{"id":1710,"date":"2013-07-22T18:00:56","date_gmt":"2013-07-23T00:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/?p=1710"},"modified":"2013-07-22T23:00:54","modified_gmt":"2013-07-23T05:00:54","slug":"the-house-that-built-a-global-village-marshall-mcluhan-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/07\/22\/the-house-that-built-a-global-village-marshall-mcluhan-house\/","title":{"rendered":"The House That Built a Global Village: Marshall McLuhan House"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 100 years ago, one of the most important figures in media and communications theory was born in Edmonton. Herbert Marshall McLuhan was a young boy when he and his family packed their bags in 1915 and moved to Winnipeg. He grew to have a long, successful academic career, coined the phrases \u201cthe medium is the message\u201d and \u201cthe global village\u201d, and also is said to have predicted the World Wide Web 30 years ahead of its invention. He is also purported to have held Edmonton near to his heart<\/a> and attributed his time here to shaping his intellectual life even though he spent most of his career in Toronto.<\/p>\n

In 1993, his family\u2019s home, built \u00a0in 1912 for $3,000 in the Highlands neighbourhood (11342 64 Street NW<\/a>), was added to Edmonton\u2019s Inventory of Historic Resources. In 2012, the City of Edmonton provided the Edmonton Arts Council with $75,000 to serve as a down payment to purchase the $475,000 residence. Arts Habitat Edmonton<\/a> has repurposed the property as a \u201ccontemplative centre for arts and ideas.\u201d The house hosts a studio, artist offices, meeting spaces, and a new version of the McLuhan TV Wall.<\/p>\n