Catch the tail end of Architecture Week in Ottawa

Ottawa Travel Guide

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Tuesday, 25 September 2012 17:18

If people who travel to Ontario want to catch this year's Architecture Week in Ottawa, they’ll have to hurry. The event runs till September 30, and visitors can expect to see a little more than just building designs and contemporary architecture concepts. According to Richard Smith, the chair of Architecture Week, this year's event will showcase another discipline, lighting design, which is a vital factor in designing today's modern buildings.

Most of this year's exhibitions are located at Saint Brigid's Centre for the Arts, where designers and artists will merge to discuss the latest trends in architecture, from green building styles to more efficient interior layouts. What seems to be stealing the show this year, however, are the numerous exhibitions that shine a light on a typically glossed-over aspect of architecture.

Colour Clicker by Andrew O'Malley
Viewers become a part of the art at O'Malley's Colour Clicker exhibition. Using their smartphones, visitors can adjust the room's lighting with the tap of a finger thanks to high-tech, data-based sensors built into each fixture. Even when no one's in the room, the lights dance in a choreographed dance - until someone with a smartphone steps in and becomes a conductor of the symphony of lights, of course.

Talking with Gilles Arpin
Montreal-based lighting designer Gilles Arpin is one of the many speakers who will present their latest projects during Architecture Week. During his decorated career, Arpin has already provided Canadian public spaces with dramatic lighting designs, including Montreal's Old Port and Le Quartier des Spectacles. Arpin also participates in street art and recently installed tens of thousands of small pink balls above the treetops of St. Catherine street during a Montreal festival.

Architecture and beer
On the penultimate day of the event (Sept. 29), visitors can mingle with Canadian and international designers during a pub crawl across the city. The festivities will begin around 8:30 in the evening and stop at a number of bars where travellers can enjoy drinks specials and pleasant company the entire night long. What could be better than talking about architecture after a week of attending lectures and gaining a new perspective on the current design atmosphere?