Architecture and Canada : the character of context

This Master of Architecture thesis postulates that national values representing Canada can be expressed through architecture. The thesis focuses on the Canada Pavilion, built in 1958, at the Venice Biennale. An early example of an effort to represent a national identity, it is a result, in part, of the Royal Commission on the National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences - informally acknowledged as The Massey Report - directed by Vincent Massey in 1951. Through the investigation of national pavilions and Canadian embassies after The Massey Report's publication and continuing with award winning contemporary architecture, this thesis identifies common themes across a range of projects. Using these common themes, which suggest an architectural consensus in a national identity, this thesis proposes a new architectural intervention to the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.