Douglas Joseph Cardinal, OC , B.Arch , R.C.A. (born March 7, 1934, Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian architect. Born in Alberta of Métis and Blackfoot heritage, Cardinal is famous for flowing architecture marked with smooth lines, influenced by his Aboriginal heritage. In 1953 he attended the University of British Columbia; he later attended the University of Texas at Austin, from which he graduated with a degree in Architecture in 1963.
Professional life
Among the many projects Cardinal has completed in his career are the following:
- St. Albert Place & City Hall, St. Albert, Alberta;
- Leighton Artist Colony, at the Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta;
- Grande Prairie Regional College, Grande Prairie, Alberta;
- St. Mary's Church, Red Deer, Alberta;
- Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec, which faces Canada's Parliament Hill from directly across the Ottawa River.
- Markham (Civic Centre) Town Centre, Markham, Ontario
- Edmonton Space And Science Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, which has since been renovated and rebranded as the TELUS World of Science
- First Nations University of Canada, Regina, Saskatchewan
Cardinal was one of the first North American architects to use computers to assist in the design process. His curvilinear designs reflect the landscape around them, so that people making use of the building can retain a sense of the land that surrounds them. In 1993, he was hired by The Smithsonian Institution as the Primary Design Architect for the National Museum of the American Indian, or NMAI. The NMAI is situated on the last site of the National Mall in Washington D.C., which directly faces the Capitol Building of the United States of America. After contractual disputes, Cardinal was removed from the project in 1998 before it was completed, but he continued to provide input into the building's design.
