Downstairs

I've got a number of photos of the 1970's 120 University building from before it was demolished through the demolition and construction, which I might eventually compile into a post (I did post one). Only recently did I get a chance to go inside. It's quite impressive, with lots of open spaces, including high-floor views of Centretown from study areas.

There is one stairway that is pretty spacious, considering it's just a secondary stairway. Looking down a few floors worth of stairs is always cool. It's even better in 3D:

Source photos for the 3D images: Left, Right

The building also has a pretty impressive green wall in the atrium. Go check it out if you have the chance.

[Tune in on Thursdays at noon for a new 3D image. View the 3D label for other posts with 3D images]
[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]

Peds on Weds: U of O knows where peds go (Bronson, though, no)

Riding through the University of Ottawa recently, I noticed that the north-south crosswalk was repainted on the bend between the Montpetit building and the Brooks residence. Notice that the crosswalk was realigned when it was repainted. You can still see the old zebra crossing, which is blacked out.

Being on private property, the University can design its streets and pavement markings however they want to. By contrast, City of Ottawa streets are beholden to the designs dictated by traffic engineers' manuals. The new uOttawa crosswalk is actually longer than the old one, which is a big no-no in the guide books used by City of Ottawa engineers. Pedestrians need to be directed to cross where the distance is shortest between curb lines, say the rules. The theory is that if the City encourages pedestrians to be in the road longer than they absolutely need to, it exposes the City to liability.

However, the City engineers' position doesn't reflect reality. When you look beyond the curbs to the route that most pedestrians walk, it's clear that the new alignment is the natural path that would be taken by pedestrians, even if it 'exposes them to traffic' for a longer distance.

This is something I've long given up trying to communicate to the Bronson Avenue engineers. Here are a couple of paragraphs I wrote on the subject back in November leading up to the public open house:

120 University Crane Fog

Here's another photo from the University of Ottawa that I'll use to hurry out a post, since I've once again run out of time to prepare a full post on a Centretown topic. It's from last November, on a day when we had very thick fog. The lights are at the top of the tower crane for the 120 University building under construction, and you can just make out the shadow of the crane, and the hook and chain stowed very close to the cab on the jib.

I must say it took a number of tries to get the exposure to show just the right amount of detail!

[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]

University Centre - Jock Turcot building

As with the University of Ottawa's Montpetit building, the Jock Turcot building (or University Centre/Unicentre) is one of those buildings that looks great on paper in the renderings from a couple of angles, but when it's built looks like a big ugly concrete and glass behemoth 95 percent of the time. You have to go down (or up) a flight of shallow concrete stairs to enter the building, as though the architect were ashamed of letting people inside.

When I took this photo last July, it happened to be one of the rare times when you're looking at the building from the right angle, and the sun is in the right part of the sky, that it doesn't look ugly and dreary, but actually sort of--dare I say it--interesting.

Of course, on such a sunny day, these glass-enclosed meeting rooms that stick out to the south are stifling hot and the air conditioning just doesn't get it right.

[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]

uOttawa - Montpetit building

I snapped this photo back in February when the sun was at just the right angle to light up the desks inside the offices of the Montpetit building at the University of Ottawa. With this lighting, you can almost imagine the architect's rendering of how the building would look when the slant-window office structure was proposed. Each window is a different office, and no two are alike!

It looks like a cross-section of a cubicle farm, or the office equivalent of a Japanese hotel. Most people have the backs of their desks facing the window, with computer cables dangling in the window. I don't think that was in the architect's drawings!

[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]