It looks like an iceberg, the Royal Canadian Navy’s new monument at Richmond Landing, a peninsula like piece of land in the Ottawa River, between Victoria Island and the Library and Archives of Canada. It is to be unveiled this spring. It appears ready now, the grass is in, the flag pole (not in the picture) and the trees are planted.
The design is from Team McWilliams/Bakker/Haden (Al McWilliams, Joost Bakker and Bruce Haden) from British Columbia. I wonder how long it will remain graffiti free. Not sure what to think of it yet. It doesn’t really wow me.
From the Navy’s website:
The winning design reflects many facets of the Canadian Navy in its use of the naval black, white and gold colours to create a distinctively sculpted open space charged with meaning. At the heart of the monument site is a white form suggestive of a multitude of naval associations, ranging from sails to classic ship design lines to icebergs to naval attire. The design also makes use of gold spheres, which speak of the sun, moon, stars and the globe reach of the Royal Canadian Navy.
“Our team always felt that the core focus of our design must be to serve the interest of our Navy and to ensure that their contribution to our country is visibly honoured and respected,” said Bruce Haden of Team McWilliams/Bakker/Haden. “We understand that a successful design must speak to all citizens of Canada, but must especially reflect back the importance of their role to those who have served and will serve in the Canadian Navy.”
For a recent more update, see the blog post: Along a bike route: the Royal Canadian Navy Monument in Ottawa
I was present for the groundbreaking ceremony with my father, a navy vet. There were a number of other navy vets there too. It is safe to volunteer that their expressed views of the highly abstract momument were … restrained. Mutterings, made in the safety of small groups, was less kind. It is the sort of thingy that will require a lengthy multilingual brochure or explanatory text to point out the symbolism. It sure didn’t resonate with the vets I was with. Bureaucratic art at is best.