Peter Coffman
@petercoffman.bsky.social
Architectural Historian; Supervisor of History & Theory of Architecture program @carleton.ca. https://carleton.ca/aah/people/peter-coffman/ Photographer. Pilgrim. Occasionally a writer. Chief of Staff to two cats. Photos mine unless otherwise credited.
Pinned
I’m getting ready to co-teach our new course on Canadian architecture.
So, What *is* Canadian architecture?
Well, it’s a long story. Or rather, *many* long stories.
So, What *is* Canadian architecture?
Well, it’s a long story. Or rather, *many* long stories.
Reposted by Peter Coffman
@petercoffman.bsky.social I am sure you saw today the motion did not live long enough to get a next discussion. www.youtube.com/live/12ng2s3...
Built Heritage Committee - Tuesday, Feb 10, 2026
YouTube video by Ottawa City Council
www.youtube.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:40 AM
@petercoffman.bsky.social I am sure you saw today the motion did not live long enough to get a next discussion. www.youtube.com/live/12ng2s3...
I hadn’t seen that, and found it very heartening. Thank you!
February 11, 2026 at 3:51 AM
I hadn’t seen that, and found it very heartening. Thank you!
St. Paul’s Church, Birchtown, NS, built 1888-1905 for a Black Anglican Loyalist community.
The story of the Black Loyalists in Birchtown is a difficult one, replete with exploitation, racism, violence and cruelty. But we must bear witness, and buildings like this help us do so.
#BlackHistoryMonth
The story of the Black Loyalists in Birchtown is a difficult one, replete with exploitation, racism, violence and cruelty. But we must bear witness, and buildings like this help us do so.
#BlackHistoryMonth
February 11, 2026 at 12:24 AM
St. Paul’s Church, Birchtown, NS, built 1888-1905 for a Black Anglican Loyalist community.
The story of the Black Loyalists in Birchtown is a difficult one, replete with exploitation, racism, violence and cruelty. But we must bear witness, and buildings like this help us do so.
#BlackHistoryMonth
The story of the Black Loyalists in Birchtown is a difficult one, replete with exploitation, racism, violence and cruelty. But we must bear witness, and buildings like this help us do so.
#BlackHistoryMonth
Reposted by Peter Coffman
Reposted by Peter Coffman
If you’re in Ottawa, don’t miss Miroyama Teshima’s extraordinary architecture for the Canadian War Museum.
Some of our students get a good look at the Moriyama Regeneration Hall during an excellent tour of the Canadian War Museum today.
February 10, 2026 at 11:44 PM
If you’re in Ottawa, don’t miss Miroyama Teshima’s extraordinary architecture for the Canadian War Museum.
It really is outstanding. And what architecture!
February 10, 2026 at 11:27 PM
It really is outstanding. And what architecture!
Some of our students get a good look at the Moriyama Regeneration Hall during an excellent tour of the Canadian War Museum today.
February 10, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Some of our students get a good look at the Moriyama Regeneration Hall during an excellent tour of the Canadian War Museum today.
Except that he got himself excused from national team service because of ‘bone spurs’….
February 10, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Except that he got himself excused from national team service because of ‘bone spurs’….
"Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump International Airport? This Has to Stop.
Trump may be realizing that he will never win broad public adulation. Then again, maybe he’s operating out of pure, untethered vanity."
I favour a simpler explanation.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/o...
Trump may be realizing that he will never win broad public adulation. Then again, maybe he’s operating out of pure, untethered vanity."
I favour a simpler explanation.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/o...
February 10, 2026 at 3:21 PM
"Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump International Airport? This Has to Stop.
Trump may be realizing that he will never win broad public adulation. Then again, maybe he’s operating out of pure, untethered vanity."
I favour a simpler explanation.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/o...
Trump may be realizing that he will never win broad public adulation. Then again, maybe he’s operating out of pure, untethered vanity."
I favour a simpler explanation.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/o...
I think a lot of the world can identify with this right now.
#StareDown
#StareDown
February 10, 2026 at 12:15 AM
I think a lot of the world can identify with this right now.
#StareDown
#StareDown
February 9, 2026 at 11:16 PM
I think a lot of the world can identify with this right now.
#StareDown
#StareDown
Reposted by Peter Coffman
What I'm going to be like when I become a ghost:
February 9, 2026 at 11:08 PM
What I'm going to be like when I become a ghost:
I love a house that meets my gaze…. 😍
February 9, 2026 at 3:04 PM
I love a house that meets my gaze…. 😍
I don’t know that much about his past choices, but I suppose the gold-plated Oval office tells me everything I need to know.
February 8, 2026 at 6:53 PM
I don’t know that much about his past choices, but I suppose the gold-plated Oval office tells me everything I need to know.
Hard to disagree. It’s the worst kind of revivalism - Classicism solely as a statement of wealth and brute power, not as an aspirational quest for beauty and harmony.
February 8, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Hard to disagree. It’s the worst kind of revivalism - Classicism solely as a statement of wealth and brute power, not as an aspirational quest for beauty and harmony.
Yes, certainly possible. If so I suspect that it would have been purpose-made for his relics which would then be translated into it, rather than re-used. Or it could have been made for a wealthy patron who venerated St. Marcellus.
February 8, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Yes, certainly possible. If so I suspect that it would have been purpose-made for his relics which would then be translated into it, rather than re-used. Or it could have been made for a wealthy patron who venerated St. Marcellus.
That makes sense, but maybe later in the century than the time of Marcellus. And thus I’d guess unlikely to be his sarcophagus.
February 8, 2026 at 5:00 PM
That makes sense, but maybe later in the century than the time of Marcellus. And thus I’d guess unlikely to be his sarcophagus.
I hadn’t seen this rendering before. My first impression is that it seems to understand Classicism as a set of ornamental forms, not as a coherent, harmonious visual language. And I’m not that surprised.
The Epstein Ballroom is such a postmodernist building:
The north facade is a clean copy of Hoban's windows. The portico mirrors one on the Treasury Department, and they've just bumped it from six to eight columns to match exactly. None of this has much relation to the interior.
Decorated shed.
The north facade is a clean copy of Hoban's windows. The portico mirrors one on the Treasury Department, and they've just bumped it from six to eight columns to match exactly. None of this has much relation to the interior.
Decorated shed.
February 8, 2026 at 4:04 PM
I hadn’t seen this rendering before. My first impression is that it seems to understand Classicism as a set of ornamental forms, not as a coherent, harmonious visual language. And I’m not that surprised.
Honestly, it wouldn’t be that hard to translate a design like this into a series of ramps. There’s ample precedent, if there’s any will to look for it.
February 8, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Honestly, it wouldn’t be that hard to translate a design like this into a series of ramps. There’s ample precedent, if there’s any will to look for it.
Not my area of expertise, so I may be wrong, but this seems too grand and too overtly Christian to have been made before the legalization of Christianity in 313. It reminds me of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, from ca. 359.
February 8, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Not my area of expertise, so I may be wrong, but this seems too grand and too overtly Christian to have been made before the legalization of Christianity in 313. It reminds me of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, from ca. 359.
Although it’s not a position being taken by the CBC, as Angus might realize if he read the article beneath the headline.
February 8, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Although it’s not a position being taken by the CBC, as Angus might realize if he read the article beneath the headline.
For #AncientSiteSunday: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, near Fort MacLeod, Alberta. Used for millennia by the Blackfoot to drive bison off the cliff, making possible the harvest of meat, bone, hide, etc. A @unesco.org World Heritage Site since 1981.
February 8, 2026 at 3:06 PM
For #AncientSiteSunday: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, near Fort MacLeod, Alberta. Used for millennia by the Blackfoot to drive bison off the cliff, making possible the harvest of meat, bone, hide, etc. A @unesco.org World Heritage Site since 1981.
And here we are!
February 8, 2026 at 1:41 AM
And here we are!
Waiting for the launch of @grahamlindsey.bsky.social’s new album at Red Bird.
February 8, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Waiting for the launch of @grahamlindsey.bsky.social’s new album at Red Bird.
Thank *you*! I really appreciate and enjoy your work.
February 7, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Thank *you*! I really appreciate and enjoy your work.