by new Old Main
As mentioned before, we were visiting Kamloops last month. Besides art exhibition visits, our daughter took us for a tour of part of the lovely campus of Thompson Rivers University, sited on a mountain top overlooking the city. Knowing our interest in innovative, sustainable and energy saving architectural design, she was eager to show us the recently completed renovation and expansion of the Old Main building. Yes, we do love the modern design, the undulating roof, the numerous windows bringing in the light and the views, especially north over the city and the mountains.
This building now houses the new Faculty of Law, the first new one in Canada in thirty years. I became even more intrigued by the story behind the inspiration for the architectural design:
The design firms looked to the splendor of Mt. Peter and Paul to create an expansive design that undulates and curves, and were inspired by Mount Paul, by A. Y. Jackson. The result is a spectacular undulating roofline that mirrors the Kamloops horizon.
You can see Mounts Peter and Paul in the bottom photo. It took much searching to find Jackson’s painting – it is in the collection of the Kamloops Art Gallery, to be found on this page (scroll down and down, it is the fourth from the bottom). For copyright reasons, I hesitate placing it here. A.Y. Jackson was a Canadian artist, part of our noted Group of Seven. He took many painting expeditions all over Canada, including BC and the North.
