The Canadian War Museum

The Canadian War Museum, having moved from Sussex Drive to its new location on the LeBreton Flats, will be having its grand opening this weekend May 7-8. Since it deals with how we remember war, it's not without its controversies.

Some veterans, as reported by the CBC, have decided to boycott the opening because it is displaying of two paintings of the two Canadian Airborne Regiment soldiers involved in the 1993 Somolia torturing incident, which they found to be 'trashy and insulting' to the Canadian military heritage. Other veterans have defended the museum's decision as a truthful account of our military's roles since its creation.

While I agree with the Museum's decision to showcase all Canadian military history in its entirety (glories and failures), I do sympathize with those veterans who believe the portraits have no place in the same building as exhibits commemorating the sacrifice of so many young Canadians. That said, it simply reflects the honestly difficult task of how history is written and what actually is written and what is omitted from being written. We are obviously not the only ones dealing with this, as we've recently seen with China and Japan (any news search will give you a compendium of stories about the whitewashing of both their country's history).

What I do want to talk about is the museum itself. I frankly can't wait to visit this building because I'm very much impressed in its design. I saw the exhibits with Katie last year and while the castle/archive house where it was previously was nice, I think a revisit will give me a whole new set of experiences because this building is designed specifically for these exhibits so that it will strengthen them further.

The building is designed so that it blends in with the landscape around as opposed to a standalone building jutting out of the ground. It also basically reminds me of a bunker, which helps to reinforce a person's understanding of what they're looking at. In this case, form and function are not following each other; rather, they are working together to complement each other.

The concept (as described by the architect), is that places, particular natural areas, ravaged by war will adapt, survive and reinvigorate itself. While that certainly is there, it seems that it is also reflective of Canadian society's view of war and the role of the military. Our values have changed such that war and the military isn't as important a focus anymore so much so that it has blended into the background of our thoughts. That's not to say that remembrance isn't important, because it is, and the museum is there to aid in our efforts. It is also coincidentally appropriate that the museum's opening occurs at a time when our government's decrease in international influence has resulted in a major push to re-examine the importance of our military and the efforts required to revitalize it.

Other design elements are well constructed. The interior is cavernous, so as to amplify the sights and sounds of war in each exhibit. The outdoor area serves as event spaces as well as roofing (a green roof, in essence), which will decrease maintenance costs. Multipurpose use of space, what a novel concept that few EVER use. And then, there are the windows into the interior. They were designed so that the initials of the museum (CWM/MCG) are spelt out in morse code. On sunny days, these letters will be projected into the building. Absolutely brilliant in terms of form and function working together again.

There're plenty more design highlights that the architect, Raymond Moriyama, discusses and it's well worth reading. This was just the highlights. I intend to visit it when I head up in May (hint, hint, Matt and Chris). So I say to all you few who read my blog, if you're up in Ottawa at any point in the summer, visit the Canadian War Museum. I guarantee it will be well worth the trip to Acto...err, Ottawa. Really.