Friday, February 15, 2019

RENDER – Call for Papers

The Art History Graduate Student’s Society (AHGSS) is pleased to announce the seventh edition of RENDER, a graduate journal centred around the study of art and visual culture. This year’s edition is focused on fulfilling RENDER’s mission to showcase quality graduate work of Carleton students working in the fields of the history and... More

Friday, January 25, 2019

Home at Last from Venice: Ruminations of a Weary Traveller

After 12 weeks and 16 hours of travel, it is good to be back on Canadian soil. I would not have traded this incredible experience for anything and it is also great to be back in Canada. One thing that Venice lacks is open space and Canada has it in abundance. It was that... More

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Summer 2019 Courses

SUMMER 2019 May-June ARTH 1100 – Art and Society: Prehistory to the Renaissance July-August ARTH 1101 – Art and Society: Renaissance to the Present ARTH 1201 – History & Theory of Architecture 2 ARTH 3705/4705 – Selected Museum Exhibition (Gauguin’s Portraits) Further details may be found on the Registrar's Office Class... More

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Art History grad in New Zealand

Recent MA in Art History graduate Sarafina Pagnotta delivered the paper, War Stories: Trench Art From the Western Front, at the Christchurch, New Zealand conference "Reflections on the Commemorations of World War One" 22-23 November... More

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

The Last Word (of 2018)

Heritage Ottawa’s exhibition of student designs for an addition to the Château Laurier was a memorable event. People came, saw, asked questions, gave their views… this is what public consultation looks like. You can read some of the press coverage of the event in the Ottawa Citizen, Radio-Canada, and le Droit. Visitors were invited... More

Monday, December 10, 2018

Foulger Award – application available now!

The Foulger Travel Bursary Awarded annually, on the recommendation of the Director of the School for Studies in Art and Culture, to deserving undergraduate or graduate students in the Art History program.  The purpose of this fund is to assist with the costs of travel and accommodation for research or conference trips related to... More

Monday, December 3, 2018

Re-Framing the Question

I’ve believed for a long time that the proposed addition to the Château Laurier was based on faulty premises that need to be re-thought. So, just what are the ‘premises’ that inform what a building might look like? First, there’s what’s known as the building’s program. This defines what job the building is required... More

Friday, November 30, 2018

The Real Venice

If someone wants to see the real Venice, stripped of her tourist swarms, you need to get up early, before the cruise ships, planes and boats arrive, or later after dusk when the day trippers have left. It is then that Venice opens up, and seems freer. It is very easy to spot the... More

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

‘Dis/Order in Paris,’ Winter 2020

ARTH 3701 A & B, Winter 2020 If this interests you, email: michael.windover@carleton.ca by December 10, 2018 Two courses (one Art History, one HTA) that examine the importance of order and disorder in modern art, architecture and design, taught by Profs Jill Carrick and Michael Windover. Includes 5 days on site in Paris over... More

Friday, November 23, 2018

There’s More To Italy Than Venice

A few weekends past, three of us enjoyed a side trip north to the Italian (but truly more Austrian) town of Bolzano. Situated in the Dolomite Alps, this town is an entirely unique blend of Italy, Austria and Germany. Its Tyrolean heritage is evident in its architecture, art, language and cuisine. Ever the scholars,... More

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Time to Think Outside the Box

https://vimeo.com/301929976 Remember the first proposal for an addition to the romantic, picturesque Château Laurier? It was two boxes. Remember the second version? It was one long, low box. Remember the third? It was a long, low box with fins. Impressed by that variety of design ideas? Neither was anyone else. Throughout this excruciating and... More

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Acqua Alta: A Venetian Answer to Canada’s Snow Days!

In Canada, we know to keep an eye on the weather, especially in winter. Here in Venice, it’s the water they keep an eye on; specifically, the tides, rain and wind. When the combination comes together in a certain fashion, the (un)fortunate result is a phenomenon known as the “Acqua Alta”. Starting on Sunday,... More

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Our First Week in Venice

Reflecting on our first week here in Venice, I realize that it has been a study in ups and downs. While excited about the extended flight to Venice from Ottawa initially, my actual trip was fraught with delays. My 14 hour trip extended into 20 hours and I arrived quite spent. Definitely a downer!... More

Monday, July 30, 2018

Demolition by Neglect

You may have heard the phrase “demolition by neglect”. It’s what happens when a building’s maintenance is neglected so egregiously that it falls down on its own, or becomes a public menace that has to be removed. This is what it looks like: This is Magee House, in Ottawa’s Hintonburg neighbourhood. It is one... More

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Book Launch: The Politics of Painting: Fascism and Japanese Art during the Second World War

Please join us Thursday, July 19th from 4:00-6:00pm in 201D St. Patrick’s for the Ottawa launch of The Politics of Painting: Fascism and Japanese Art during the Second World War, written by Dr. Asato Ikeda, Assistant Professor of Art History at Fordham University. The Politics of Painting: Fascism and Japanese Art during the Second World War... More

Friday, June 29, 2018

Watson’s Folly

Anyone who wrote to the mayor recently expressing concerns about the proposed addition to the Château Laurier received exactly the same boilerplate reply, regardless of the specific nature of their concerns. It began with a stern reminder that the Château was private property, and went on to enumerate the many changes the design had... More

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

What’s in the Crystal Ball for Château Laurier?

The proposed extension of the Château Laurier lurched one more step towards a bad conclusion on June 26, when Planning Committee approved a motion by the Built Heritage Sub-Committee to accept the current design on the condition that it be made ‘more compatible’ with the historic Château. I know this sounds kind of vague,... More

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Planning Committee

Today (June 26) the City’s Planning Committee met to vote on the Built Heritage Sub-Committee’s motion on the Château Laurier. I had a scheduling conflict and was unable to attend, but below are the remarks I submitted. My thanks to Linda Hoad for reading them to the Committee on my behalf. The Standards and... More

Monday, June 25, 2018

Carleton students attend SSAC conference in St. John’s NL

Carleton students and faculty attended the recent Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada conference in St. John's, NL. They include MA students Jessie Gamarra, Nicola Krantz, and Meghan Ho as well as HTA undergraduate Ben Peterson. Missing from this photo are Sharon Odell, a recent MA grad who also presented her research,... More

Friday, June 22, 2018

Compatibility

Several objections were raised at last Monday’s meeting of the Built Heritage Sub-Committee to the proposed extension of the Château Laurier. The thread that ran through them all was the issue of compatibility. Or more precisely, the complete lack of compatibility of the extension with the historic building. The first three speakers were... More

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

A Step, but in What Direction?

I said in my last blog that Monday’s meeting of the Built Heritage Sub-Committee (BHSC) at City Hall had an unusual outcome. They met to discuss the recommendation by City staff that the current iteration of the proposed expansion of the Château Laurier (above) be accepted. Normally, the committee would vote to either accept... More

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Back at City Hall

I found myself back at City Hall on Monday. The Built Heritage Sub-Committee met to consider City staff’s recommendation that the latest design proposal for the extension of the Château Laurier be accepted. I was one of several speakers who signed up to argue against the recommendation (apart from the architect and his associates,... More

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Radical

I think that ideally if most people had their wish it would be, just extend the Château Laurier exactly as it is. It would be easy, but I don’t think it would be the right way to go. (Jan Harder, City Councillor and Chair of the Planning Committee, Ottawa Citizen, June 12) …unless Heritage... More

Monday, June 11, 2018

Synthesis

  “Its rather harsh reaction to the latest version of the redevelopment plan leaves one with the feeling that unless Heritage Ottawa gets the developer to construct an exact copy of the century-old hotel, it will never approve the expansion.” (Mohammed Adam, Ottawa Citizen, June 11) The sentiment expressed by Mohammed Adam in today’s... More

Monday, June 4, 2018

Subtraction

We have now seen yet another version of the proposed subtraction from the Château Laurier. I know I’m supposed to call it the “addition to” the Château, but I just can’t live with that lie any more. This is not an addition to the beloved and historic hotel. It’s a subtraction from it. Why?... More

Friday, June 1, 2018

Château Laurier Addition – the Latest Design!

It’s still in... More

Friday, June 1, 2018

Le Château

 I wrote this fragmentary parable a few weeks back for a CU in the City event called “Built Ottawa: Our Places, Our Stories.” As you will see, it is inspired (and illustrated) by the various proposed additions to the Château Laurier. An audio version of it can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxu_hp4WNlU&feature=youtu.be Once... More

Friday, June 1, 2018

The View from Abroad

One of the more surreal moments during February’s open house on the proposed Château Laurier expansion was hearing Michael McClelland mansplain that Sophisticated Europeans love this kind of design, and Ottawans really need to get with it. I actually know a few Sophisticated Europeans, and in fact one of them was in Ottawa recently... More

Monday, May 7, 2018

IPPY Bronze medal in Popular Culture for “Seeing, Selling, and Situating Radio in Canada, 1922-1956”

Seeing, Selling, and Situating Radio in Canada, 1922-1956 by Michael Windover (SSAC: Art History) and Anne MacLennan (York University) has been awarded an IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Award) Bronze Medal in the Popular Culture category. The book explores the visual and material culture of radio in Canada and was published by Dalhousie... More

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Summer Courses 2018

May-June ARTH 1100 Art and Society: Prehistory to the Renaissance ARTH 1200 History and Theory of Architecture 1: Prehistory to 1600 July-August ARTH 1101 Art and Society: The Renaissance to the Present ARTH 3705/4705 Selected Museum Exhibition: 19th-Century European Painting from the Ordrupgaard Collection For details on each course use the... More

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Call for Papers – RENDER Vol. 6

Carleton University’s Art History Graduate Students’ Society is pleased to announce the sixth issue of RENDER, a student-run publication dedicated to the dissemination of ideas rooted in visual culture. Submission deadline May 25, 2018 For more information, visit the RENDER... More

Thursday, March 1, 2018

What’s Wrong with this Process?

Wednesday night was the City of Ottawa’s Open House on the latest proposal for an addition to the Château Laurier. It was a strange event. I could write about the applicant’s failure to demonstrate that the design is deferential to the historic fabric (despite using the word multiple times), the misleading architectural renderings on... More

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

2018 Undergrad Research Symposium, in honour of Angela Carr

Today we had a wonderful group of students present their work at the 2018 Undergrad Research Symposium, in honour of Angela Carr’s retirement. A very special thank you to all the students who presented today, the students include: Benjamin Peterson, Laura Curtis, Noah Turcotte, Ka-Pui Gentles, Christina Leger, Casandra Brunet, Emmett MacKay,... More

Friday, February 9, 2018

What’s Wrong with this Picture(sque)?

Okay, I made it pretty clear in my last blog that I don’t like the new proposal for an addition to the Château Laurier. But my saying I don’t like it is pretty meaningless unless I can explain what I think is wrong with it. I’ll start with this: the addition is utterly incompatible... More

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Strike Three

I really thought it would be harder this time around. I thought that after a public consultation and several long months to think it over, Larco Investments’ third proposal for an addition to the Château Laurier would be a bit harder for the project’s detractors to find fault with. But even that low bar... More

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