Built in 1927 as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 180 Wellington Building’s most stunning feature is the dramatic mosaic on the vaulted ceiling inside the main entrance. Created by American muralist Barry Faulkner in 1927, the mosaic depicts “The Great Metropolitan Mother” protecting the insurer’s policy-holders. Acquired by the federal government in […]

One of the architectural gems of the nation, now a jewel in the crown of the National Gallery of Canada, is the Rideau Street Convent Chapel. A captivating space, its rows of delicate columns support intricately carved and painted fan vaults, the only such set of fan vaults in Canada. Its extraordinary design is the […]

How did an architectural style synonymous with medieval Europe become the style of choice in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Canada? This illustrated talk will take us on a journey that begins in the Middle Ages, dips into the popular horror novels of the eighteenth century, crashes into the windswept, rocky coasts of Newfoundland and ends […]