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5. European Influence, Canadian Roots

European Influence, Canadian Roots

With its imposing stone walls, corner turrets and arched windows, the museum merits its nickname, "the castle".

Its historic value is inestimable; this spectacular building is the third-most important federal heritage building, eclipsed only by the Library and the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings.

The task of creating a design for the building that would hold and showcase Canada's national collections fell to the Dominion's Chief Architect, David Ewart. He began work with the federal Department of Public Works in 1871, at age 28. Between 1900 and 1914, he designed four other stone public buildings in the nation's capital.

Before beginning the design of the museum, Ewart took a research-trip to Europe in 1901. What he saw there had a strong influence on him. In his design, Ewart broke with the Victorian Gothic tradition favoured by his predecessor Thomas Fuller, who was involved in the design of the Parliament Buildings, and who was inspired by the buildings of the British Parliament.

Ewart's structures are heavier, reflecting the Romanesque and medieval styles of Europe, with a combination of Tudor and Gothic features. The massing and articulation of the building are influenced by the Beaux-Arts style, which stressed symmetrical, axial plans. Construction of the building started in 1905.

The Return of the Tower

The original design called for a massive tower embellished by turrets, a clock and a spire. The intent was to mirror the central tower of the original Parliament Buildings, which stood directly north, at the opposite end of then-fashionable Metcalfe Street.

In designing the structure, Ewart did not adequately take into account the unstable ground of the site; the building started sinking before it was completed. Modifications to the design in 1907 did not prevent the development of insurmountable engineering difficulties. Cracks appeared in the foundation and workers did not want to work in the basement for fear of the dangers posed by flying stone, sheared by stress.

By 1915, the tower was visibly separating from the rest of the building and had to be removed. Shortened by eighty feet, the main architectural feature and strength of the building was no more.

The building continued to sink, however, until 1969, when the problem was finally adequately addressed by further, extensive stabilization work.

With the renewal of the museum, 100 years after its completion, a tower has been raised over the entrance once again. The new glass lantern will improve the circulation of visitors through all floors, but it will also play a symbolic role, evoking the original tower and marking the renewal of the museum.