We acknowledge the
support of the
Canada Council for
the Arts
which last year
invested $18.5
million in visual arts
throughout Canada.

Nous remercions de
son soutien le
Conseil des Arts du
Canada,
qui a investi 18,5
millions de dollars
l'an dernier dans les
rts visuels à travers
le Canada.

The Coptic
Canadian
Village project
confronted us with
two difficult
challenges; how to
combine distinctive
age-old Coptic and
contemporary
Canadian features
into the same whole,
and how to resolve
in a clear and
efficient way the
problems created
by the overlapping
of various functions
on the site.

From the very
beginning our main
purpose was to
express the
interweaving-
peculiar to the
Coptic
communities –
between Faith,
Culture and secular
activities.
A second aim has
been to create a
Coptic Canadian
Village with a
definite identity,
characterized by
both a strong
personality and a
generous openness
to the urban
environment.
Those issues
determined a
response which
brings together
elements of
architectural
language and
town planning.
Its expression is a
clear site
organization which
links all the
buildings through
a Cross-shaped
circulation system,
while emphasizing
the core role of the
Cathedral.
Besides its
theological
signification, the
Cross shape
presents the most
natural and
efficient way to
connect the
different buildings
in a whole.

The presentation
of the project in
Markham, ON in
October 2003
was made possible
by a Canada Council
Travel Grant.