The construction of cultural facilities has been intertwined with the development of the world itself, and many communities have heritage theatres, concert halls, opera houses, and museums that stand today as testament to this history.
Cultural infrastructure may be defined as physical assets and spaces— whether full-time or part-time, single purpose or multipurpose, historic or contemporary—that support cultural products and activities, and that accommodate and satisfy the requirements of cultural activities and cultural industries.
Cultural infrastructure (bricks and mortar facilities or spaces) may be purpose-built, multipurpose, or adapted for reuse. This includes both highly visible and less visible components, including spaces for public interaction and for “behind-the-scenes” support. These spaces may be for creation and art-making,
artifact storage and preservation, or for the rehearsal, performance, and exhibition of art or heritage, such as performing arts centres, galleries, and museums.
Purpose-built spaces are designed and constructed from the outset to perform a specific function or number of functions. Theatres can be designed in a variety of formats to present plays, for instance on thrust or proscenium stages, with or without fly towers, etc. This space may also be used for other purposes, such as readings or music and dance performances, but it is not designed specifically to enhance those types of presentations.
Multipurpose spaces are designed and constructed for broad use by a number of different art forms and/or other uses. This generally compromises aspects that enhance certain use qualities (perhaps the acoustics, sightlines, or seating capacity), or requires a better design and a larger capital investment to provide wide-ranging amenities and flexibility in form without introduction of limitations. Many auditoriums, for instance, are developed to host all the performing arts as well as other activities.
Adaptive reuse spaces are those designed and built for one purpose, but readapted for a new or different arts and culture use. For example, abandoned schools are revitalized as art centres that can house offices, studios, galleries, and even perform – ing arts auditoriums.
Primary spaces are those facilities whose primary use is for arts and cultural performances and/ or artistic, cultural, or heritage exhibition. Examples include theatres, galleries, museums, and archives.
Secondary spaces are those facilities whose primary use is not for arts and cultural performances and/or artistic, cultural, or heritage exhibitions, but incorporate arts and heritage use into the facility. Examples include educational institutions, libraries, community centres, and religious institutions.
Live/work spaces are generally defined as facilities that are inhabited by artists during work and non-work hours. Live/work spaces (often apartments or studios) usually include basic equipment that enables artists to practice their art making in whatever form it may be, and also houses their living quarters.
Exhibition spaces are those facilities where access is permitted to an audience in order for them to experience the art or artifacts. These types of spaces would include the front-of-house and auditorium of a theatre or concert hall, the galleries of a museum, and arts and craft galleries.
Arts and culture work spaces are those facilities where art-making (creation) and storage, or heritage preservation, research, and inter – pretation take place. Often these spaces are specially equipped with tools, plumbing, ventilation, and temperature controls specific to the purpose of the space. Examples of these spaces include work studios (like pottery studios equipped with wheels and kilns); carpentry and props shops; rehearsal halls and dance studios; costume, set, and props storage in theatres; and stor – age vaults with temperature controls in museums and art galleries.
Office, meeting, and education/training spaces are also essential components of cultural infrastructure.
Why is cultural infrastructure important?
While there has always been public interest in cultural infrastructure, in recent years’ attention has been growing. Investments in cultural infrastructure, in both new facilities and upgrades to existing infrastructure, stem from, or are driven by, an array of overlapping factors.
- Growing pressures upon the existing stock of aging infrastructure due to deterioration, the need for technical upgrades, and changing codes and standards—many venues are at the end of their lifecycle.
- The growth and evolution of Canada’s arts, culture, and heritage sector.
- Community/public expectations of cultural opportunities and services as part of their quality of life, accompanied by a higher prevalence of municipal delivery of cultural services and support for cultural organizations and activities.
- Changing conditions and economics of real estate, causing instability in accommodation of cultural organizations, which now often means moving from tenancy to ownership.
- Increasing awareness of the positive economic, social, and cultural impacts of investments in cultural infrastructure. Interlinked socioeconomic contexts reinforce this attention to cultural infrastructure. Economic restructuring of communities and competitiveness in the creative economy.
- Transitions from resource based to post-industrial economies, and growing tourism industries
- Increasing emphasis on identity-building, community branding, and quality of life
- The rise of the creative economy, and the growing importance of entertainment and culture
- Demographic trends, e.g., the interest in culture by an aging population
- Migration, shifting settlement patterns, and the rise of edge cities
- The growing multicultural diversity of communities
