Editor's note: This article is cross-posted from Spacing Ottawa contributor Chris Warden's new website dedicated to modernist architecture in Ottawa. As Chris explains, Capital Modern's inspiration is "a concern with the lack of value that is typically attributed to buildings and sites from this period in Ottawa’s growth as a city...[the] site is meant to fit into the growing attention this period is receiving and to provide a wide audience with the opportunity to consider and/or reconsider works from this period." One of the key legacies of the Centennial celebrations in Ottawa was the construction of numerous public institutions aimed at promoting and protecting the collective memory and identity of Canada and its peoples. Perched at the western edge of the Parliamentary Precinct, the Library and Archives Canada building is a modernist landmark serving the role of providing storage for important documentation, providing access to this documentation and being a site for public use.  In fact public use of the building is identified in the building's Heritage Character Statement:  "as an important public venue in Ottawa".  A heritage character statement, prepared by FHBRO (Federal Heritage Building Review Office) is a summary document that outlines key architectural, associative and cultural characteristics that define a building’s heritage value.  The provision of gracious public spaces, significant artwork specifically designed for the building, an auditorium and other gathering spaces within the building all support the public functions and intent inherent in the original design and integral to the character of the building.  Over the intervening years since its construction finished in 1967 the building and its public spaces have been incredibly well used by the citizens of the Capital Region.  With the apparent shift in Government policy and addition of further procedural requirements it will be much more difficult to access this important public space (one of the few at this end of Wellington Street) and its usefulness as an indoor gathering space place within downtown Ottawa.

With last week's post on the old Ottawa streetcar system fresh in out minds, this edition of Where In Ottawa tests your knowledge of Ottawa transit history: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Can you solve this week's streetcar puzzler on your own, or will you rely on the kindness of strangers?"][/caption] I am looking at the area that once contained one of the trickiest one-two combinations in the city's streetcar network. You had to run the gauntlet and avoid becoming a deadman. Where am I? As well as sending us your guess, you can also ...

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="599" caption="Popcorn and a Prime Minister: the old home of Place de Ville cinema"][/caption] The answer to last week's quiz is the Podium Building at Place de Ville. It seems it was a tough one; we had no right answers. Place de Ville was once home to the Place de Ville Cinemas operated by Famous Players. The theatre opened in 1971 and closed in 1996. It opened as one of the replacements for the Capitol Theatre, which once graced the corner of Bank and Queen, a short distance away. The old cinemas are  hidden behind office space which now encircles them. This allows the offices access to the natural light provided by the windows, while the cinemas are encased, an arrangement which reduces their perceived bulk.  The Place de Ville Cinema is unique in the city as the cinemas are piggy-backed. Cinema II accessed from the ground floor had 437 seats and Cinema I had 751 seats. The primary feature of the multi-story foyer was a mural of images of the old Capitol Theatre which rose up next to the multi-level escalator.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="599" caption="The Rideau river near the Herzberg Building, Carleton University"][/caption] Every five years or so, Carleton University revisits its master plan. The most recent draft edition was released in September 2009. Though the campus has long failed to take advantage of its spectacular setting, its administrators have always understood the power of the site, as most brochure shots of the institution are traditionally taken from the air. From this perspective you get a sense of the way Carleton relates to both the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal. On the ground the visual effect is much different. The site is  heavily insulated with ring roads and parkways which separate the campus from its natural setting. There have been sporadic attempts to connect portions of the campus to the surrounding waterways, but in the end, the powers-that-be have always judged that the ring road was of more importance than, for example, allowing the Loeb Building to reach out to the banks of the Rideau River.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="599" caption="Canadian Museum of Nature: Victorian, haunted, under renovation, and *not* the answer"][/caption] No one has correctly guessed the correct answer to last week's puzzler. To refresh memories, here it is again: While I currently sit unassumingly at the base of the city, stripped down, but encased, I once played host to spectacles and even the Prime Minister. What structure am I? So it's time to break out the cheat-sheet and make with the extra hints: I am not the Musuem of Nature (Victoria Memorial Building) I am located in the northern ...

First of all congratulations to Charles A-M aka Centretretowner for correctly identifying the former bank’s likeness in the central carved panel above the Wellington Street entrance. As you'll recall our first round was a two-part question: I am a building, and I just may be the only one in the downtown core to include a depiction of myself on my exterior. Who am I, and where on me do I feature this image of me? The first part of the question drew a blank from everyone, but once we named the building as a further clue, Charles found the depiction, located under the rays of “Thrift” up on the edge of a bluff ( see image below). It is a rather heroic likeness, but there is nothing wrong with a little artistic license now and then.

We've had no correct answers to our first Where in Ottawa contest. even after two times of asking, so it's time to move on! The building in question is the Former Bank of Montreal Building at the corner of O’Connor and Wellington (through to Sparks Street). This 1932 RAIC Gold Medal winning building was designed by Ernest Barott of Barott and Blackader out of Montreal in 1929. Barott is also known for designing the Aldred Building in Montreal on Place D’Armes which was designed during the same time as the Former Bank of Montreal.

Spacing's motto is "understanding the urban landscape". Buildings and streets are major components of that landscape; they are the big picture. Within their frame, often specific elements will come to the fore and become the common image associated with a structure or specific location; the Peace Tower standing for all of Parliament Hill, or the frozen canal under the arch of the Laurier Avenue bridge becoming the default image for the 200 kilometer length of the Rideau Waterway. But this process of forming a collective mental picture often crowds out other important details to ...