Architecture on Ice

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A History of the Hockey Arena

By Howard Shubert

Architecture, Cultural Studies, History: Art & Architecture, History: North America, Sports & Leisure Studies

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An architectural and cultural history of skating rinks and hockey arenas in North America.

Despite the legendary reputations of Madison Square Garden, Maple Leaf Gardens, and the Montreal Forum, skating rinks and hockey arenas may be North America’s most overlooked cultural buildings. Architecture on Ice reveals the central role they have played in influencing urban, social, and political life across the continent.

In the first book to chart the development of skating rinks and arenas from their origins as simple wooden sheds to today’s fully wired, multi-purpose entertainment complexes, Howard Shubert examines how these buildings have been adapted to seasonal change and to a multitude of uses besides skating - from political rallies to rock concerts - and how these adaptations, in turn, have transformed skating, curling, and hockey. Revealing the ways in which arenas are sites where sport, culture, and commerce intersect, Architecture on Ice describes four distinct phases in the development of these buildings: the early rinks and arenas of the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, the Golden Era of 1920-31, the building boom in postwar arenas from 1960-83, and the postmodern hockey complexes built between 1990 and 2010.

Lavishly illustrated with surprising, amusing, and previously unpublished images, Architecture on Ice explains how the construction of buildings engineered the way recreational activities are performed and experienced.

Details

Part of the McGill-Queen's/Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation Studies in Art History Series (number 19 in series)

328 Pages, 9 x 10

160 photos, colour throughout

ISBN 9780773548138

September 2016

Formats: Cloth

“Unique in topic and scope, Architecture on Ice offers a historically broad yet detailed architectural history of skating rinks and hockey arenas in North America and makes an important contribution to the study of these culturally and economically significant spaces.” Michael Windover, Carleton University

“Teeming with illustrations, this is a thorough and broadly thoughtful chronicle not simply of design and development, but also of the social and cultural spaces that ice-houses occupy in our hearts and on our streets.” Literary Review of Canada

“Beautifully illustrated with a carefully curated selection of paintings, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings, Shubert weaves a fascinating narrative in which architectural history, cultural landscape studies, the history of sport, and political, social, and cultural histories coalesce. Uniquely, Shubert shows the trajectory of a sport through architecture and in doing so turns the standard script for architectural history on its head. A compelling read for multiple audiences, whether scholars of the built environment, historians, or sports enthusiasts feeling nostalgic for the Golden Age of hockey.” Montreal Review of Books

"In Architecture on Ice: A History of the Hockey Arena author Howard Shubert, a former curator for the Canadian Centre for Architecture, thoroughly examines the cultural factors that contributed to the evolution of the rink. Richly illustrated with photos, historical depictions, blueprints and concept art, no stone was left unturned in the construction of this book." The Hockey News

“Exceptionally researched and peppered with intriguing photographs and illustrations, Archi¬tecture on Ice examines the development of buildings for skating and hockey. With an interdisciplinary approach to the subject, Architecture on Ice is particularly useful in understanding the forces that are driving the contemporary development of these projects.A fascinating read.” Canadian Architect

“Architecture on Ice is a well-illustrated history of the hockey arena and a thorough study of how sport and commerce can and do transform even those sports - like ice hockey - that many regard as national religions.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians

Howard Shubert is the former curator of prints and drawings at the Canadian Centre for Architecture. He lives in Toronto.

Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction: North America’s Most Important Overlooked
Cultural Buildings 3

Part One
In the Beginning: Indoor Rinks for Skating, Curling, and Hockey, 1852-1912

1 Outdoor Games - Indoor Games 19

2 Hockey as Entertainment: Spectatorship and the First Hockey Arenas,
1898-1912 61

Part Two
Hockey Arenas in the Golden Age of Sport, 1920-1931

3 Buildings for Mass Entertainment 85

4 Canada’s Secular Shrines:Myth,Memory, and Culture 95

5 Hockey Night in America: The First nhl Hockey Arenas in the
United States 119

Part Three
The Spanning of Space versus the Spectacle of Place: Urban and
Suburban Post-War Arenas, 1960-1983

6 Suburban Arenas and the Spanning of Space 145

7 Urban Revitalization and the Spectacle of Place 169

Part Four
From Place to Space: The Corporate-Entertainment Complex, 1990-2010

8 Mediated Experience and the “Fansumer” 195

9 The Corporate-Entertainment Complex and the City 219

Conclusion: The Disappearance of the Hockey Arena 236