Kelly Crossman Architecture in Transition

Annotation

However, behind the public face of design, architectural life in Canada during the 1880s and 1890s was in turmoil. The Canadian public had lost confidence in its designers, students were forced to study abroad to secure a first-class education, professional rivalry was unscrupulous, architectural competitions a scandal. American architects and their architecture were the fashion. These things changed, but not before the world of the Canadian architect had been turned on its head, replaced by one which resembled the world of contemporary architects, with professional organisations, regulated standards, formalised education centred in the universities, and the belief that Canadian architecture should reflect local climates, culture, and geography.