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Originally Posted by Textcritic
But irrespective of the Stampede's origins, after more than 100 years of smashing success in Calgary it absolutely has become an integral part of the cultural fabric of the city, and by extension the Western culture that it celebrates. It seems silly to me that anyone would attempt to hand-wave away something that is undeniably an essential element of the identity of the city of Calgary.
It's not "fake." It may have been in many respects manufactured, but this only as an honorific exaggeration of something that was always imprinted upon the region—in this case, the agricultural and ranching roots behind Calgary's settlement and growth. It is to the point now where the origins don't even matter anymore—certainly, they matter much less than what the Calgary Stampede has become, and how important it continues to be to the identity of Calgary.
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Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and even Edmonton have the same agricultural and ranching heritage yet don’t slap a cowboy hat and a horse on everything.
I agree that it is a mythology that which Calgary Identity is based
As for the Saddledome the Saddle as part of the western theme did not occur to the origina architect
https://web.archive.org/web/20090122...a-39821fa3f0f9
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Graham and his team never set out to build a stadium with a western theme.
Graham McCourt Architects, now GEC Architecture, was experimenting with a number of designs that would fit the multi-use building's technical and budgetary requirements when the saddle shape "just happened." "There are a lot of factors that go into a building -- acoustics, air volume, mechanical systems, camera positions, structural design," Graham explains. "We were exploring all the options. We did not want to do just another arena barn. The sense of the team was to do something special. It had to be unique in form, character and function, but there was no comment about making a western statement
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It’s interesting that the saddle shape became part of the western mythology of the city.
Anyway I like the horse head logo on hats and shoulders and will stop detailing the thread.