{"id":11288,"date":"2013-12-12T08:30:56","date_gmt":"2013-12-12T13:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/?p=11288"},"modified":"2013-12-12T07:14:01","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T12:14:01","slug":"washington-north-ottawa-became-capital-today-reflections-lecture-professor-david-gordon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2013\/12\/12\/washington-north-ottawa-became-capital-today-reflections-lecture-professor-david-gordon\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Washington of the North\u201d: How Ottawa became the Capital it is today, reflections on a lecture by Professor David Gordon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Thursday evening, listeners at the National Gallery<\/a> were treated to a lecture on Ottawa\u2019s urban history by Dr. David Gordon<\/a>, Professor of planning history, community design and urban development at Queen’s University, in partnership with the Gallery\u2019s current exhibit on Artists, Architects and Artisans<\/a>.<\/i> Focusing his talk roughly around the dates which the exhibit looks at, from 1890\u20131918, Dr. Gordon explained the expanding relationship between artists and architects during this time, the advent of the field of landscape architecture during the pre-war years, and the effect this had on both the Parks Movement <\/i>and City Beautiful<\/i> urban design ideologies, as they pertained to building Capital cities.<\/p>\n

However, most interesting were Gordon\u2019s reflections on landscape architect Fredrick Todd\u2019s impact, and under-realized potential, in planning Canada\u2019s Capital. Beginning by detailing famed landscape architect Fredric Law Olmsted\u2019s work in Canada, who ultimately set up an office in Montreal, the effect of the Parks Movement can be seen in both Montreal\u2019s Parc Mont Royal<\/i> and the greening of America\u2019s Capital, through a system of parks and rivers. But by 1903, Fredrick Todd, who had trained under Olmsted\u2019s son in Montreal, was commissioned to complete a report for the Ottawa Improvement Commission, looking at ways to shape Ottawa\u2019s urbanity in order to better reflect its role as a Capital city.<\/p>\n

According to Dr. Gordon, at this time in Ottawa\u2019s history, and under the leadership of Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier, Ottawa was still a lumber town and frontier city without paved roads, sidewalks, or major infrastructure, such as piped water. With only the Parliament Buildings giving the city any sense of its place within Canadian politics, Laurier proclaimed that he would help to make Ottawa as beautiful as possible, stating that the city would become, \u201cthe Washington of the North\u201d. However, it was Todd who can be credited with ensuring that this was not what was manifested in Ottawa\u2019s urban growth, due largely in part to his Parliamentary Report.<\/p>\n

Todd had a more regional approach to urban planning, and thought it was important to include both sides of the Ottawa River in any plans, stating, \u201cOttawa is broken by steep terraces and picturesque cliffs,\u201d in comparison to Washington\u2019s relatively flat terrain. As well, the gothic style of Parliament Hill\u2019s architecture had already started to set Canada\u2019s Capital apart from Washington. Yet, according to Dr. Gordon, it must still be seen as a very bold move for Todd to have spoken in opposition to Prime Minister Laurier\u2019s vision for Ottawa.<\/p>\n

Todd also believed strongly that Ottawa\u2019s plan should be based on a series of connected parks, paths, and waterway access, but was not successful in receiving the commission, with only MacDonald Gardens Park being built. But as time went on Ottawa remained a lumber town, often destroyed in part by fires, and leaving a young Mackenzie King unimpressed when he first arrived in the city by train.<\/p>\n

Then from 1913-1915 The Federal Plan Commission for Ottawa and Hull was commissioned, but resulted in only the War Memorial and new Centre Block building, the original having burned down in 1915, being built. Next, Jacques Gr\u00e9ber would be brought in, with Ottawa\u2019s urbanism later moving towards the expressways and suburbs which we are familiar with today, before more recent developments such as DTAH<\/a>\u2019s plan for Confederation Boulevard.<\/p>\n

In closing, Dr. Gordon stated that he was regretful of the decision at the time to not follow through with Todd\u2019s plan for Ottawa, believing that it is in fact Todd\u2019s work, although not fully implemented, that represents one of the most important parts of Ottawa\u2019s urban history, and potential. It was Todd who ensured that Canada did not simply mirror the United States in deciding how a capital city should be realized, and he is also perhaps responsible for the importance the National Capital places on parks and green spaces.<\/p>\n

Focused on a lesser-known figure in Ottawa\u2019s urban history, it was an insightful talk on Ottawa\u2019s past, and an important education as we look towards the city’s future growth<\/p>\n

Image by: Kristen Gagnon<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Thursday evening, listeners at the National Gallery were treated to a lecture on Ottawa\u2019s urban history by Dr. David Gordon, Professor of planning history, community design and urban development at Queen’s University, in partnership with the Gallery\u2019s current exhibit on Artists, Architects and Artisans. Focusing his talk roughly around the dates which the exhibitContinue reading “\u201cThe Washington of the North\u201d: How Ottawa became the Capital it is today, reflections on a lecture by Professor David Gordon”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8205,"featured_media":11292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[362,5303,5304,5317,344,341],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-green-space","category-history","category-photos","category-politics","category-urban-design"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cThe Washington of the North\u201d: How Ottawa became the Capital it is today, reflections on a lecture by Professor David Gordon - Spacing Ottawa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2013\/12\/12\/washington-north-ottawa-became-capital-today-reflections-lecture-professor-david-gordon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cThe Washington of the North\u201d: How Ottawa became the Capital it is today, reflections on a lecture by Professor David Gordon - Spacing Ottawa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last Thursday evening, listeners at the National Gallery were treated to a lecture on Ottawa\u2019s urban history by Dr. David Gordon, Professor of planning history, community design and urban development at Queen’s University, in partnership with the Gallery\u2019s current exhibit on Artists, Architects and Artisans. 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