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

Monday, January 8, 2018

CFP – Undergraduate Research Symposium

Call for papers for the Art History and HTA undergraduate research symposium. Students can submit full papers they wrote for 3000-level or 4000-level courses; however, those chosen will be asked to edit their papers for a 7-minute (or so) presentation. The date the symposium is February 9 and it will be held in the... More

Monday, October 30, 2017

Book Launch for Peter Coffman’s New Book

In 2004, Professor Peter Coffman walked the medieval pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela, known as the Camino de Santiago with the late violinist Oliver Schroer. Since then Peter has lectured on the experience and has exhibited his photographs of the journey. Now, some of the stories, images and sounds of his walk have made it... More

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Art and Architecture Walk

Plan to join the Carleton Art History Undergraduate Society (CAHUS) for an architecture walk of downtown Ottawa! We’ll discuss the histories of prominent Ottawa buildings and also explore theories of walking and the city. The tour will be in dialogue with Andrew Waldron, the author of Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the... More

Friday, September 22, 2017

Just the Facts, Please

In the question period after my recent presentation to the City Planning Committee, I had a spirited exchange with Councillor Rick Chiarelli, who represents College Ward. I had referred to fears that inclusion on the Register would decrease property values as “hypothetical” (you can read my presentation here). How, he challenged me, could I... More

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Social Media Coordinator

Art History is looking for an upper-level undergraduate student to work as a social media coordinator for the Art History & History and Theory of Architecture programs. Duties include: working with faculty and staff to develop a social media strategy to promote activities in both programs; add relevant events to Facebook page; maintain... More

Monday, September 18, 2017

Heritage, Like it or Not

In my last blog, I said that the motion passed by the City’s Planning Committee last week was not bad, but had some problematic implications. To recap: the committee accepted the list submitted by their staff for inclusion on the Heritage Register, but excluded properties whose owners objected, pending further consultation between those owners... More

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Planning Committee and the Register

I addressed the City’s Planning Committee today (Tuesday), as it met to vote on additions to the Heritage Register recommended last month by City staff. I blogged about their last meeting a couple of weeks ago, and given the apparently feeble level of support for the Register on Council, decided to speak directly to... More

Friday, August 25, 2017

Who’s Afraid of Heritage?

Early last year, the City of Ottawa began what’s known as the Heritage Inventory Project. The idea was to enable better management of Ottawa’s heritage resources by compiling a list of every building in the city (or as close to it as possible) that could be deemed to have heritage value. Those that do... More

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Exploring the Capital

A few years ago, my friend and colleague Andrew Waldron called me up with some news. He was going to write a revised and updated version of Harold Kalman’s 1983 guidebook to Ottawa architecture, Exploring Ottawa. Would I be interested in doing the photography? Great idea! I’d lived in Ottawa for a couple of... More

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Right Idea, Wrong Place

First the good news: the federal government is serious about establishing an indigenous cultural centre in the nation’s capital. This is badly needed and long overdue. As well as (one hopes) inching us a bit further down the road to reconciliation, it will immeasurably enrich the national narratives that the capital weaves. Now the... More

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