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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 25
Gothic Revival in Canadian Architecture
by Mathilde Brosseau
Introduction
As its name indicates, the Gothic Revival proclaims a return to the
architectural forms of the Middle Ages those of the 13th and 14th
centuries in particular. This period was later termed "Gothic" because
of an erroneous belief that this architecture, considered vulgar, had
been conceived during the dark ages of domination by the Goths.
The spirit of the last century, with its strong leanings toward
historicism, took particular delight in resuscitating certain
architectural periods of the past. This attitude gave birth to fashions
which, although they reanimated the formal repertoire of past
architectural periods, tended to neglect the guiding principles which
had given life to them.
In the 18th century, the first manifestations of the Gothic Revival
in England followed a similar pattern. Some of the architects serving a
class of intellectual aristocrats enjoyed taking often whimsical Gothic
designs and applying them to the composition of residences built
according to the architectural principles proper to the 18th century as
one might add lace to a piece of clothing. However, unlike other
historicist fashions, Gothic Revival was to be an enduring style
accompanied by several mutations. After the whims and fantasies of an
initial romantic stage, theorists encouraged architects to show greater
archaeological discipline in their works; these theorists imbued them
with the underlying principle of structural rationalism of the Gothic
era.
Once this principle had been mastered, there followed a period of
highly original Neo-Gothic construction that went beyond mere imitation
of specific antique models. This period accepted outside influences and
led to new visual effects devoted to a picturesque turn of mind. This is
the period known as High Victorian Gothic. After this firm expression
of brilliance, the Gothic Revival continued its existence under another
identity. During the first decades of the 20th century, it survived in
the form of great architectural projects along lines subject to
the academic criteria of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
in Paris.
In Canada, the Gothic Revival appeared at a crucial moment of
population growth and this appears to have favoured its adoption in
widely diversified geographic areas and its recognition as a symbol of
an emerging Canadian nation. The full development of this situation
naturally favoured the choice of this style for the prestigious
parliamentary complex in Ottawa. It was a style that left its mark on
several types of construction such as public buildings, institutions,
schools, houses and sometimes even stations and other so-called
commercial buildings. However, its influence was felt more in the field
of religious architecture, where it was a very strong evolutionary
factor.
This report gives a broad view of the varied manifestations of the
Gothic Revival in Canada through almost the entire 19th century and even
into the first decades of the 20th century. Each of the
above-mentioned stages has its place and can be defined by visual
criteria and a certain space in time.
However, it should be noted from the outset that chronological limits
are only roughly laid out; they actually remain quite vague because
different regions were culturally out of step with one another. For
example, compared to Ontario, the Prairies show a lag in architectural
development because some ideas did not take root there or arrived much
later, often with a diluted content. In the analysis of each stylistic
period, a sampling will be found of various types of buildings affected
by the Gothic Revival; among these, the church holds a predominant
position. We also limit ourselves to the study of exteriors, since this
work is primarily based on the data collected during phase I of the
Canadian Inventory of Historic Building, the purpose of which was to
catalogue building exteriors across Canada. Moreover, our analysis
distinguishes between the main geographic regions, as we illustrate
the various versions of Gothic Revival engendered by regional
differences. We also test the hypothesis whereby the treatment of an
architectural style is said to vary according to the climate, raw
materials, native traditions and the genius loci peculiar to
each region.
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