1 Cape D’Or, Nova Scotia 2 Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia 3 Cheticamp concept 4 Cheticamp record
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As the week developed I began to learn more about the history of ship building in Nova Scotia and its importance both past and present through the high regard for its legacy within each community that we visited. The spirit and production of the Nova Scotia shipyard was inseparable from the town with which it was associated, but over time this industry has dwindled to the extent that only traces of these ship- yards remain. The legacy, however, has been instilled in the archi- tecture of the towns and villages throughout. It had a clear influence on the timber buildings of Nova Scotia both historically and present. They are constructed somewhat like boats, their timber cladding fixed to lightweight framing. A minimum volume of material, derived from economic, renewable resources, is consumed.
Sketching for a number of hours along the harbour led to many obser- vations of the pulse of the community [Peggy’s Cove, NS]. A harbour is seen as a haven for vessels, giving shelter from sea and storm, and in a community which relies on the sea for the bulk of its resources this is clearly a focal point. The harbour is a shared resource and is an overlapping point of fisherman and tourist. The plans and sections of the small inlets and anchoring points we sketched began to tell the narrative of the place and the different scales examined the local material and resources used. The traditional buildings associated with fishing and lobster harvesting are constructed with tight, crisp timber-clad skins over simple, internal exposed structure. This re- sults in strong geometric forms that over time weather like the coastal landscape to greys and silver greys. These buildings are a clear con- necting form between the land and the waterway, often opening on two sides forming a through-space to allow the landscape to continue unimpeded.
Dierdre Keely, University College Dublin, 2006
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