Canadian Museum of Nature: Exploration in Themes of Nature

Victoria Memorial Museum c.1910

 
“What the classical architect wanted above all was a self-contained building, separate and distinct from the environment in which it stood. He liked precisely articulated divisions, sharply defined and limited forms. […] It corresponded to his intuitive understanding of the relationship between man and nature. Nature, in his mind, was something external to man—a chaotic and hostile force that man had subdued and reduced to order, primarily through the power of disciplined reason; and classical architecture was an expression of that fact. To take the raw materials of nature and shape them into reasoned, orderly forms was kind of a tangible conquest of nature; and for buildings so conceived to have their full effect, it seemed self-evidently right to have a clear-cut distinction between them and their still unshaped, untouched surroundings.” (Gowans, 208)

Museum Architecture at a Glance 

With its heavy stone exterior and one singular massive Romanesque inspired window high up on the north facing wall of the central structure, the Victoria Memorial Museum bares closer resemblance to a medieval fortress than a space for public education and gathering.  This architecture is reflective of a 19th century culture that viewed man’s relationship with nature as two separate entities, cut off from one another like the central structure of the museum feels far removed from the surrounding metropolis. Through the study of ecology these ideas of “controlling and organizing nature” are exemplified in the Victorian museum and it carries with it a “myth that humans can be entirely separate from nature and can control natural systems” (Fletcher et. al. 95-6). The VMM carries the embellishments of nature through its extensive arches, intricate mosaics, stained glass imagery, exterior facades and marble staircase which depict the flora and fauna of the Canadian landscape.

Power & Control: Arches, Mosaics, and Stained Glass Imagery  

At first glance, the massive, suspended globe in the central lobby of the VMM is the only thing that seems to signal the purpose of this space. Nature feels like a whisper. As the eye moves through the vast space the natural world begins to emerge in the most subtle of ways and in the most intricate details. This space reflects an attempt by the architect to make a meaningful connection with the natural world but “nature remains subjugated: an ‘other’” by how it is applied in the architectural elements of the space (Fletcher et. al. 92).

Throughout this space we see two things happening with architectural elements depicting nature. Through repetition and binding this imagery to the weight of structural elements we experience nature through the controlled ideology of 19th century scientific practice.

We are met with a series of stained-glass windows above the three sets of entrance doors each depicting flora and fauna of the Canadian landscape and each window a series of repeated pattern and imagery (See figures 1.0 to 1.2). Hussaini and Kasim talk about how repetition or rhythm plays a fundamental role in the natural world and architecture (5). In nature, the more a species can replicate itself the greater its chance of survival and the higher place it holds in the food chain. In architecture, “recurrence in design has an advantage in that it provides a sense of order” which is a fundamental principle in the Victorian era (Hussaini and Kasim 5-6).

Once we move through the entrance doors, a ribbed vault system adorns the ceiling and at its centers are detailed stone carvings of native flora. The carvings are repeated in each arch representing a reflection of the control of man over nature (See Figure 2.0). Finally, we enter the main lobby area and surrounding the perimeter of the space are intricate tile mosaics of repeated floral patterns (See Figure 3.0 and 3.1). They are contained within a ribbon and lack the ability to grow out of the structured pattern as they would in nature.


As the eye ascends the space, we see carvings of flora at the base of the main arch on the north wall (See Figure 4.0 and 4.1) and fauna at the base of each point in the coffered ceiling (See Figure 5.0-5.2). Again, we see this idea of pattern repetition. The coffered ceiling is made up of various species of fauna in a repeat pattern around the space. The depictions are all placed at the base of the structures carrying the visual weight of the man-made architecture and servicing human need.


Nature in Sculptural Relief

Finally, we see further examples of the controlled view of Nature in the Victorian era through the depiction of fauna on the various stone relief carvings of the exterior building façade and marble relief carvings on the interior staircase pillars. A fundamental principle of sculpture is contour and how it is expressed. Ana Berry writes that “sculpture [must] be viewed from any side and from different angles. Every shape must be endowed with a life of its own […] It is the sculptor’s aim to express a sense of driving force, of expanding life, in the round” and we see this reflected in both interior and exterior relief carvings of various Canadian animals (21). By depicting fauna protruding from the architecture, we see this idea in practice (See Figure 6.0-6.6). Each figure comes to life by adding that three-dimensional quality. In the case of the marble carvings of the stair columns the spectator can move around the relief sculptures and see a life-like depiction of nature. What is missing, however, is the true autonomy of the figures. We see no evidence of free-standing sculpture in this space. All depictions of nature are either one dimensional or protruding from structural elements, but never truly separate. This creates a permanent link to the man-made structure and the power and control it possesses over nature.

Nature is never fully realized in the original architecture of the Victorian Memorial Museum. As history unfolds and the Canadian landscape and society changes, we see a shift in how architecture interacts with themes of nature and how it is represented in the renovations of the museum in the early 21st century.


“We can see in architecture what the idea that nature is man’s to create and mold means in practical aesthetic terms. It means buildings deliberately designed to blend in with their natural surroundings […] It means the expression of real structure, not fake facades. It means using materials in their natural state, so that they still seem part of land around them. It means, in sum, buildings that are one with nature, in which you hardly know whether you are inside or outside.” (Gowan 210)


Alan Gowans writes that “in the Victorian era it was easy to distinguish one building from another, but modern architecture blurs everything together. […] Modern architecture is about unifying man with nature” (212). The original architecture of the VMM reflects the Victorian sensibilities of control and mastery over the natural world, but the renovated main tower in the early 2000s and the addition of the “Queen’s Lantern” is grounded in this more unified approach to nature through building foundation, architectural materials, and the expression of light throughout this space.



 
 

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