Ottawa, une capitale en quête de monumentalité.

Abstract

Ottawa's urban morphology has evolved according to the dominating functions of the city. Born from a military building site and shortly after transformed into an industrial center, it is since 1857 Canada's capital. We were interested in the official vocation of this seat of government and to the process that aims at recording its symbolic role into space. In fact, we attempted to see how Ottawa-Hull's political function had materialized, and if, in doing so, the city had become monumental. Rome, Paris and Washington were used as examples of cities where monumentality was expressed. The federal government's interest in planning the capital was revealed as early as the announcement of the Queen's Choice. The governmental intervention was discontinuous, but nevertheless ascending, and culminated with Greber's 1950 report. Noulan Cauchon's importance, an individual little known in Ottawa-Hull's planning history, was revealed in the course of this work. Following the regional authorities' intervention in the 1970's in the national capital region, the federal government has gradually retired its planning initiatives.