Much of architect Todd Saunders’s work over recent years has been focussed upon his two homelands, Canada and Norway, and other northern countries. In some respects, these distant territories on either side of the Atlantic are worlds apart yet, as one begins to look more closely, many similarities start to reveal themselves born of their latitudes and landscapes. Canada and Norway have similar climates, with extreme variations between summer and winter, while their topographies also have much in common with one another. These are territories where the mountains meet the water and the sea, with their islands, inlets and fjords playing an important part in the history, culture and traditions of both places. These multiple links may help to explain overlaps in the architecture of these northern regions and also the way in which both Canada and Norway have pulled upon Todd Saunders’ heartstrings.
For Saunders, these vernacular influences are embedded in his background and referenced lightly and implicitly rather than obviously or explicitly. Saunders’ architectural approach is, after all, decidedly 21st Century, drawing equally, if not more so, upon Modernist and contemporary architectural principles, themes and ideas. But what binds all of these points of reference together within, as Saunders puts it, ‘a dance between the past and the future’, is a particular focus on context and a marked sensitivity to landscape, along with the intrinsic beauty of the natural world.
