Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Calgary, Alberta's booming metropolis.
© iStockphoto.com / Arpad Benedek
time, only houses in the fi shing ports
of Vancouver Island had had any open-
ings looking out onto the sea.
enormous West Edmonton Mall, where
the “teachings” of Disneyworld and
Las Vegas blend together in a whirl of
gaudy commercialism.
In Alberta, the prosperity of the 1970s
and 1980s led to massive development
in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary.
Skyscrapers sprang up like mushrooms,
changing both skylines considerably in
just a decade. In Calgary, a network of
skywalks known as the “+15” was put
in place, so that offi ce workers and
shoppers could make their way from
one building to another without facing
the winter cold. In addition, the sprawl-
ing suburbs of the two rival cities gob-
bled up several kilometres of the sur-
rounding countryside. Both places are
steeped in mainstream North American
culture, as evidenced so clearly by the
However, since 1985, individuals like
Douglas Cardinal, an Aboriginal archi-
tect from Alberta, have been trying to
develop a style more in harmony with
the particularities of the Alberta plains.
The undulating shapes of Douglas
Cardinal's buildings, which look as if
they have been sculpted by the violent
winds that sweep the Prairies, have
gained international recognition.
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4
The gorges and eternal snows of the Rockies.
© VIA Rail
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