Halifax – Old Burying Ground

The Old Burying Ground (also known as St. Paul’s Church Cemetery) is located in Downtown Halifax. It was founded in 1749, the same year as the settlement, as the town’s first burial ground. It was originally non-denominational and for several decades was the only burial place for all Haligonians.

In 1793 it was turned over to the Anglican St. Paul’s Church

and was closed in 1844. The site steadily declined until the 1980’s when it was restored and refurbished by the Old Burying Ground Foundation. Over the decades some 12,000 people were interred in the Old Burial Ground. Today there are about 1,200 headstones, some having been lost and many others being buried with no headstone. Many notable residents are buried in the cemetery, including British Major General Robert Ross, who led the successful Washington Raid of 1814 and burned the White House before being killed in battle at Baltimore a few days later.

The last erected and most prominent structure is the Welsford-Parker Monument, a Triumphal arch standing at the entrance to the cemetery commemorating British victory in the Crimean War.

The arch was built by George Lang

and is named after two Haligonians, Major Augustus Frederick Welsford and Captain William Buck Carthew Augustus Parker. Both Nova Scotians died in the Battle of the Great Redan during the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855). This monument was the last grave marker in the cemetery. It’s a little less imposing seen more in context.

Ongoing restoration of the rare 18th century grave markers continues.

Many of the stones were carved by hand, though I’m not sure if that is the case with the restorations.

It was interesting to see the Central Library, School of Architecture and Old Burying Ground all lined up in a row along Spring Garden Road, underscoring its continuity in the changing history of the city of Halifax.

Halifax – Dalhousie Architecture School

Dalhousie has three campuses within the Halifax Peninsula and a fourth, the Agricultural Campus, in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia. The Sexton Campus in Downtown Halifax hosts the engineering, architecture and planning faculties. It’s immediately adjacent to the Halifax Central Library.

There’s a bit of irony that contemporary architecture is being taught in this handsome, neoclassical building next door to the brand new, very current, Halifax Central Library; but I think that falls into the ‘life is like that’ category. School was in session; and many of the building’s areas were not accessible. I gave myself an informal tour, starting with the fact that building was originally The Halifax Courthouse, built in 1858.

As in most neoclassical buildings, there’s no doubt about where the front door is found – front and center.

As in many older buildings, where the height of the spaces is generous but the floor plan may be limited, inserting a balcony level (here, around the perimeter) provides some additional real estate (although it also adds in the complexity of more stairs). It’s also a bit hard to tell what the working spaces below the balcony might be like.

In other areas this creates the opportunity for more display and storage.

Not all architecture programs include shop space as robust as this. It appeared from what I could observe, that orientation and training were taken seriously.

The lowest level had the sturdiest construction (with modern bracing) but also the most constrictions, and was used the most informally.

I don’t recall that we ever posted a graphic weekly calendar of academic events; but it seems like a good idea – though I suppose that today everyone would have the information on their phones.

Project review spaces don’t seem to have changed much – casual, flexible, and always looking a bit forlorn between sessions.

The exterior materials were a handsome combination of stone and brick.

They looked towards the library – an interesting conversation.

 

Halifax Central Library

The Halifax Central Library serves as the flagship library of the Halifax Public Libraries, replacing the Spring Garden Road Memorial Library.

A new central library was discussed by library administrators for several decades and approved by the regional council in 2008. The architects, a joint venture between local firm Fowler Bauld and Mitchell, and Schmidt Hammer Lassen of Denmark, were chosen in 2010 through an international design competition. Construction began later that year on a prominent downtown site that had been a parking lot for half a century. First impressions are that we’re definitely in the 21st Century.

Here’s a Wikipedia description:  “The new library opened in December 2014 and has become a highly popular gathering place. In addition to a book collection significantly larger than that of the former library, the new building houses a wide range of amenities including cafés, an auditorium, and community rooms. The striking architecture is characterized by the fifth floor Living Room’s cantilever over the entrance plaza, (above and below),

and the building’s transparency and relationship to the urban context. For me, the exterior has a bit of what has been referred to as ‘Jenga Blocks’ character – the implication being that various parts and pieces have been randomly stacked up and could have been randomly stacked up in a number of different ways. Having walked around the building, I would also quarrel a bit with the ‘relationship to urban context’ in that this also seems arbitrary – particularly in relation to the neo-classic Dalhousie School of Architecture in the left rear of the photo above and right rear of the photo below.

I do like the transparency and the use of color in the glass, though I find it hard to believe that the south-facing facade (above) isn’t a real over-heating problem in the summer.

Inside the library is equally dramatic, but more vertically than horizontally. A skylighted atrium, criss-crossed by stairs and walkways, spans the interior height of the structure. The main lobby and children’s collection are concentrated on the lower floors, while much of the upper floors are designated as quiet areas.

Here, the initial impression is one of chaos; but ironically, it’s actually easy to see where you’re going and to move through the building. There are elevators of course, and they and the bridges and stairs are pretty well coordinated with the information desks on the various floors. The photo below was taken from the end of a bridge. Elevators are just beyond the information desk.

Since we were there first thing in the morning, we used the elevators to go up to the top floor cafe to get our day started. From there the view takes in a lot of the construction that Halifax is undergoing as well as a more distant outlook to the harbor.

We weren’t alone – it’s obviously a popular morning stop.

The table view was pretty good as well.

In an attempt to deal with the solar gain, the designers have tried a couple of things, including ‘fritted’ glass, in which a pattern is etched into the surface – this view was taken from the exterior roof deck.

If you look closely, you can see the bridges and stairs crossing the atrium inside. The other approach, more experimental, more thematic, and probably not as effective, used letters of the alphabet to create the screen pattern.

But because the pattern is only partial and there’s still a lot of glass left exposed, it’s likely that the effect is mostly visual.

The roof includes a seating area and green roof, though this particular day was not one for lingering out there. It’s such a relief from all the asphalt roofs we commonly see.

At the far end of this level is the Living Room that so dramatically cantilevers out over the front entrance of the museum.

The stacks here feature Science Fiction and Fantasy. The room also displays a piece of public art commissioned just for the library. Following a request for proposals seeking a “signature public artwork” to be incorporated into the new library, painter and NSCAD alumnus Cliff Eyland was awarded the $430,000 commission for his proposal to produce 5,000 miniature paintings on medium-density fiberboard cut to the size of old library catalog index cards. He ended up producing a total of 6,000 paintings divided into two installations. A 1,000 paintings, “eye-popping, two-color abstracts of books leaning against each other”, decorate the Living Room. This installation is titled Book Shelf Paintings. (above)

At the ground floor, Library Cards comprises 5,000 paintings behind the main reception (below), a visual index system to the library’s holdings.

The Library Cards paintings cover a variety of themes and subjects, including landscapes, portraits, abstract pieces, and musings on history and libraries. The artist joked, “there are grey landscapes to remind you about why you stay indoors in Nova Scotia to read” and said that portraits of staff at the Spring Garden Road and Halifax North Memorial libraries, photographed by Mary Ann Archibald, were painted and had subsequently been recognized by some of their subjects. Here’s a close-up.

From the Living Room level we decided to walk down to the entrance level, starting under the skylight, and working our way back and forth across the atrium.

On the way, we took note of how the smaller spaces and functions were handled in relation to the large, vertical atrium.

Study carrels were partially enclosed – hard to tell if that was effective or not. Note also the modern realism of having to get this type of feature sponsored. Where real privacy was required, enclosed conference rooms were provided, including frosted glass to let in daylighting from the atrium.

Stacks these days don’t “form” the space of libraries the way they did when classical libraries were designed. They reflect the potential need for flexibility and the real need for easy accessibility that goes with the digital age and modest staffing.

Digital research reflects the shared-table approach of most hi-tech firms where the focus is the screen in front of you and not the environment in which you’re working.

Along with the information-related spaces, libraries today have expanded their scope into community-supporting functions such as childcare and early learning. I didn’t want to be taking photos up close; but this group of parents, small children, and strollers were clearly gathering on a regular basis for some sort of group activity.

Down on the ground level, in a casual auditorium space – also visually open to the atrium – a dance group rehearsed, perhaps for a future library performance.

This level also spills out to a rooftop plaza for larger (and better weather) gatherings.

A final couple of bridges and stairs brought us down to the main floor.

Here we came across a book return, baggage-handling-like conveyor system, very similar to the one we had seen in the Vancouver, BC central library.

And, we took one last look at the amazing atrium that holds the whole thing together.

Next time – more of downtown Halifax