24 Sussex Drive is Falling Down

Contrary to opinions offered by former tenants of the building, reality television stars, CBC listeners, and social media commentators, there is no single right answer to the question: What should become of the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive?

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the building is razed or retrofitted. Either way, there will be gains and losses, which is the nature of choice. The answer lies in the the more difficult question: What do we want 24 Sussex Drive to be?

In his iconic 1896 essay The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered, architect Louis Sullivan famously declared “…form… follows function.”

It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law.

Sullivan’s thoughts reached beyond the pragmatic (Stone or brick? Modern or classic? Retrofit or raze?) to the feeling and the symbolic: how a building behaves for its occupants and its role in the broader public life.

24 Sussex Drive has at least two overlapping functions: family home and national symbol. In its current form, it is failing both functions physically, intellectually and spiritually.

In Abraham Maslow’s ubiquitous pyramid, shelter occupies the foundational level of human need alongside breathing, food, water, clothing and sleep. Right-sized, safe, and adequately-maintained affordable housing contributes, among other things, to social stability, mental and physical health, readiness to learn in children, and employability in adults.

Former residents of 24 Sussex, including Maureen McTeer and Margaret Trudeau, confirm the the findings of the 2008 Auditor General’s report on the state of 24 Sussex Drive: The building has been in need of substantial repair for several decades and requires major work, including the replacement of antiquated knob and tube wiring and asbestos remediation.  McTeer suggests “It’s coming down on its own, one could argue, just wait long enough.” Based on its neglect and disrepair, it nudges into the territory of, in affordable housing parlance, Core Housing need.

[pullquote]Most Canadians recognize that having a home is essential to everything we value in life. Without a home, it is extremely difficult to meet basic physical needs or maintain family, friends, community involvement and work. ~ Homeless Action Plan, City of Vancouver, June 2005[/pullquote]

And while the prime minister-designate and his family may have options where others don’t, they share the same basic housing needs as all Canadians: a separation of private and public life, security, peace and quiet, privacy, fellowship, comfort and an ability to put their stamp on a few square metres of the universe, a place to call home.

Symbolically, the property represents not only the Prime Minister but the culture and spirit of the country. The intersection of the buoyant mood of the Canadian electorate and the building’s failing physical conditions position 24 Sussex for a significant change.

The form itself will “evolve from the holistic forces of the project—audience needs, client desires, ethical obligations, aesthetic inclinations, material properties, cultural presuppositions, and yes, functional requirements.” ((http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1353612)) Regardless of the final form, it must be about more than just four walls and a roof.

[pullquote]In common with many aspects of modern civilisation, architecture has lost its enriching sense of purpose, leading to toxic anomie… Our relationships with it are so intimate, so fundamental and all-pervasive as the settings of our lives, that we do not fully register how much they sustain and shape us. ~  Peter Buchanan, The Architectural Review[/pullquote]

Make it beautiful and highly functional. Make it visionary, a showcase of our finest architects, artists, craftspeople, and thinkers. It should be a treasure box, a jewel in the crown, and an extension of the kind of energetic forward-thinking that still trickles down from Expo ’67. It must be something special.

Let’s not cobble together and ‘make do’ as can be our nature (cross the street and tour Rideau Hall to see what I mean), get mired in populist debate, or sell our souls to branded people and corporations. I vote for the sacred over the profane.

While we’re at it, why don’t we bridge the gap between the symbolic and the tangible? Why don’t we leverage this symbolism of 24 Sussex as home, this phoenix from the flames, to develop and implement Resolution #162, the Affordable National Housing Strategy which states:

WHEREAS Canada does not have a long-term national plan for housing;

WHEREAS the LPC at its 2012 convention adopted a priority resolution calling for development of a comprehensive national housing strategy;

WHEREAS access to affordable quality housing is a first step in reducing poverty, hunger and homelessness, especially among vulnerable populations including low income seniors, new immigrants, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities and illness;

WHEREAS affordable housing for young families is an important step to commence a middle income life style with improved health and wellness and which allows children to more fully benefit from the education system;

WHEREAS affordable housing has many different interpretations, any meaningful definition must reflect local community needs ranging from accessible social housing through rental apartments and houses to low-income and middle-income family homes;

BE IT RESOLVED that a national housing commission be struck to work in conjunction with all levels of government and social housing and private sector housing providers to create a national housing action plan that would produce affordable, safe housing for Canadians at all income levels;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the objectives of the national housing action plan be the elimination of waiting lists for affordable housing; the reduction of the cost of housing for middle and lower income earners; and the stabilization of the economy with job-creating investment in housing infrastructure;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this plan will provide sustainable and predictable tax measures to support the development of market rental housing and that governments ensure existing affordable housing and homelessness investments are permanent.

I want the renewal of 24 Sussex Drive to be the beginning of a strategic plan to meet the housing needs of every Canadian. I want that plan to be smart, thoughtful and integrated with the knowledge and services that already exist. I want it to be long-term and reap the economic and social benefits of improving our existing housing stock. I want it to strengthen the workforce through education, community-based coops, knowledge transfer, training and skills development and model a shift to renewable energy. I want it to engage the imaginations of Canadians, return our pride of place, and polish our international image.

We can run things into the ground because of a focus on fear and optics, or we can actively reframe the optics with a vision of hope and inspiration, making the kind of history of which we can be proud.

24 Sussex Drive may be falling down, but we can use it to raise ourselves up.