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I'm Al McWilliams, a Canadian artist from Vancouver, British Columbia. I worked with
the architects Joost Bakker and Bruce Haden to create the design of the monument that
you are looking at. As you walk around the site and take note that rather than a focal
object the Royal Canadian Navy Monument is a distinctly sculpted open space at the centre
of Richmond Landing.During our initial visit to the Richmond Landing site, the three of
us were unanimous in thinking that the site, as a land form, needed very little, but subtle,
manipulation. The shape of this peninsula, while much like the prow of a ship, also echoed
the shape of Canada, a tri-coastal nation surrounded on three sides by water. We wanted
to acknowledge this connection through land shaping to create a sense of place and capitalize
on the natural energy of the site.Our challenge was to find a way to create a monument of
national significance that would reflect the past, present and future of the Royal Canadian
Navy and thereby be timeless in design. During our creative process we developed a pretty
clear idea of the placement of the different elements and the site lines. The forms were
there in our imaginations, all be it a little unclear and blurry, but they needed an anchor.
Then while reading Watermark by the Russian poet, Joseph Brodsky, I had a ‘eureka’
moment. One of our issues was water, a pretty significant element for the navy, but how
to deal with it. Brodsky mentioned that when you’re on a ship it’s not so much your
eyes, ears, etc., that tell you you’re on the water, but your feet: "Water unsettles
the sense of horizontality." At the same moment that I was reading this, Joost sent me images
of the Oslo opera house, a white marble edifice dropping towards and into the water. This
concurrence allowed the forms and the materials we had been working with to coalesce. Our
design reflects the multiple facets of the Navy through the use of bold colours: naval
black, white, and gold. Noble materials such as marble, granite, and gold leaf were used
to create a form and space charged with meaning. Defining the space of reflection, the double
arc of oak trees symbolizes “the Heart of Oak,” the official march of the Royal Canadian
Navy. The gently inclined lawn has been conceived to stage the annual Battle of the Atlantic
ceremony with its focus on the honour guard, the bell, the flag, the chaplain and the laying
of wreaths. At the heart of the monument is the naval signature, a large curved, white
marble form, set into an inclined and shifting granite base. This is suggestive of a multitude
of naval associations ranging from sails of days gone by, to naval attire, to contemporary
stealth design and, at night, lit from below, the hull of a ship afloat. You can see on
the west side as you approach, the Navy motto “READY AYE READY” engraved in the marble.
The battle honours, that represent all battles that hold a special significance in our naval
history, are engraved on the east side of this form where the only level part of the
granite slab, or deck, allows one to stand more comfortably to take the time to read
and reflect. The inclined granite base unsettles the sense of horizontality as the body seeks
to align itself on a shifting surface – a sense of movement inherent in the naval experience.
Cut into this inclined plane are two bronze strips aligned with the north/south and east/west
cardinal axes, referencing navigation and acknowledging our tri-coastal reality. One
of the most identifiable of navy symbols, the fouled anchor, made of black granite and
set into the base slab, points symbolically to both the water and Parliament Hill. The
Navy mast is a recognized symbol on all ships and naval bases. It provides a second spatial
counterpoint within the monument space. Mounted on both the naval signature and the mast are
gold spheres. These orbs speak of the sun, moon, stars and the global reach of the Royal
Canadian Navy. They speak simultaneously to the critical dimension of communications and
navigation. The slight offset of the gilded sphere on the white marble signature contributes
to the unsettled sense of the horizontal. Underlying our vision of the monument space
are reflections on: Movement and flow – openness and nature
– navigation and communication –tradition and innovation, and reflection, and celebration.