If you ask any faculty members, staff, or even students at the University of Western Ontario (Western), 65% of them probably don’t know how to get to the John Labatt Visual Arts Centre and most likely 80% of them have never been in the building.  I wonder if it’s because the Visual Arts Centre is one of the furthest buildings from the heart of campus (figure 1) or maybe it’s because the look of the building is so different from the rest of the Collegiate Gothic architecture on campus, that it gives this impression that no one is allowed to go in without permission. As Christine Dirks from the London Free Press stated in “Visual Arts Building Designed to be Noticed” from November 8, 1998, that “Although the facade’s abstract form may seem more concerned with its own shape than its role on campus... the building is more thoughtful [of its surroundings than you think]”.

The John Labatt Visual Arts Centre (figure 2) on Perth Drive in London, Ontario at Western was designed by one of Canada’s greatest architects, Raymond Moriyama, in 1993.  Moriyama is the founder of Moriyama & Teshima Architects based in Toronto, Ontario. Some of Moriyama most recognized projects in Canada include: the Canadian War Museum, Toronto Reference Library, and the Ontario Science Centre.  There’s no doubt in my mind why Western ended up choosing Moriyama, he’s a famous architect designing major buildings in Canada (see figure 3 for an earlier proposal of the Visual Arts Building)!

Some of the strongest aspects of Moriyama’s style of design are that he really considers the surrounding environment where the building is planned to be built and is mindful of the sole purpose of the building.  Let me help put this into better perspective, Moriyama was well aware that this building is only for visual art students.  Based on that fact, his design decisions focused on important elements that artists can truly appreciate.  One of the top elements is bringing natural light indoors. 

One way of bringing natural light indoors is to carefully consider the placement of the building.  In this case, Moriyama designed the building to have the main corridor of the building lie along the east-west axis.  Why is that important? There are two reasons.  The first reason is to capture the best light for the drawing and painting studios.  This is accomplished with large windows along the north side of the building.  If you ask drawing and painting artists, they’ll tell you that north light will not create the harsh shadows that are difficult to work with.  The second reason is because the sun sets in the west.  Moriyama designed the building along the east-west axis to allow the sunlight to shine through the east entrance, the main corridor, and through the north entrance towards Thames River.  Essentially, Moriyama wanted to continue bringing natural light indoors, even when the sun is setting. For those that know the Visual Arts Centre like I do, you’re probably thinking, what north entrance?  Well, Moriyama initially intended to have a back entrance at the end of the hallway, where the ArtLab wall is currently located.  He wanted to take advantage of the view of the Thames River.

Another element where Moriyama considered the surrounding area in the design of the Visual Arts Centre was the shape of the façade. The Tyndall stone concave piece of the façade actually relates to the convex wall of the neighbouring building, Middlesex College (figure 4).  Again, Moriyama was mindful of the building being made for students, so he created this large blank façade acting like a blank canvas/projector screen.  Moriyama commented in the London Free Press that he hoped to eventually see art projected onto the wall to utilize the building inside and outside. 

The draw bridge located at the front entrance was designed to create an illusion that the building is like an artist’s castle (figure 5). Once you walk through the entrance and into the main corridor of the building, you enter a space that feels as though you’re actually outdoors.  Moriyama calls this the “friendly alleyway”, which brings the outdoors indoors (figure 6). This alleyway was intended to be the main gathering area for artists to display and view other artists’ work. 
      

Throughout the alleyway, you’ll notice a couple of overhead openings where large sunroofs admit natural light indoors, reflecting off of the windows (figure 7).  Moriyama adds to this sense of an inside, outdoor street scene by designing overhead rooms that have traditional casement windows, mirroring an image of an actual street view of office buildings.  One of my favourite parts of the windows are that they were not only designed for looks, but they actually open! 

In terms of the rest of the interior space, it has a very industrial/factory-like quality. The walls and ceilings are naked and the ventilation and plumbing are exposed in their natural state.  Many may say that this style of interior space would allow artists to better display their work however they want, without limitations in order to create their own environment.  For instance, the following images are of unknown artists’ work that utilized the exposed parts of the building (figures 8-10).

When walking into the Visual Arts Centre, one constantly lingering annoyance in the air is the sound of the ventilation system that operates 24/7. Outside, at the back of the building, there is a tower-like structure (figure 11). That tower is where the vents are placed to emit toxic gases from the studios located throughout the building.  If you carefully examine the tower, it is designed to resemble a skeletal structure of the University College tower (figure 12).  The original intention was to feature an art work at the top of the tower, but I guess there was a change of plans.  It never happened.

Overall, Moriyama did put a lot of thought into this building and factored in a lot of elements when he designed it.  He considered the placement, surrounding area and most importantly what artists need when he carefully arranged the interior spaces of the building.  The end goal was bringing as much natural light into the building. Moriyama brought the outdoors indoors.