September 18, 2006

Architecture

Architect’s comments questioned

Canadian War Museum defends design changes

TERRY TINKESS

correspondent

OTTAWA

Comments by Architect Raymond Moriyama about changes made to his design of the Canadian War Museum, as quoted in The Ottawa Citizen, are, in some cases simply wrong, said Joe Geurts, the director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum.

But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t welcome the opportunity to work with Moriyama again.

In an article published in the Ottawa paper Sept. 7, Moriyama states that changes to his original design of the museum were “made behind my back.”

Those changes included the elimination of a tower designed to look and sound like a harp, a change in colour schemes in the public wash rooms and installation of floor tile where none was required.

“There was a very well developed process, part of which came from our constructor, PCL, and part of which we as the owner put in place, whereby all members of the project team were involved in all decisions,” Geurts told Daily Commercial News.

“This would have meant the inclusion of all roles, whether it was architects or engineers or the exhibition people, or whether it was the constructor, or in some cases, the City of Ottawa.

“These meetings were documented and in certain cases, yes, decisions had to be made which were dictated by budget or schedule. And to be honest, in certain cases, members of the particular process were not happy with the decision that was made.”

There were, according to Geurts, a number of reasons for the changes that were made, some financial, others aesthetic.

For instance, eliminating Moriyama’s original design of the mast would have pushed past the budget.

Raymond Moriyama

“We basically had to stand back and say “Whoa, we can’t go there, we’re not going there, we’re not overspending our budget, we can’t afford it, and there is no other place to go to get money’,” Guerts said. “In our mind it was a decision we arrived at where we had to respect the budget.”

The colour of the walls in the public washrooms, however, was changed because of a difference of opinion over what would appeal to visitors to the museum.

“We rejected the red because it was something that our visitors simply would not react to positively,” says Geurts, “and we went to the architects and asked them to bring us back another option. They brought us the hospital green.

“Through the process of managing these decisions consultation was always carried out and no decision was ever made that people did not know about, or what the reasons for the decision were.”

As for the installation of floor tiles in the foyer, Geurts said Moriyama is mistaken when he stated the cost of the tiles would have exceeded the cost of the Mast of Remembrance.

“He’s wrong,” says Geurts. “The additional cost (of the tiles) did not meet the cost of the mast, it was not even close. It was perhaps a proportion of 1:10, or 1:8. We consulted with staff, our constructors and with the staff that would have to run this building, and the consensus was we wanted it to be more welcoming.

“I can only reply to Raymond, and the two of us will always disagree on this, that the proof is in the reaction of our visitors.”

Despite their difference of opinions, Geurts is pleased with the museum and would gladly work with Moriyama and his firm at any time in the future.

“Mr. Moriyama would be welcome to be involved in any future developments, without question,” says Geurts.

“I have an excellent relationship with Raymond and an excellent relationship with his office in Toronto and the office here in Ottawa with Griffiths, Rankin, Cook.

“I think we all recognize that if he came back here, the same principals are in place: dialogue and discussion will not necessarily lead to a decision that everybody loves, but at the end of the day, everybody has their voice and everybody has the opportunity to say what they think.”

The museum is launching Moriyama’s book In Search of a Soul this week.

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