The railway tradition and Canadian architecture

Canadian architecture has wrongly been categorized as demure and is thus underrepresented internationally. According to Kenneth Frampton's concept of critical regionalism, Canadian architecture can be described as resistant to the universal nature of modemism. As such Canadian architecture is highly specific and regional. This regionalism can be partially attributed to the railway tradition and the chateau style of the grand railway hotels. This thesis proposes locating individual Units that encompass a holistic National Railway Interpretive Centre along the nation's railway line that interpret specific regional features including climate, light, topography and tectonics. The National Railway Interpretive Centre is an attempt to create a national architecture while remaining regional, thereby clearly exposing Canada as a sum of parts in a universal culture increasingly interested in spectacle over substance.