The HTA Blog

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Something Old, Something New

Making an addition to a historic building is a fraught affair. As I discussed in my last blog, in Ontario we have a patchwork of rather loose guidelines that are mostly in agreement about the key points. But they are very lax by... More

Monday, September 26, 2016

What the Rules Say

“We’re not permitted to mimic the heritage.” Art Phillips, director of development for Larco Investments Ltd. “The architects say that there is a by-law that prevents them from building an expansion that mimics the original... More

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Imitation

“Buildings must evolve to meet the needs of modern times, with modern designs.” Joanne Chianello “We need to create buildings of our time.” Peter Clewes Anyone who works in the fields of architecture or heritage has heard... More

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

From Dialogue to Dogma

If architects had written a Declaration of Independence in the 20th century, it might have begun with the words: “We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all imitation of historical styles is repugnant and odious in the eyes of... More

Monday, September 19, 2016

Modern Ottawa: a Contradiction?

The controversy over the proposed addition to the Château Laurier continues to sizzle. It’s great to have architecture at the centre of so much public discussion, but a few of the points being made really require more than the... More

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Chateau in Distress

When I worked in retail many years ago, the store owner used to encourage me to be aggressive when negotiating with suppliers. “Ask for the moon”, he would tell me, “and settle for half of it.” This is a strategy that has been... More

Monday, April 11, 2016

Graduating with Pride – and a Good Résumé

Convocation is coming! I’ve been at Carleton long enough now that I have known all of our graduating students in History and Theory of Architecture since their first year; it’s an incredibly proud moment for me when I... More

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Want to be an Architect?

On other occasions, I’ve written about the benefits of having a BA in History & Theory of Architecture regardless of the profession one intends to pursue. But it’s also a fact that HTA is an excellent first degree for people... More

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Original HTA Sweaters!

I was truly chuffed the other day when a group of students from our History & Theory of Architecture program came to me with the idea of producing an original HTA sweater. I think it’s a fabulous idea, so I wanted to share what... More

Friday, February 12, 2016

English Gothic Live: A Study Abroad Opportunity

My last blog, “Buildings that Amaze”, was about the huge impact that my first trip abroad had on my life. This blog is about my latest – and most ambitious – attempt to provide just that kind of experience for my... More

Monday, February 1, 2016

Buildings that Amaze 1: Canterbury Cathedral

January was an insanely busy month for me, and whenever things get crazy I console myself with thoughts of the buildings that have had a big impact on me – the ones that made me want to be an architectural historian in the... More

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Renewal

It’s a new year, which for many is a time of hope and renewal. So it’s only appropriate that the first talk in the Friends of Art History lecture series is Dr. Daniel Millette’s “Architectures of Renewal: the Indigenous... More

Friday, November 20, 2015

Pluralism

I once had the privilege of interviewing Alex Colville about his time as an official war artist. It was, poignantly, just a few weeks after September 11, 2001. Describing his impressions of the newly liberated concentration camp at... More

Friday, November 13, 2015

You Can’t Fight City Hall

I’m a complete novice when it comes to any kind of formal political involvement. I place my ’X’ with conviction at every opportunity, but otherwise have no experience of how governance actually works. So, my first foray into... More

Friday, October 9, 2015

On Our Radar

At the beginning of my first-year survey in architectural history, I claim that architecture, at its very origins, is fundamentally about making space into something meaningful. That transformation has been achieved, with overwhelming... More

Monday, September 28, 2015

The Unofficial Story

Our second informal HTA field trip will take place this Friday, October 2, when we’ll visit the Ottawa Art Gallery Annex at Ottawa City Hall to see the exhibition Official Ottawa: an Unofficial Portrait, by Tony Fouhse. This... More

Monday, September 14, 2015

Remind Me Why We’re Here Again… Part 2

A couple of blogs ago, I suggested that an education in the History and Theory of Architecture – or indeed any discipline in the Humanities – is incredibly useful whether one goes on to a career within their chosen... More

Friday, September 4, 2015

The Photography of Frederick H. Evans: A Visit to the National Gallery

Students in HTA will know that every year we make a number of trips to explore things of architectural interest together. The first of those trips this year will be to the... More

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Happy New (academic) Year!

Now, remind me why we’re here again… Part 1 It’s a new academic year, and as sure as Mike’s Place serves beer, someone in the press will be moaning about the allegedly lamentable state of universities, and of the ‘useless’... More

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Green Man 2

It’s spring! It’s finally spring! I know it’s spring because a) there’s a big pile of marking on my desk to be done, b) it’s no longer pitch black outside when I get up, and c) our resident groundhog has made his first... More

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Wisdom

In an earlier blog, I mentioned that the Byzantine section of my medieval course gives me a chance to talk about some truly amazing architecture. Perhaps the most amazing of all is the church dedicated to “Holy Wisdom” – the... More

Friday, February 20, 2015

Looking Closely

On March 3, my friend and colleague Malcolm Thurlby will be visiting Carleton to give an HTA guest lecture on Durham Cathedral. I’m really looking forward to this, partly because Malcolm’s a great lecturer and Durham’s a great... More

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Moderne

Last weekend, I was among the very lucky people who attended Michael Windover’s symposium, Art Deco in Context: Cosmopolitanism, Class, and Culture between the Wars. It was a truly wonderful event, with a blend of excellent papers... More

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Venezia

As any student who has ever come within fifty feet of me knows, I am an enthusiastic supporter of the opportunities we provide our students to study abroad. The crown jewel of these opportunities is our fall term at the University of... More

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Brutal

Ottawa architecture has been in the news lately. Most of it, of course, has been in the form of complaints. The Central Library, we are told, is an irredeemable horror; the NAC can only be saved by a $110 million ‘facelift’;... More

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Iconoclasm

I teach a survey of medieval architecture and art, and this week I reached the period known as Byzantine. It’s a subject that I love teaching, because it gives me an excuse to talk about some of the most remarkable architecture ever... More

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Green Man 1

During my recent perambulation of Parliament’s East Block, I was chuffed to come across an old friend on the north wall. He goes by the name of the Green Man – a modern moniker for a figure that is at least two thousand years old.... More

Friday, November 28, 2014

Ruskinian Ottawa

I spent a very pleasant part of my morning on Thursday helping out some senior students in the School of Journalism and Communication with a short documentary video they are producing on the renovations underway at Parliament Hill.... More

Friday, November 14, 2014

Stories We Tell

Buildings tell stories, and architectural historians tell stories about buildings. That sounds like a pretty simple and symbiotic relationship, but in reality it is anything but. I was reminded of this while walking along Sparks... More

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

On The Road Again

Last Saturday, HTA students enjoyed a day-long bus trip that took us all the way to Kingston and back. Our leader was the inimitable Pierre du Prey, Professor Emeritus of Queen’s University, Adjunct Research Professor in HTA at... More

Friday, September 12, 2014

Gothic Dreams

Students who have taken certain of my courses will know that I have rather more than a passing interest in the 19th-century architect, designer, critic and theorist AWN Pugin. That’s why September 26th and 27th are very big days in... More

Friday, September 12, 2014

Failure in Architecture

The next speaker in the occasional HTA Guest Speaker Series will be Professor Timothy Brittain-Catlin of the Kent School of Architecture, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK. Tim is a distinguished scholar, innovative thinker,... More

Friday, September 12, 2014

There Will Be Popcorn

We’re inviting everyone who likes architecture to join us for the HTA noon-hour film series, which will take place on one Friday of each month during the academic year. They’ll be very casual events – we’ll gather at noon,... More

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Register for REGISTERED!

As I mentioned in my first entry, one of the functions of this blog is to keep students informed of upcoming events and activities related to the program. They’re coming thick and fast this fall, so this is the first of several... More

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to the first installment of the HTA Supervisor’s blog! Full disclosure: I’ve never blogged before, and it’s all something of an experiment for me. But believe it or not, I’m not doing it just because I like... More

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