Illustrations by Raymond Biesinger. Courtesy of Goose Lane Editions
By Alex Bozikovic and Raymond Biesinger. Goose Lane Editions, 2022.
REVIEW Adele Weder
Contemporary cities have evolved from a plethora of buildings that, in most cases, no longer exist. A survey of this phantom architecture might seem like an odd exploration for the here and now. But a newly published compilation of once-beloved and now-demolished landmarks reminds us of the usefulness of paying homage to our vanished past.
Written by Globe and Mail architecture critic Alex Bozikovic and illustrated by Raymond Biesinger, 305 Lost Buildings of Canada is like a stroll through an urban graveyard. Pause to read the terse summary of a building?s name, purpose, and life dates, with the odd anecdote that hints at the prestige or notoriety of each one. Even the book?s black-and-white line drawings look a little like tombstones. Then as now, these edifices were usually victims of profit-seeking and expediency, in some cases despite an outcry from the local community, though others simply died of old age. Most of these buildings would not be considered architectural masterpieces, not even in their own lifetimes, but all contributed something vital to their neighbourhoods. The Little Mountain housing complex in Vancouver provided affordable accommodation and a sense of community to dozens of families. Its low density made it a target, yet as Bozikovic reports, its large site still lies mostly empty, to the fury of th...