Peter Coffman
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Peter Coffman
@petercoffman.bsky.social
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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.
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Peter Coffman @petercoffman.bsky.social · 3d
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.
A lone, weathered grain elevator sits against a rolling, undulating, barren mandscape. A singloe road winds around it and into the distance. A slightly warm-tinted black & white photograph of an ornate, three-story wooden building. The lower two stories are white with pronounced dark trip around all of the many windows. The upper story is darker and has very large Serliana windows. The roof has a robust and picturesque skyline of towers and turrets, silhouetted against a dark sky with stormy grey clouds that seem to be in motion. A wooden gabled building facade with a gently sloping roof is perfectly bisected by a tall and very ornately carved totem pole. The sky behind is dark with billowy white clouds. A curvilinear, undulating, sheer white building facade contrasts starkly with the dark sky above. The facade is without any features such as window or ornament, Its white mass sits like an iceberg on the street.
petercoffman.bsky.social
Scott was also, very late in his career, architect of Trinity College Chapel at the University of Toronto. Nov. 20 will mark the 70th anniversary of the consecration of the chapel, and the College will host the symposium "Sacred Space: Conflicts and Convergences”. I will be one of the speakers.
An austerely impressive Gothic chapel viewed from the back through a pointed arch toward the altar and three stained glass windows.The walls are plain and unadorned, with emphatic vertical articulation between bays. The vault is a simple quadripartite rib vault.
November 9, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
stillots1.bsky.social
Amazing photos. I'd take this course in an instant. Lucky Carleton students!

"Canadian architectural eye candy" is not a phrase that often comes to mind.

But here it is!

#cdnhist
petercoffman.bsky.social Peter Coffman @petercoffman.bsky.social · 3d
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.
A lone, weathered grain elevator sits against a rolling, undulating, barren mandscape. A singloe road winds around it and into the distance. A slightly warm-tinted black & white photograph of an ornate, three-story wooden building. The lower two stories are white with pronounced dark trip around all of the many windows. The upper story is darker and has very large Serliana windows. The roof has a robust and picturesque skyline of towers and turrets, silhouetted against a dark sky with stormy grey clouds that seem to be in motion. A wooden gabled building facade with a gently sloping roof is perfectly bisected by a tall and very ornately carved totem pole. The sky behind is dark with billowy white clouds. A curvilinear, undulating, sheer white building facade contrasts starkly with the dark sky above. The facade is without any features such as window or ornament, Its white mass sits like an iceberg on the street.
November 8, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
petercoffman.bsky.social
And that candy comes in a huge variety of shapes and sizes that would take most people by surprise. And the stories behind them…. That’s what inspired my #VacationInCanada posts and blogs.
carleton.ca/aah/category...
'Vacation in Canada' Archives - Art and Architectural History
carleton.ca
November 8, 2025 at 1:37 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
I had a really good conversation with someone from the Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre yesterday about this exhibition. I can’t wait to go and see it.
www.historymuseum.ca/exhibitions/...
Wi'k+palu'k Sam Glodeo'q ta'n wetapeksitaq: Honouring the Belonging of Sam Glode | Canadian Museum of History
www.historymuseum.ca
November 8, 2025 at 1:34 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
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.
A lone, weathered grain elevator sits against a rolling, undulating, barren mandscape. A singloe road winds around it and into the distance. A slightly warm-tinted black & white photograph of an ornate, three-story wooden building. The lower two stories are white with pronounced dark trip around all of the many windows. The upper story is darker and has very large Serliana windows. The roof has a robust and picturesque skyline of towers and turrets, silhouetted against a dark sky with stormy grey clouds that seem to be in motion. A wooden gabled building facade with a gently sloping roof is perfectly bisected by a tall and very ornately carved totem pole. The sky behind is dark with billowy white clouds. A curvilinear, undulating, sheer white building facade contrasts starkly with the dark sky above. The facade is without any features such as window or ornament, Its white mass sits like an iceberg on the street.
November 8, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
jgbollard.bsky.social
Gift link:
White House Architecture Was an Honor System. Trump Noticed.
For 125 years, informal norms constrained what a president could do to one of the nation’s most famous landmarks.
www.theatlantic.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:54 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
Our latest departmental blog is by one of our students, Danielle Dickson! it’s always great to experience one of our events through a student’s eyes. Special thanks to Andrew Waldron.
carleton.ca/aah/2025/dis...
Discovering Ottawa’s Hidden Modernist Gems - Art and Architectural History
HTA student Daniella Dickson experiences the ideals and the beauty of Mid-Century Modern neighbourhoods firsthand. Adjunct Professor Andrew Waldron leads
carleton.ca
November 5, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
jleiper.bsky.social
Lansdowne 2.0 doesn’t give Ottawa what it needs. The plan is built around the limits of a public-private deal that leaves the city with hundreds of millions in new debt for a project that won’t serve residents well.
As women's hockey climbs to new heights, the City of Ottawa says think smaller | Opinion
PWHL executives Jayna Hefford and Amy Scheer write that it's not too late to change the story on Lansdowne 2.0.
ottawacitizen.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:31 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
"It's only been six months since the election”, complains CPC MP Aaron Gunn.

That would be the same election in which the people of Battle River-Crowfoot elected Damien Kurek, right?

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
MP Chris d'Entremont says he joined Liberals because of Poilievre's leadership style | CBC News
Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont said Wednesday he left the Conservative caucus because he didn't feel represented in leader Pierre Poilievre's party anymore and bristled at his "negative" approach to...
www.cbc.ca
November 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
Happy Day of the Dead, if that’s not too paradoxical a sentiment.

👇Hillside Cemetery, Dawson City, Yukon.
In the foreground, a simple wooden grave marker with the name “John Carpenter” leans to one side, weathered with age. Beyond it, several similar markers are softly out of focus. The lawn below is covered in flowering weeds.
November 2, 2025 at 2:26 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
Not an original idea, but I used ‘Moving Surfaces’ to frame the Aberdeen Pavillion for the ‘Lansdowne’ photo in Andrew Waldron’s architectural guidebook, ‘Exploring the Capital’. The piece does act as a visual and imaginative anchor for the place.
A rhythmically undulating arc of steel in the foreground frames a brightly sunlit traditional, barn-like building in the distance.
November 2, 2025 at 1:53 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
In which @sproudfoot.bsky.social says what we are all thinking, but not everyone dares say. And she adds a bit of history about the most odious ‘diplomat’ in living memory, for good measure.
www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/opi...
Opinion: U.S. Ambassador’s outburst is one more punch in the face from the neighbourhood bully
Pete Hoekstra’s aggression toward David Paterson underlines how obnoxious and abusive the Trump administration has become
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
sproudfoot.bsky.social
New from me. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little tired of Canada being treated like a toy at a spoiled rich kid’s birthday party, so I wrote about Pete Hoekstra’s public meltdown in Ottawa this week.
November 1, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
thevicsoc.bsky.social
David Winterton gives the sixth in our series of 🍁autumn online lectures on Frank Darling, Architect of Canada’s Imperial Age 🧵

Buy your ticket here: bit.ly/4oh6pWl

#FrankDarling #architect #architecturalhistory #Toronto #EdwardianBaroque #TorontoEdwardian #onlinelecture #heritage #booktalk
November 1, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
journodale.bsky.social
Roundup post: Any excuse to delegitimise the Court #cdnpoli
www.routineproceedings.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
fotofacade.bsky.social
🔆 Sending warmth and light to you all.
One for All Hallows' Day - not taken today, but still worth posting. My favourite photo I've taken of York Minster at first light - it seems to magically exude warmth and light - after the darkness recedes and night turns into day...
November 1, 2025 at 7:15 AM
petercoffman.bsky.social
It's All Souls Day! So here’s All Souls College, Oxford, by Nicholas Hawksmoor, 1716-34.
A brightly sunlit twin-towered stone facade is viewed through a semi-circular arch against a deep blue sky.
November 1, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
stillots1.bsky.social
What an amazing shot!
petercoffman.bsky.social Peter Coffman @petercoffman.bsky.social · 11d
On Feb 11 1869, 5000 people watched as these trap doors opened and Patrick J. Whelan, convicted assassin of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, dropped out of the world. This place #OughtToBeHaunted. 🎃😱👻

Happy #Halloween!
A nighttime view straight up with stone walls on either side supporting a platform. The platform is dark except for the brightly lit outline of two trap doors.
October 31, 2025 at 2:04 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
On Feb 11 1869, 5000 people watched as these trap doors opened and Patrick J. Whelan, convicted assassin of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, dropped out of the world. This place #OughtToBeHaunted. 🎃😱👻

Happy #Halloween!
A nighttime view straight up with stone walls on either side supporting a platform. The platform is dark except for the brightly lit outline of two trap doors.
October 31, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
jchianello.bsky.social
I spoke to the @ottcity council committee dealing with Lansdowne 2.0 (first time delegate!). I didn't talk about the pros and cons, but the alarming lack of transparency around this file. #ottcity www.youtube.com/live/asifIBt...
Finance and Corporate Services Committee – October 29, 2025
YouTube video by Ottawa City Council
www.youtube.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:39 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
The Fort Garry Hotel is said to be the most haunted building in Winnipeg. Seems likely enough to me (although I’ve never ventured further inside than the restaurant).
🎃👻😱
#Halloween
#OughtToBeHaunted
A monumental stone building, its façade varied with projecting sections and bay windows, is brightly sunlit agains a dark, almost cloudless sky. The roofline is picturesque and ornately ornamented.
October 29, 2025 at 11:50 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
Enjoyed walking home from campus in daylight today, likely for the last time in a long while.
A walking/cycling path cuts through leaf-covered grassy areas, leading to a pedestrian bridge over a calm body of water.
October 29, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
mcsweeneys.net
"You encounter a strange, cult-like group that lives in almost total isolation from the outside world. They jealously guard their arcane knowledge and practice some exceedingly cruel rituals."
Critically Acclaimed Horror Film of the 2010s or Your PhD Program?
1. You encounter a strange, cult-like group that lives in almost total isolation from the outside world. They jealously guard their arcane knowledg...
buff.ly
October 27, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Reposted by Peter Coffman
petercoffman.bsky.social
October is World Blindness Awareness Month.

How do the blind experience, navigate, and enjoy architecture? Check out my podcasts with writer, theatre artist - and blind travel writer - Alex Bulmer.
#BlindnessAwarenessMonth
@blindcanadians.bsky.social

carleton.ca/aah/2024/hta...
HTA Podcast: Sensing Architecture, Part 1 - Art and Architectural History
Seen any interesting buildings lately? What if you literally couldn’t see them? What if you could only experience buildings through your other senses? How
carleton.ca
October 4, 2025 at 12:37 PM
petercoffman.bsky.social
I think the burnt-out facade of St. Boniface Cathedral in Manitoba #OughtToBeHaunted. Perhaps by the ghost of Louis Riel, who lies buried in its churchyard. Or by souls who, for millennia, have traveled, worked, fought, and died on the Red River, which the cathedral overlooks.
An imposing, stone, sunlit cathedral facade with a triple arched entrance flanked by massive columns. Above the arches is a rose window, which opens up not to the interior but to dark sky. In the right-hand arch is the shadow of a human figure.
October 26, 2025 at 11:46 AM