Ottawa Magazine Interiors 2023

Weaving together our annual Interiors edition is always an exciting proposition. We must figure out months ahead of time which spectacular homes will be ready in time for a photographer and writer to tour. It’s a juggling act to find a mix of styles and locations, and get homeowners on board with the idea of opening their private spaces to all this entails. The nail-biting process seems similar to the overwhelming feelings conveyed by those undertaking renovations and custom builds. It’s fun, but it’s not without anxious moments. This year, we have three elaborate renovations close to the core — a heritage restoration project in Centretown, a fabulous York Street townhouse that combined two units, and a quirky modern addition in Hintonburg. There are also two new contemporary homes —…

THE FIRST WORLD WAR OFTEN EVOKES IMAGES of bleak and desolate landscapes, of desperate men, covered in mud, huddled in a trench. The Sir Alfred Munnings exhibition at the Canadian War Museum offers something completely different: an artist’s interpretation of war and the horse’s role within it. An experienced equine artist, Munnings was hired to paint the experience of Canadian soldiers in 1918. While there are traditional cavalry scenes, the soft colours and natural beauty of the animals allows the viewer to contemplate war in new ways. Glimpsing a herd of horses in a splendid meadow, while men lounge by the waterside gives a new perspective on war on the Western Front. By 1919, some 25,000 horses and donkeys had been used by the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Many would suffer…

You’ve now been dean for 18 months. How is it going? It’s been really fun. It’s been exciting to bring everything I’ve learned at home into a New York context, and into an American-based design school. And what is that you’re bringing to the table — from Ottawa? As dean, I feel my two main roles are thinking around vision and pedagogy and research and what’s driving the field of fashion forward. The second piece is how to foster community and do that by holding space to ensure people feel, seen, heard, and held. And so much of how I think people feel seen and are valued, I’ve learned from growing up in Ottawa, from working in Toronto, from those really unique contexts and experiences that I apply every day…

West end The extension that will see stations open as far as Moodie and Baseline is nearly two years behind schedule. Like most construction projects, labour and supply chain issues have wreaked havoc on timelines. Additionally, builders have found the tunneling project more difficult than expected. Particularly in Westboro, where unexpected hydro and water infrastructure means the western stations won’t open until late 2026. Airport extension YOW gets its own section that connects to the southern reach of the Trillium Line. Like the rest of the line, it’s not going to be open until at least late summer. Curiously, the city is still holding public consultations on a plan to widen the Airport Parkway — a plan that came together before the decision to bring rail to the airport had…

FOR 20 YEARS, DEAN OTTAWA has been working as an addictions counsellor and mental health worker in his community of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation. He’s also an artist, who prefers painting on paddles and rawhide rather than canvas. “I think it’s something that comes from my heritage in the Algonquin culture, where a lot of things like tools have incorporated Native designs on them,” he says. “[I’m] pretty much just carrying on a tradition.” Ottawa’s work can be spotted outside of City Hall: he designed commemorative artwork alongside his community acknowledging the city is on unceded territory, which was placed on a rock from the Pikwakanagan sFirst Nation. During the MosaïCanada exhibition, Ottawa designed some of the larger-than-life plant sculptures. It’s no surprise that when the city was looking…

Something magical happens when a new family moves into an old house. Walls move and disappear, old paint is sanded away and new aesthetics transform tired spaces. But as Pamela Bowles discovered while working to renew a grand old house on Cooper Street, the idea of family can remain the central inspiration. Pamela brought her young children to live on Cooper Street some four years ago. Her parents bought it in 2007, and still lived there, but were spending more time at the cottage in Quebec and were planning their retirement. Pamela and the kids took over the top floor of the three-storey red brick house. It was meant to be a mere staging post in their lives, a temporary abode while they looked for somewhere else. What Pamela did…