Michèle Champagne
@michhham.bsky.social
Graphic artist in Montreal. Studies mandatory positivity and its effects on freedom of expression, architecture media, and “smart” cities. Invited to McGill, UQAM, and Harvard. Former Toronto resident. — michelechampagne.com
Quand les éléments se déchaînent, vers 1900. Photographie par J. E. Livernois. De la @banq-officiel.bsky.social :
November 12, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Quand les éléments se déchaînent, vers 1900. Photographie par J. E. Livernois. De la @banq-officiel.bsky.social :
The signatories who elaborated this point know exactly what they’re talking about:
November 9, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The signatories who elaborated this point know exactly what they’re talking about:
Plan of winter garden for Place Bonaventure, 1964-69, by Affleck, Desbarats, Dimakopoulos, Lebensold, Sise. Digitisation of the plan courtesy of the @ccaconversations.bsky.social.
November 9, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Plan of winter garden for Place Bonaventure, 1964-69, by Affleck, Desbarats, Dimakopoulos, Lebensold, Sise. Digitisation of the plan courtesy of the @ccaconversations.bsky.social.
Technically, @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social is correct: the Crown created the Hudson’s Bay Company. Culturally, it’s also true that some members of the British Royal family and aristocracy fancy themselves—and their ancestors—as rebels and adventurers. From Prince Rupert to Stella Tennant:
October 23, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Technically, @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social is correct: the Crown created the Hudson’s Bay Company. Culturally, it’s also true that some members of the British Royal family and aristocracy fancy themselves—and their ancestors—as rebels and adventurers. From Prince Rupert to Stella Tennant:
Rome’s Flaminio quartiere is rife with mid-rises too, whether pre-, modern, or post-modern. It was a great, dense spot.
In May, @glindsay.bsky.social and I walking from the Hyatt’s The Tribune through Villa Borghese and Flaminio to the Maxxi museum and 60’s Summer Olympic stadium.
In May, @glindsay.bsky.social and I walking from the Hyatt’s The Tribune through Villa Borghese and Flaminio to the Maxxi museum and 60’s Summer Olympic stadium.
October 18, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Rome’s Flaminio quartiere is rife with mid-rises too, whether pre-, modern, or post-modern. It was a great, dense spot.
In May, @glindsay.bsky.social and I walking from the Hyatt’s The Tribune through Villa Borghese and Flaminio to the Maxxi museum and 60’s Summer Olympic stadium.
In May, @glindsay.bsky.social and I walking from the Hyatt’s The Tribune through Villa Borghese and Flaminio to the Maxxi museum and 60’s Summer Olympic stadium.
L’exposition «Le livre photographique au Québec» est présentée à Artexte jusqu'au 13 décembre.
artexte.ca/exposition/l...
artexte.ca/exposition/l...
October 15, 2025 at 7:47 PM
L’exposition «Le livre photographique au Québec» est présentée à Artexte jusqu'au 13 décembre.
artexte.ca/exposition/l...
artexte.ca/exposition/l...
Jeremy Bentham himself, in his letters, insisted the idea and plan came from his younger brother, Samuel.
And it was Samuel who designed and built a panopticon as a naval “School of the Arts” in Saint Petersburg. Look at Samuel’s pre-proto-modernism. A plan, elevation, and sections circa 1807.
And it was Samuel who designed and built a panopticon as a naval “School of the Arts” in Saint Petersburg. Look at Samuel’s pre-proto-modernism. A plan, elevation, and sections circa 1807.
October 8, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Jeremy Bentham himself, in his letters, insisted the idea and plan came from his younger brother, Samuel.
And it was Samuel who designed and built a panopticon as a naval “School of the Arts” in Saint Petersburg. Look at Samuel’s pre-proto-modernism. A plan, elevation, and sections circa 1807.
And it was Samuel who designed and built a panopticon as a naval “School of the Arts” in Saint Petersburg. Look at Samuel’s pre-proto-modernism. A plan, elevation, and sections circa 1807.
At its peak in the early 1900s, the Ottawa streetcar system had developed 90 kilometres of track.
For context: the new, contemporary O-Train has 20 kilometres, and will soon extend to about 55.
For context: the new, contemporary O-Train has 20 kilometres, and will soon extend to about 55.
October 3, 2025 at 2:58 AM
At its peak in the early 1900s, the Ottawa streetcar system had developed 90 kilometres of track.
For context: the new, contemporary O-Train has 20 kilometres, and will soon extend to about 55.
For context: the new, contemporary O-Train has 20 kilometres, and will soon extend to about 55.
It is easy to forget. In a way. I grew up in Ottawa, attended a high school for the gifted, received A+ grades in history, and attended free history lectures at University of Ottawa.
Yet I never learned about “design”, “architecture”, “urbanism”, or the fact that Ottawa used to have streetcars.
Yet I never learned about “design”, “architecture”, “urbanism”, or the fact that Ottawa used to have streetcars.
October 3, 2025 at 2:29 AM
It is easy to forget. In a way. I grew up in Ottawa, attended a high school for the gifted, received A+ grades in history, and attended free history lectures at University of Ottawa.
Yet I never learned about “design”, “architecture”, “urbanism”, or the fact that Ottawa used to have streetcars.
Yet I never learned about “design”, “architecture”, “urbanism”, or the fact that Ottawa used to have streetcars.
My favourite photographs of the Grand Quay at the Port of Montreal are by James Brittain.
September 27, 2025 at 2:56 PM
My favourite photographs of the Grand Quay at the Port of Montreal are by James Brittain.
For Sidewalk Toronto, Heatherwick Studio developed a rendering style I call “Everyday Bruegelian fiction”.
September 27, 2025 at 2:37 PM
For Sidewalk Toronto, Heatherwick Studio developed a rendering style I call “Everyday Bruegelian fiction”.
In other late night Canadian report culture: behold! Something @vassb.bsky.social and I have been perusing lately: Science Council of Canada reports. From 1971:
September 27, 2025 at 1:58 AM
In other late night Canadian report culture: behold! Something @vassb.bsky.social and I have been perusing lately: Science Council of Canada reports. From 1971:
Interesting. Produced under Harper’s “Minister of State” mandate. It offers a bizarro office collage plus typography that is so bad ‘it’s good again’. It’s a Bloomberg Businessweek aesthetic circa early Richard Turley with art direction by Canadians like Tracy Ma and Steph Davidson.
September 27, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Interesting. Produced under Harper’s “Minister of State” mandate. It offers a bizarro office collage plus typography that is so bad ‘it’s good again’. It’s a Bloomberg Businessweek aesthetic circa early Richard Turley with art direction by Canadians like Tracy Ma and Steph Davidson.
Over the next several months, I’ll develop a business idea that I have already piloted in Montreal and Toronto: an international school dedicated to art, design, computation, and publishing. I can't wait to reinvent it and develop it further.
Photography by Philip Cheung.
Photography by Philip Cheung.
September 25, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Over the next several months, I’ll develop a business idea that I have already piloted in Montreal and Toronto: an international school dedicated to art, design, computation, and publishing. I can't wait to reinvent it and develop it further.
Photography by Philip Cheung.
Photography by Philip Cheung.
Au cours des prochains mois, je développerai une idée d'entreprise que j’ai déjà pilotée à Montréal et à Toronto: une école internationale dédiée à l'art, au design, à la computation et à l’édition. J'ai hâte de la réinventer et de la développer davantage.
Photographie par Philip Cheung.
Photographie par Philip Cheung.
September 25, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Au cours des prochains mois, je développerai une idée d'entreprise que j’ai déjà pilotée à Montréal et à Toronto: une école internationale dédiée à l'art, au design, à la computation et à l’édition. J'ai hâte de la réinventer et de la développer davantage.
Photographie par Philip Cheung.
Photographie par Philip Cheung.
It’s extraordinary. No matter where you were born or where you now live.
September 25, 2025 at 1:46 AM
It’s extraordinary. No matter where you were born or where you now live.
I’m bookmarking @touloumi.bsky.social's book, Assembly by Design: The United Nations and Its Global Interior. It paints a complex picture of who designed the headquarters and why: for photography and television.
Published by @uminnpress.bsky.social.
Published by @uminnpress.bsky.social.
September 24, 2025 at 12:01 AM
I’m bookmarking @touloumi.bsky.social's book, Assembly by Design: The United Nations and Its Global Interior. It paints a complex picture of who designed the headquarters and why: for photography and television.
Published by @uminnpress.bsky.social.
Published by @uminnpress.bsky.social.
Adam Vaughan is on the left. Photograph by Cole Burston.
September 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Adam Vaughan is on the left. Photograph by Cole Burston.
I take your reconnecting crystal thing made of glass and raise it to a reconnecting crystal thing made of glass and ill-placed metal slats—at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Photograph by Darren Bradley.
September 16, 2025 at 11:18 PM
I take your reconnecting crystal thing made of glass and raise it to a reconnecting crystal thing made of glass and ill-placed metal slats—at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Photograph by Darren Bradley.
The new OASE journal is out. Issue no. 120, themed ‘Quality Settings’, considers the processes and environments in which the quality of public architecture is negotiated.
www.copyrightbookshop.be/en/shop/oase...
www.copyrightbookshop.be/en/shop/oase...
September 14, 2025 at 5:57 PM
The new OASE journal is out. Issue no. 120, themed ‘Quality Settings’, considers the processes and environments in which the quality of public architecture is negotiated.
www.copyrightbookshop.be/en/shop/oase...
www.copyrightbookshop.be/en/shop/oase...
Covers and features are different, but otherwise newsrooms use the same type of imagery again and again, without much question.
Whether “provided by” Sidewalk Labs or “searched for” in image banks—in this case, in The Canadian Press with a pic by Sean Kilpatrick—newsrooms lean on free or familiar.
Whether “provided by” Sidewalk Labs or “searched for” in image banks—in this case, in The Canadian Press with a pic by Sean Kilpatrick—newsrooms lean on free or familiar.
September 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Covers and features are different, but otherwise newsrooms use the same type of imagery again and again, without much question.
Whether “provided by” Sidewalk Labs or “searched for” in image banks—in this case, in The Canadian Press with a pic by Sean Kilpatrick—newsrooms lean on free or familiar.
Whether “provided by” Sidewalk Labs or “searched for” in image banks—in this case, in The Canadian Press with a pic by Sean Kilpatrick—newsrooms lean on free or familiar.
The Amsterdam Central Library, or OBA Oosterdok, is lovely. I used to spend entire days there.
The building was designed by Jo Coenen, the former state architect, or Rijksbouwmeester, of Holland.
(Of note: I never saw anybody sitting in the giant bleachers, except for specific events.)
The building was designed by Jo Coenen, the former state architect, or Rijksbouwmeester, of Holland.
(Of note: I never saw anybody sitting in the giant bleachers, except for specific events.)
September 5, 2025 at 6:03 PM
The Amsterdam Central Library, or OBA Oosterdok, is lovely. I used to spend entire days there.
The building was designed by Jo Coenen, the former state architect, or Rijksbouwmeester, of Holland.
(Of note: I never saw anybody sitting in the giant bleachers, except for specific events.)
The building was designed by Jo Coenen, the former state architect, or Rijksbouwmeester, of Holland.
(Of note: I never saw anybody sitting in the giant bleachers, except for specific events.)
One of my favourite Betty Friedan portraits was by photographer Debra Myrent.
September 4, 2025 at 9:06 PM
One of my favourite Betty Friedan portraits was by photographer Debra Myrent.
Ridge, Carol Rhodes using aerial perspective, 1999
September 3, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Ridge, Carol Rhodes using aerial perspective, 1999
Tracing of a Perspective Construction of a House, Joseph Mallord William Turner, c.1810
September 3, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Tracing of a Perspective Construction of a House, Joseph Mallord William Turner, c.1810