Archives of Canada is
challenging enough without the further complication of a two-tiered
award. Arguably, at this level of competition, a project is either
deserving recognition or it is not.

Caveat aside, Architecture Canada 1999 is a beautiful book and a
valuable resource for students, practitioners, and anyone interested in
contemporary Canadian architecture.