Canadian Pavilion
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67
was designed by Toronto architects Rod Robbie
, Dick Williams and Colin Vaughan
. The pavilion featured an inverted pyramid
structure as well as a walk through attraction called the "People Tree." The pavilion had its highest single-day attendance on Canada Day
(July 1), 1967.
The pavilion's large inverted pyramid was called Katimavik
, which is the Inuit word for "Gathering Place". The pyramid was nine storeys tall and supported by four columns. The building at its base housed a rotating theatre, which used moving wedge-shaped chambers to bring audiences from one screening to the next, making a complete revolution every half-hour. Smaller linked pyramids at ground level housed the exhibits "The Land of Canada," "The Growth of Canada" and "The Challenge to Canadians and Canada and the World." The pavilion was located on a 30,285 sq metre lot near the southern end of Île Notre-Dame
. It cost $24 million to build. The inverted pyramid was a 1000-ton structure, with a hollow steel frame. Open to the sky, its four inner sloping walls featured giant sculptures of a sun dial
, hour glass
, compass and Kyogen
and Haida
masks.
. Sixty feet in height, the People Tree consisted of a thousand such "leaves," with half bearing silk screened images of Canadians at work and play. The tree was accessed via a spiral staircase.
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
was designed by Toronto architects Rod Robbie
Rod Robbie
Roderick George Robbie, OC is a Canadian architect. He is known for his design of the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67 and Toronto's Rogers Centre....
, Dick Williams and Colin Vaughan
Colin Vaughan
Colin Vaughan was a television journalist, architect, urban activist and alderman serving the Canadian city of Toronto. He was best known as the political specialist for the Toronto television station Citytv from 1977 until his death...
. The pavilion featured an inverted pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
structure as well as a walk through attraction called the "People Tree." The pavilion had its highest single-day attendance on Canada Day
Canada Day
Canada Day , formerly Dominion Day , is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act , which united three British colonies into a single country, called Canada, within the British Empire...
(July 1), 1967.
The pavilion's large inverted pyramid was called Katimavik
Katimavik
-Overview:Each Katimavik program consists of groups of 11 youths aged 17 to 21 who are drawn from all across Canada. They travel together to one or two different places in Canada for a period of six months. During the 2007-2008 program year there were 99 such groups spread across Canada...
, which is the Inuit word for "Gathering Place". The pyramid was nine storeys tall and supported by four columns. The building at its base housed a rotating theatre, which used moving wedge-shaped chambers to bring audiences from one screening to the next, making a complete revolution every half-hour. Smaller linked pyramids at ground level housed the exhibits "The Land of Canada," "The Growth of Canada" and "The Challenge to Canadians and Canada and the World." The pavilion was located on a 30,285 sq metre lot near the southern end of Île Notre-Dame
Île Notre-Dame
Île Notre-Dame is an artificial island built in 10 months from 15 million tons of rock excavated for the Montreal Metro in 1965. It was created for Expo 67 to celebrate Canada's centennial. The island is part of the city of Montreal and forms part of the Hochelaga Archipelago...
. It cost $24 million to build. The inverted pyramid was a 1000-ton structure, with a hollow steel frame. Open to the sky, its four inner sloping walls featured giant sculptures of a sun dial
Sun Dial
Sun Dial is a British space rock band formed in 1990 by Gary Ramon.-History:The precursor to Sun Dial was Ramon's the Modern Art, formed in the mid-'80s with a loose lineup that never played gigs but did see the release of two studio albums...
, hour glass
Hour Glass
Hour Glass is the first regularly scheduled variety show shown on American network television. It ran on NBC from 9 May 1946 until March 1947.Hour Glass was sponsored by Standard Brands...
, compass and Kyogen
Kyogen
is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside Noh, was performed along with Noh as an intermission of sorts between Noh acts, on the same Noh stage, and retains close links to Noh in the modern day; therefore, it is sometimes designated Noh-kyōgen...
and Haida
Haida
The Haida are an indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Haida territories lie in both Canada and the United States, as do those of the Tlingit and Tsimshian. The Haida territories comprise the archipelago of Haida Gwaii in British Columbia...
masks.
People Tree
The People Tree in front of the pavilion was composed of images of Canadians printed on orange and red nylon sheets, with the colour representing a maple tree in autumn leaf colorAutumn leaf color
Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normally green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, one or many colors that range from red to yellow...
. Sixty feet in height, the People Tree consisted of a thousand such "leaves," with half bearing silk screened images of Canadians at work and play. The tree was accessed via a spiral staircase.