Constantine and the Nelson Creed

Maison L'Assomption - or The Albany, as it was briefly known as - was completed in 1966. Image: Google Maps.
Maison L’Assomption – or The Albany, as it was briefly known – was completed in 1966. Image: Google Maps.

As I recently wrote in a recent story about Le Versailles apartments on Henderson (1964), I find the midcentury apartments in Sandy Hill to be “just slightly a cut above” those in the remainder of the city. Although it may lack the flourish of Le Versailles, Constantine Zourdoumis’ Albany Apartments at 305 Nelson is a tidy example of the style.

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“The building is a blob. It makes Regina airport look exciting.” (Ottawa’s Waller Police Station, 1954)

Peter Dickinson's 60 Waller in 1984. Empty, but a full decade before demolition. Image: Hellmut Schade / Carleton University Audio-Visual Resource Centre.
Peter Dickinson’s 60 Waller in 1984. Empty, but a full decade before demolition. Image: Hellmut Schade / Carleton University Audio-Visual Resource Centre.

Midcentury Modern. Modernism. International Style. Whatever one’s choice term to describe the style of architecture, the road to recognition of buildings in the style as being worthy of preservation on a heritage basis has been a long one and the journey is far from over. Today, most would still take one look at the building above and fail to shed a tear over its 1994 demolition. Even among those who were present to advocate for its preservation, the arguments usually had more to do with who designed it than they did with what it was.

Continue reading “The building is a blob. It makes Regina airport look exciting.” (Ottawa’s Waller Police Station, 1954)