Cedric Price, Joan Littlewood: The Fun Palace example in the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) archival holdings

Abstract

The critical importance of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) of Montreal is decisive towards the interpretation of XXth century key projects in architecture. One paradigmatic example is Cedric Price and Joan Littlewood’s Fun Palace. CCA holds a huge number of textual records and drawings for this project. Fun Palace is a radical architectural and cultural proposal in which the architects conceived a free‑range floorplan and an industrial structure to create a new model for civic centers. This, of course, apart from its previous references, will have its impact in future architecture: Pompidou Centre, built by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, will be one of the clearest examples of it.