Supreme Court - Ottawa, Canada
Posted by: 
elyob
N 45° 25.299 W 075° 42.317
18T E 444822 N 5030034
301 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Waymark Code: WM182RK
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 05/18/2023
Views: 2
L'esprit de l'Art déco
Architecte montréalais de renommée internationale, Ernest Cormier a conçu l'édifice de la Cour suprême au cours des années 1930, dans l'esprit géométrique de l'Art déco. Ce style, prédominant pendant l'entre-deux-guerres, s'inspirait des motifs anciens de l'architecture gréco-romaine, tout en les simplifiant et en les transformant sous l'influence de mouvements artistiques modernes comme le cubisme.
The spirit of art deco
Ernest Cormier, an internationally renowned architect from Montréal, designed the Supreme Court building in the 1930s in the geometric spirit of art deco. A style that dominated the period between the two world wars, art deco drew on ancient forms of Greek and Roman architecture, but simplified and transformed them under the influence of modern artistic movements such as cubism.
The text above is taken from the historical sign on site. That sign is on the north side of Wellington Street, across the lawn in front of the Supreme Court of Canada building. Canada’s Historic Places also describes this building as an excellent example of Art Deco.
A number of Canadian Art Deco buildings are now recognized and valued historic places. Within our nation's capital several excellent examples are the Supreme Court Building, constructed between 1938 and 1940. A recognizable landmark along Wellington Street, the building was designated by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada as one of the top 500 buildings produced in Canada during the last millennium. Designed by Ernest Cormier, the building is characterized by its extensive use of geometric shapes and a mixture of crisp lines and smooth, flowing curves. The building's carefully proportioned symmetrical design, both inside and out, together with a liberal use of sleek-looking materials, capped off by ziggurats, are all characteristics of the Art Deco. Interestingly, the original design included a flat roof, in keeping with its modern aesthetic, but the current steep roof with dormers, was added because of a directive from the Department of Public Works to reference the Château style of other nearby government buildings (some say that the Prime Minister of the time preferred a less modern style).