july 2009 issue
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Message in a Building
The teachings of Aboriginal mentors flow through Douglas Cardinal, OC, into his work and onto the Canadian skyline. He’ll tell APEGGA members and others all about it at this fall’s National Mentoring Conference in Calgary
BY GEORGE LEE
The PEGG
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CARDINAL CREATION |
-photo courtesy Travel Alberta |
St. Albert Place offers a great example of the organic curves so common in the work of Douglas Cardinal, OC. |
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The designer of some of his country’s most iconic buildings, Douglas Cardinal, QC, is widely credited with creating an indigenous style of Canadian architecture. In brick, steel and concrete, he has interpreted the lines, balance and ideas ingrained in Aboriginal cultures and in the land itself.
In large part, you can thank his mentors for that.
“I’ve been greatly influenced by Indian elders, going back to the 1960s and the people of Saddle Lake, to the late Robert Smallboy, and to many others,” says Mr. Cardinal. The influence and importance of those mentors will be part of his message as a keynote speaker at the fourth annual APEGGA National Mentoring Conference, Sept. 24 and 25 in Calgary.
Weary of the problems faced by Aboriginals on reserves and in cities, Chief Smallboy led a return-to-the-land movement on Kootenay Plains, near Nordegg. Mr. Cardinal, born in Red Deer of Blackfoot and Métis ancestry, learned the traditions and ceremonies the chief practiced there. In fact to this day Mr. Cardinal takes part in sweat lodges — a part of his life for nearly five decades.
Over those years, his designs have seemingly sprouted from the Canadian soil, among them the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., St. Mary’s Church in Red Deer, St. Albert Place, Grande Prairie Regional College, and the Regina campus of the First Nations University of Canada. Mr. Cardinal’s many successes have earned him honours and accolades, at home and aboard.
Recognition aside, it all boils down to harmony and balance, he says. That’s a message professionals and society as a whole need to take to heart, says Mr. Cardinal.
Harmony and balance come through esthetically in the swooping, organic lines of his work, but there’s a deeper meaning, too. These days, his buildings are incorporating the latest technologies and standards for preserving the environment and conserving energy. “Harmony and balance are the only thing that will help us. They’re the only way to go if we’re going to save this planet,” Mr. Cardinal says.
It’s a philosophy all people can find within themselves, he adds. “All people are or were Aboriginals. We all come from somewhere, and we can relate to our cultures, our ancestors and their connection to the land. To be in harmony with nature and the environment is, I believe, something that every human being wants.”
He also looks at his work as a voice for freedom, and he despairs — just as his mentor Robert Smallboy did — of the tough circumstances faced by so many Aboriginal Canadians. His country is structurally divided, he says, with one group of people unable to govern its own land.
“We have one law for one group of people and another for another group, which I think is outrageous,” he says.
More Info
APEGGA National
Mentoring Conference
Visit www.apega.ca
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