The big artistic event of the last century was the rise of the modernist
movement which started in Europe about the year 1910. Nova Scotians were
generally unimpressed with the architecture of Gropius and van
der Rohe and le Courbusier although they saw and read about them and
their work in Life Magazine.
Locals reacted against their white concrete walls, horizontal strip
windows, primary colours, metal framing, glass blocks, mirrored
surfaces, flat roofs and chrome-plated or mirror-faced interiors
for the simple reason that these elements do not make a viable
house in a really cold climate.
In addition, by the end of World War I our population was totally fed up with its
European experience. They were a little more accepting of these
new ideas about making buildings by the end of World War II but
it is still easier to find building plans that react against this
foreign, alien force from the past than those that promote it. The
modern age ended in the 1970s.
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The
last century ended favouring high pitched roofs, small windows, and
glaringly bright colours applied to wooden exteriors. Plastic and
aluminum siding lost ground against the eco-movements. The Postmodern
movement supposedly reacted against all that had come before.
There are no entirely prime examples of this style in town but
the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission building located off West Main Street
will suffice. The windows at left are seen directly under the eaves on the side of this structure
At the same time, their architects and builders are definitely going "back to the
future." Today, classical elements of design
have returned but are rarely used in expected ways.Symmetry did return but often appeared
purposefully distorted. Square windows are a common in reaction against
the previous bias for rectangular windows. Colour remained vibrant
and eye catching, sometimes unsettling, especially on the exterior of
buildings Nova Scotian architect Allan Penney has noted that these new colours "red,
orange and pink "can set teeth on edge."
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Local examples tend to employ
elements of twenty-first century design rather than embrace it
entirely. Here we have that "eye-brow" motif repeated at the back door
of this same building. Modern builders love the circles, squares,
rectangles and triangles favoured by Art Deco artists.
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