The HTA Blog

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

‘Possession’, ‘Ownership’, and Tr’ochëk National Historic Site

By Peter Coffman You know the old saying, ‘possession is nine tenths of the law’. Obviously, that’s never been literally true. And even if it had been, it starts to fall... More

Monday, July 15, 2024

Dredging for Dollars

By Peter Coffman Imagine a stream cascading down a mountain, winding through a lush forest of evergreen and deciduous trees, full of moose, elk, caribou, porcupines, squirrels, and the odd bear feeding on abundant salmon. This is what... More

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Bridging the Gulf of Incomprehension

By Peter Coffman During his one and only Klondike winter, writer Jack London (of Call of the Wild fame) contracted scurvy. He could have avoided it, had he consulted those who had lived in that place for millennia – the Tr’ondek... More

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Dawson City’s Enclave of Power

By Peter Coffman If I say “Dawson City”, you may think “Gold Rush! Canada’s wild west! The land of Sam McGee and Dan McGrew!” That’s the beloved mythology of Dawson City, but in fact the wild west, gold rush period of the... More

Monday, June 10, 2024

St. Anne’s Church: a Eulogy

By Peter Coffman I don’t enjoy writing eulogies, and I don’t think I’ve ever written one for a building (although I did once write what I called a ‘requiem’ for one). But for St. Anne’s Church in Toronto, which was... More

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Elgin’s Red Brick Schoolhouse

By Peter Coffman We live in a time when education seems under siege, politically and financially. But there have been times in the past when education was seen as one of the most important – even one of the noblest – indicators of... More

Thursday, March 14, 2024

24 Sussex: A Parting Thought

(This blog resumes a discussion of 24 Sussex Drive begun here and continued here.) What if, in spite of all the compelling counter-arguments, the demolitionists won the day? What would happen if we tore down 24 Sussex and replaced it... More

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

24 Sussex Drive: Why It Matters Part 2

Last week, I examined the strange (and untenable) claim that 24 Sussex Drive was not a historically important building. Another argument put forward in favour of its demolition runs roughly as follows: 24 Sussex is a relic from the... More

Thursday, February 22, 2024

24 Sussex Drive: Why It Matters Part 1

24 Sussex Drive, the currently unused (and semi-derelict) official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, has been in the news again lately. On February 21st, Heritage Ottawa hosted a panel discussion on the building’s future at... More

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church

In Ontario’s Simcoe County, at the intersection of Old Barrie Road and Line 3, is a modest log building that is also a symbol. It’s a symbol of freedom, or at least of the aspiration to be free. And it’s a symbol of a promise... More

Monday, February 12, 2024

Africville, Nova Scotia

If you visit Africville, Nova Scotia, the first thing you’ll notice is that it's not there anymore. Once the home of a tightly-knit community founded by black loyalists, Africville was appropriated by the municipality of Halifax and... More

Friday, October 6, 2023

Connected Architecture: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

By Peter Coffman (During my current sabbatical, I am gathering material from across the country for a new course we're planning on Canadian architecture. I’ll occasionally use this blog to think out loud about some of the... More

Monday, October 2, 2023

The HTA Podcast: Music and Public Places

By Maximilien Sonier This is a milestone for the HTA Podcast: the first episode produced by one of our students. Maximilien Sonier is a recent (spring 2023) graduate of the History & Theory of Architecture program –... More

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

In Search of Canadian Architecture

By Peter Coffman I’m on sabbatical for the 2023/24 academic year, and I’m hitting the road in search of Canadian architecture. And I need your help! I need suggestions about where to go, and what to see. The end game is the... More

Friday, March 31, 2023

HTA Podcast: The Presence of the Past in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

A conversation with Hilary Grant, Heritage Officer and Senior Planner for the town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. This podcast served as the final virtual ‘lecture’ in my 2nd-year... More

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Research in Action: Reflections on Methods in Architectural History

We are continuing our series of student blogs with a number of reflections on the “Small Modernisms” symposium, a public event held at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on... More

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Reflections from the Tour Guides, Part 2

We are continuing our series of student blogs with a number of reflections on the “Small Modernisms” symposium, a public event held at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on May 12-13, 2022. The event was organized by... More

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Reflections from the Tour Guides, Part 1

We are continuing our series of student blogs with a number of reflections on the “Small Modernisms” symposium, a public event held at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on May 12-13, 2022. The event was organized by... More

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Student Blog: Modern Community Building

  We are continuing our series of student blogs with a number of reflections on the “Small Modernisms” symposium, a public event held at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on May 12-13, 2022. The event was organized by... More

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Student Blog: Making Visible Minority Experiences

We are continuing our series of student blogs with a number of reflections on the “Small Modernisms” symposium, a public event held at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on May 12-13, 2022. The event was organized by... More

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Student Blog: Rethinking ‘Modern’ Architecture

We are continuing our series of student blogs with a number of reflections on the “Small Modernisms” symposium, a public event held at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on May... More

Monday, March 6, 2023

Student Blog: Ordinary Places, Extraordinary Stories

We are continuing our series of student blogs with a number of reflections on the “Small Modernisms” symposium, a public event held at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on May... More

Monday, February 27, 2023

Student Blog: A Summer Job in Heritage with the DND

As we head into the home stretch of the academic year, students are starting to consider what they’ll be doing for the summer. Some of our students in the History & Theory of... More

Saturday, November 5, 2022

HTA Podcast: Something Old, Something New

A conversation with architect Barry Padolsky about the lantern tower at the Canadian Museum of Nature. As some readers of this blog will know, bad modern additions to historic buildings really bug me. Good ones, though, get... More

Saturday, October 15, 2022

HTA Podcast: What’s so “Classic” about “Classical” Architecture?

A conversation with Professor Pierre du Prey. In the latest edition of the HTA Podcast, I chat with architectural historian Pierre du Prey about what “Classicism” in... More

Monday, May 2, 2022

Postcard from Venice

Dear Mom and Dad, This is such an amazing place: the streets are canals, the buses are boats, and everything – every building, every bridge, every view – is so beautiful. My apartment's just a short walk from the Doge's Palace and... More

Friday, April 2, 2021

HTA Podcast: Medieval Chats, Episode 5

Conversation with Dr. John Goodall: the Castle This is the fifth in my series of ‘medieval’ podcasts – that is, podcasts created as part of my 2nd-year undergraduate course on medieval architecture and art at Carleton... More

Sunday, March 28, 2021

Canadian Gothic: A Public Presentation for Heritage Ottawa

I was delighted to give a public talk for Heritage Ottawa last March on the topic of Canadian Gothic. In it, I tried to answer a question that I'm sure has been nagging at you for years:... More

Monday, March 22, 2021

HTA Podcast: Medieval Chats, Episode 4

The Life, Death and Cult of Thomas Becket: A Conversation with Dr. John Jenkins I vividly recall watching the movie Becket on late-night TV at the age of ten. The story of the medieval archbishop who is gruesomely murdered in his own... More

Thursday, March 4, 2021

HTA Podcast: Medieval Chats, Episode 3

Professor Malcolm Thurlby on the Herefordshire School of Romanesque Sculpture Once upon a time, a young lad named Malcolm was being benignly guided through the A-Level study of chemistry, physics and biology. Then one day, he happened... More

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

HTA Podcast: Medieval Chats, Episode 2

Dr. Hugh McCague on Geometry and Romanesque Design The spaces, volumes, complex curves and lines of medieval design were generated by manipulating simple shapes - circles and squares, mostly - in a process we call Constructive... More

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

HTA Podcast: Medieval Chats, Episode 1

A Conversation with Professor John Osborne I'm teaching a course on medieval architecture and art this term, and I've decided that part of the content will take the form of podcasts. These will be informal chats with experts in... More

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Getting a Leg Up: The Practicum

I often say to students: whatever you do after graduating, whether you're applying to a job or to grad school, everyone you’re competing against will also have a degree. People will want to see what else you’ve done – what other... More

Monday, October 26, 2020

HTA Podcast: When Buildings Say “Boo!”

Why do some places seem "spooky"? We have a look at what's "in the air" in scary spaces, and where it might have come from. Happy Hallowe'en! Read more about my guest Charis Cotter's books... More

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

My Friend Allie

Dr. Allison Sherman was an outstanding scholar of Renaissance art, an inspirational teacher, and the truest, most generous friend a person could ever hope to have. She died of breast cancer on April 26th, 2017, at the age of... More

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Next »

Share: Twitter, Facebook
Short URL: https://carleton.ca/aah/?p=3089