Indigenous Peoples Space [100 Wellington St]

[FutureWickedCity]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

A building with that architecture still doesn't seem appropriate for an Indigenous use. The whole thing just seems weird to me.

I'm with you bud. I understand how Trudeau chose the location because of its proximity to Parliament, to indicate how central and important indigenous relations are, but it would have been better to construct a new building by an aboriginal architect. This is just all wrong.

[J.OT13]

Concept from the Assembly of First Nations that would see the building enveloped by glass, wood and steel.

The plaza in front of the info centre would become an amphitheater. The indigenous centre would also take over the CIBC building on Sparks.



More on the website and pdf:

http://www.afn.ca/indigenous-peoples...ture-together/

http://www.afn.ca/wp-content/uploads...ve-July-04.pdf

[FutureWickedCity]

Interesting. At first glance, it definitely has "wow" factor but on closer inspection it looks a little tacky and cheap, especially the leaves. It rather smacks of suburban mall. We need something more refined and elegant.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by FutureWickedCity

Interesting. At first glance, it definitely has "wow" factor but on closer inspection it looks a little tacky and cheap, especially the leaves. It rather smacks of suburban mall. We need something more refined and elegant.

On Wellington, I would prefer maintaining the elegant, classic look (heritage or otherwise). That's why I wish we could have given the indigenous peoples the old mill on Victoria Island and allow them to build something like this around it.

[OTSkyline]

I like the overall concept but not that it goes over/hides the current building there (former American Embassy) That building is beautiful and building a structure over it would be a shame. Wouldn't be opposed to having that building tacked onto the side where the empty lot is though today...

[LRTeverywhere]

I could like the concept if it was this type of structure built on to both sides of the builduing since there are empty lots on both sides. Covering up this old beautiful building would be a massive mistake and is on par with the expansion plans for the Chateau, whats the point in having protected historical buildings if we allow things like this and the Chateau to happen to them.

[J.OT13]

I don't think this concept will ever come to be. For starters, I don't believe the Feds have given the Assembly the info centre plaza or the CIBC building. The Feds are also working on a redevelopment of the entire Block 2, which includes the old U.S. Embassy.

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=241664

I'm unsure how they (the Feds) can achieve a coherent redevelopment of the block when a few buildings have already been restored recently, and others have an existing vocation

[Kitchissippi]

Reminds me of a roller coaster.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I don't think this concept will ever come to be. For starters, I don't believe the Feds have given the Assembly the info centre plaza or the CIBC building. The Feds are also working on a redevelopment of the entire Block 2, which includes the old U.S. Embassy.

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=241664

I'm unsure how they (the Feds) can achieve a coherent redevelopment of the block when a few buildings have already been restored recently, and others have an existing vocation

Hoping to change the facts on the ground so to speak.

It looks like student architecture. Flashy filled with relevant symbols checking all the boxes but doesn’t make sense with current building and even less with its surroundings. Maybe that’s the point. It’s a giant middle finger to parliament across the street.

[mykl]

This is possibly the tackiest thing I've ever seen.

[J.OT13]

The way I interpret the structure over the old embassy is Indigenous culture consuming a symbol of colonialism.

A quote from the PDF:

The Birchbark | Wiigiwaas panels of pre-contact Algonquin architecture inspire
transparent glass panels to lightly envelope the Beaux-Arts facade of 100 Wellington
Street, a European typology on unceded Algonquin land. The east entry honours a
sunrise of new beginnings.

I'm not totally opposed to this. It would be interesting to have such a striking symbolic structure on Wellington (likely to be pedestrianized with trams in the next 10 years) amongst rows of monolithic federal structures.

In any case, this project likely won't happen because of the Block 2 competition. The Feds offered this building to the Assembly of First Nations, but the Assembly won't get a say in what happens on the outside.

[caveat.doctor]

Design is always subjective but I think as we've witnessed just recently with the Chateau Laurier, modern additions that dominate or take away from historic structures really don't fly with the public, and reasonably so. It should be possible to have something that respects and highlights the features of both the old and new. Something that is side-by-side and mutually reinforcing rather than one enveloping/obscuring the other would be more in the spirit of reconciliation and unity - celebrating distinctiveness rather than one dominating or obscuring the other. The way the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian is clearly distinct from, but complementary to, the other museums around the DC National Mall is a good example - each of the buildings accentuates the others by contrast.

[Kitchissippi]

I think the problem with this design is scale. The indigenous peoples in Canada (with maybe the exception of the West Coast) have never really been into putting up monumental structures. This just lacks relatable human scale, nor does it speak of harmony with Nature. It would be nice to see some hand-hewn intricacy instead of overly-large mechanical decorations.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by FutureWickedCity

Interesting. At first glance, it definitely has "wow" factor but on closer inspection it looks a little tacky and cheap, especially the leaves. It rather smacks of suburban mall. We need something more refined and elegant.

My immediate first thought was 1990's Shopping Mall decor-turned-rollercoaster.

[acottawa]

Surely they could find a decent site for this design where it would still be prominent but wouldn't be so completely out of scale. The former site of the victims of communism, Victoria Island and Lebreton seem like good options.

[AuxTown]

That design is gross and will 100% distract and take away from the heritage character of Wellington. We don't have a ton of historic buildings in Ottawa but 50% of them are along these 4-5 blocks of downtown and I don't think this proposal would do them any justice.

[kevinbottawa]

Perhaps this is a test to see how serious the government is about reconciliation. They're calling Trudeau's bluff (and sadly I think he'd probably go with it).

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

Perhaps this is a test to see how serious the government is about reconciliation. They're calling Trudeau's bluff (and sadly I think he'd probably go with it).

I think it’s more a desire to make a statement and the usual negotiation strategy of take the inch and ask for a mile.

It’s also a poor test of the readiness for reconciliation which requires real money to be spent. In the current context it seems like for a fraction of what we spent keeping our death rate of 80 and 90 year olds lower we could spend to lift at least all aboriginal children out of poverty. The post COVID budget questions will be interesting. If it was worth borrowing so much money to do this how can we not do the same to solve our big problems of aboriginal poverty, housing and climate change?

[waterloowarrior]

I'd much rather see the old NCC info center and the building beside it be reskinned (perhaps east facade of 100 Wellington too) framing a revitalized plaza. They are both quite ugly and don't fit in well.

[Mikeed]

I think they should just turn the Embassy into an office block for the Assembly of First Nations and studio space for APTN.

And start with a blank canvass on a renamed Victoria Island.


I would also like them to demolish some off the uglier office blocks and expand World Exchange Plaza into a small park between Wellington and Slater.