An Overview of the Modern Movement, 1936-1960

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As we enter the 21st Century, many are looking at the Alberta built heritage, from the last half of the Twentieth Century, with fresh eyes. A new century allows us to carefully reflect on those buildings that, for most of our recent lives, we have taken for granted. It is reasonable to ask whether some of these modern buildings might be worthy of long-term preservation, along with their venerable urban companions from earlier historical periods. Before there can be a full appreciation of the architectural legacy of the recent past, there must be a greater body of knowledge. Only then can there be a strategy for preservation.

This study addresses the issue of understanding and appreciating buildings from Edmonton's recent past, focusing on the period between 1936, when University of Alberta professor Cecil Burgess was nearing retirement as the head of Alberta's first university architecture program, and 1960 when the Modern Movement had become well established in Edmonton. It represents
the beginning of a long process to prepare a comprehensive inventory and evaluation of Edmonton's post-war architectural resources.

In 1993 the Edmonton Planning and Development Department completed the Register of Historic Resources in Edmonton, which was a process of preparing a building inventory and evaluation procedures for buildings and structures constructed before 1947. This date is in keeping with the provincial inventory, which does not extend past 1950. During the process of
compiling the pre-1947 Edmonton inventory, an ad hoc list of potentially significant buildings from the recent past, the post-war period, was initiated. This initial research has been incorporated into the study, and greatly expanded.

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