The Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is pleased to announce that the 2020-21 Frank Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design is Douglas Cardinal, OC, FRAIC, a renowned Canadian architect known both for his inspiring designs and for his advocacy for the rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples. Cardinal will give a series of four public lectures, in collaboration with the Daniels Faculty, throughout his appointment as Gehry Chair. Read More.

This event is the fourth of these public lectures and will be an intensive discussion about Douglas Cardinal's design of the Canadian Museum of History. An important part of Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s vision to create symbols of nationhood, the museum was created to enshrine all of the cultures of Canada. The museum is rich in symbolism, and unique in its eloquent use of curves. It is the most visited building in Canada, with more than one million visitors each year. It is consistently chosen as a stage to host world leaders visiting the Nation’s Capital on official business.

“I remember talking to my elders about the site. They said ‘You have to understand that for you, the building is already there. It just happens to be in the future. You just have to un-conceal it when you walk on the site’.” - Douglas Cardinal 

About the Frank Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design

Named in honour of Frank O. Gehry, this endowed chair brings a highly recognized international architect to the Daniels Faculty to deliver a public lecture and enrich the student learning experience each year. Heather Reisman, founder of Indigo Books and Music, and 45 other donors contributed $1 million, matched by U of T, to establish the chair in November 2000. It's named for the Toronto-born designer of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; the Experience Music Project in Seattle; and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.