Wood, Glass and Stone

Lisa Rochon has written the definitive guide to Canada’s contemporary architecture, a well-illustrated, thoughtful tour of the best of what she sees as the emergence of a distinctively Canadian style. Up North. That’s where we Canadians live. North of the Americans. In the cold, cold north. Up north, where the cottage meets the rock, the tree and the lake.

It is a strong thesis—actually for Rochon a manifesto—that the essence of modern architecture in Canada derives from an intimate dialogue between a building and its setting. The built interpretation in space and material of the particulars of place reflects the realities of our northern landscape and the distinctiveness of our cultural and political life. “Behind Canadian architecture, the North is always there, the wilderness always pulling us towards it.”This thesis serves as the carriage linking a series of essays, interviews and analyses of the country’s modern architecture, the common lineage of the very...