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Operated by the Calgary Contemporary Arts Society September 3 to October 22, 2009 |
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Mid-Century Icons: Organized for 2009 ArtCity – Calgary International Festival of Visual Arts, Architecture & Design
Panda Associates, as one of the few Canadian commercial photography firms devoted to architecture, played a major role in documenting the built environment of Canada, as Canada and Canadian architecture developed its own voice. The collection, now held at the Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary, not only documents the beginning and growth of Modern architecture in Canada and beyond, it also provides a visual record of a more traditional architectural heritage. Covering the
Linda Fraser and Dr. Geoffrey Simmins Linda Fraser is an Archivist and Chief Curator of the Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary. Dr. Geoffrey Simmins is an Associate Dean of Research and Planning, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Calgary.
List of Images (left to right, top to bottom):
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The exhibition Mid-Century Icons: Architectural Photography from the Panda Collection highlights the remarkable work of Hugh Robertson, a prominent Canadian architectural photographer, and his firm, Panda Associates. 
period from 1946 to 1992, highlights include the work of prominent 20th century Canadian architects such as Arthur Erickson, Raymond Moriyama, John B. Parkin Associates, as well as the Canadian work of internationally acclaimed figures such as I.M. Pei, Mies van der Rohe, Viljo Revell, and Skidmore Owings & Merrill. The inclusion of interior, as well as exterior views, consecution photographs, competition drawings and models of a wide variety of projects by a wide variety of architects gives this collection considerable scope. 
Architectural photography has received little scholarly attention and architectural photography specific to Canada even less so. Building With Light: The International History of Architectural Photography, while highlighting work in Great Britain, the Unites States, Europe, and Japan, contains no Canadian content whatsoever. An exhibition of photographs taken by Hugh Robertson raises the profile of this medium, underscores its importance as a research tool, and helps to place Canadian architectural photography in an international context. 
This exhibition – with fifty images selected from the impressive portfolio of over 100,000 photographs - also explores the relationship between architectural photography and the study and practice of architecture; often it is the first and only impression we have of a building. The images are intended to reflect Canadian society after the Second World War using photographs of the many building types that are represented in this collection. Using the themes of gendered spaces, post War 
optimism, the modern Canadian city, idealism and paradise, and the marketing of a Canadian dream, this exhibition compares the build environment in both urban and suburban setting, juxtaposing building types ideal to each. These photographs represent the birth of the modern Canadian city with soaring high rises, airports, office and apartment buildings, religious buildings, and department stores and the rise of the Canadian suburbs with single family houses, shopping malls, factories, and schools – all reflective of how Canadians lived, dreamed, defined themselves, and how our cities and suburbs developed over the time. 
