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Peter Coffman

@petercoffman

Architectural Historian; Supervisor of History & Theory of Architecture program @carleton.ca‬. https://carleton.ca/aah/people/peter-coffman/ Photographer. Pilgrim. Occasionally a writer. Chief of Staff to two cats. Photos mine unless otherwise credited.

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Latest posts by Peter Coffman @petercoffman

A curving wooden staircase rises from a wooden floor within a teardrop-shaped opening to several floors above.

A curving wooden staircase rises from a wooden floor within a teardrop-shaped opening to several floors above.

Calgary Central Library, Snøhetta and DIALOG, 2013-18.

#StaircaseSaturday
#SaturdayStairs

07.03.2026 14:08 👍 6 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Make that 303 years ago today.

07.03.2026 12:40 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I think the late, great Robbie Robertson wrote a song about him without even realizing it:

🎶
Life is a carnival, believe it or not
Life is a carnival, two bits a shot

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap?
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
🎶

06.03.2026 14:58 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Done!

06.03.2026 13:19 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
A life in pictures: Remembering Bruno Schlumberger Bruno Schlumberger's six National Newspaper Awards were the most any Canadian photographer received.

A lovely obit of Bruno Schlumberger, a photographer so many of us had the pleasure of working with as reporters. Thanks, Bruce Deachman. @ottawacitizen.com #ottnews ottawacitizen.com/news/local-n...

05.03.2026 23:21 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 4

Are ‘foreigners’ allowed to sign? or would it be counterproductive to do so?

05.03.2026 18:52 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Ottawa city councillor found guilty of impaired driving charges | CBC News Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matthew Luloff has been found guilty of impaired driving and having a blood alcohol level exceeding the legal limit within two hours of ceasing to drive. A judge fined hi...

The right decision. And I note that although he says he “accept[s] responsibility” for his actions, both he and his lawyer did everything possible to evade that responsibility until they ran out of options. I would really like him to address *that*.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

05.03.2026 18:24 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Very sad to learn of the death of Robert Hill, author of 'The Biographical Dictionary of Canadian Architects 1800-1950’. We had many pleasant correspondences about architecture, architectural writing, and especially architectural photography. He made a huge contribution and will be greatly missed.

04.03.2026 13:47 👍 6 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Nature can’t wait. Canada’s plan to restore and protect nature has fallen dangerously off track — and funding is about to dry up. 🧵

03.03.2026 20:55 👍 9 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0

If ‘covfefe’ could speak….

02.03.2026 19:57 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Me too. Having seen it, I now can’t even watch the trailer without weeping!

02.03.2026 00:55 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
HAMNET - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters This Thanksgiving
HAMNET - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters This Thanksgiving YouTube video by Focus Features

I finally saw Hamnet this weekend at the @mayfairtheatre.bsky.social. Superb. Pulls together a few very loose historical threads to weave a story of fantastic beauty and emotional virtuosity. 💔❤️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYcg...

02.03.2026 00:47 👍 8 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0

If it happened today, they’d conduct an internet poll about whom to vote off the island!

02.03.2026 00:42 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

An odd comparison, given that I assume he must have seen a few English cathedrals by then. If he wanted a true historical precedent, he’d have mentioned Roman baths.

02.03.2026 00:40 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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After the Great Toronto Fire of 1904, the decision was made to build a new train terminal in the city. It took two decades before the building was open. Today, it is the second busiest train terminal in North America.
This is the story of Toronto's Union Station.

🧵 1/10

01.03.2026 14:00 👍 104 🔁 25 💬 3 📌 2

Actually, he died three years before the group was formally founded. Had he lived, he would certainly have been part of the group.

02.03.2026 00:17 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Glad you like it! It’s a building that richly deserves a good photograph or two.

01.03.2026 18:19 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A large room in a mosque with a beautifully mosaic-ed vaulted ceiling, carpet on the floor, and most notably stained glass windows which cast vibrant colours on the interior, including the visitors

A large room in a mosque with a beautifully mosaic-ed vaulted ceiling, carpet on the floor, and most notably stained glass windows which cast vibrant colours on the interior, including the visitors

Stunning!
And allow me to brag about the famed stained glass windows in the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque in Shiraz, which I was so privileged to visit in 2019.

01.03.2026 14:11 👍 11 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

😍

01.03.2026 14:36 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Building for Labor: Building for Labor Title Page

Here’s a very interesting project on Hintonburg’s historic working-class housing, done by one of our MA students, Keegan Speelman.
scalar.ssac.carleton.ca/manchestervi...

01.03.2026 13:16 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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5 questions about the plans for the historic Carleton Tavern | CBC News The 130-year-old building that houses the Carleton Tavern, one of Ottawa's longest oldest bars, could be demolished in the next few years — and that's drawn concern from some residents.

Hintonburg has become more and more gentrified, and the Carleton is one of the last reminders of its long history as a working-class neighbourhood. It will be missed. The planned replica seems rather pointless to me.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

01.03.2026 13:16 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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My recipe for my first #StainedGlassSunday contribution to BlueSky:

Begin with stained glass. Add sunlight, Lincoln Cathedral, and stir. Blend the material with the immaterial.

08.12.2024 13:11 👍 214 🔁 32 💬 6 📌 0
A series of semi-circular arches recedes into the distance, each one framing the one behind. All is finished with a pale yellow stucco, lit gently by indirect sources forming a rhythmic pattern of light and dark surfaces.

A series of semi-circular arches recedes into the distance, each one framing the one behind. All is finished with a pale yellow stucco, lit gently by indirect sources forming a rhythmic pattern of light and dark surfaces.

It’s March 1! When the architectural nerd’s fancy turns to #MarchArch.

👇 A passageway in the Real Alcázar, Seville.

#Andalucia #Architecture #Photography #BlueskyArtShow #PhotographersOfBlueSky

01.03.2026 12:46 👍 12 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Someone always does, and she knows it!

28.02.2026 21:15 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
A tortoise-shell cat meows out her food order surrounded by the warm tones of a wooden floor and furniture.

A tortoise-shell cat meows out her food order surrounded by the warm tones of a wooden floor and furniture.

Calling for food on #Caturday.

28.02.2026 19:00 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I’m having fun following the ‘likes’ on the three posts I made this morning for #StaircaseSaturday and #SaturdayStairs. After trailing initially, Wells Cathedral is starting to pull clear of Carlo Scarpa. But Douglas Cardinal has left them both behind. 🇨🇦 🙂

28.02.2026 18:48 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A crisp, modern interior finished in warm-toned stone and tile, with a long, shallow-angles staircase of irregular geometry leading to a second floor.

A crisp, modern interior finished in warm-toned stone and tile, with a long, shallow-angles staircase of irregular geometry leading to a second floor.

And for those who prefer their timeline cleanses to have a more modern feel: The Olivetti Showroom, Venice, by Carlo Scarpa, 1958.

#StaircaseSaturday
#SaturdayStairs

#ComfortInBeauty

28.02.2026 14:15 👍 14 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
A heavily worn flight of stone steps sweeps upward and swerves toward the right, leading to two different arched openings, like a waterfall of stone tumbling down an uneven hillside.

A heavily worn flight of stone steps sweeps upward and swerves toward the right, leading to two different arched openings, like a waterfall of stone tumbling down an uneven hillside.

The news just keeps getting worse, so I’m doubling down on the timeline cleanse.

Wells Cathedral, stairs to chapter house, 13th century.

Also an homage to F.H. Evans’s ’Sea of Steps’.

#StaircaseSaturday
#SaturdayStairs

28.02.2026 14:10 👍 22 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

I stumbled across the hashtag (although it’s not especially widely used), and just happened top have photographed some staircases when photographing buildings. On days like this, it’s just a way of pondering something beautiful as the world burns!

28.02.2026 13:51 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

And another.

I’ve never been to Pittsburgh, but perhaps one day I’ll get to see those!
bsky.app/profile/pete...

28.02.2026 13:47 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0