Cascades of Time Garden Large Pergola - Banff, Alberta - Pergolas on Waymarking.com

This large pergola is at the highest point of the Cascades of Time Gardens in Banff, next to a large pool. Like many of the older structures in the national parks, it uses logs with natural burls (round outgrowths) for a decorative effect.

The Cascades of Time Garden is part of the grounds surrounding the Banff Park Administration Building. Both the building and the gardens were designed by Ontario-born architect Harold C. Beckett and completed in 1936.

The Cascades of Time Garden was conceived as a way to introduce the lay person to the basics of geology and geologic time. In an Calgary Daily Herald article published on 16 May 1936, Beckett said, “A rock in a glass cage in a museum is about as dry and uninteresting an object to a casual observer as could be found, but take that rock out and put it in a natural setting, as part of a skillfully designed landscape with perhaps an unobtrusive label nearby, and it becomes an object of appeal to even the untrained eye. Make the whole a thing of beauty, and people scarcely realize that it is a complete outdoor museum, and not merely a delightful garden plot."

Although Beckett's very ambitious geological and educational vision was never fully realized, his rock garden with its cascades and pools have been a Banff attraction ever since.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada: Harold C. Beckett (visit link)

Is the pergola freestanding or attached to a structure?: Freestanding Free to visit?: Free to the public Web address or URL: [Web Link] Secondary web address or URL: Not listed

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