'What does the built environment say about us as people?'

With Quebec's order of architects pushing for a provincial architecture policy, an Ottawa architect is calling on the federal government to set goals for the whole country.

While Quebec's order of architects is consulting with the Quebec government about a provincial architecture policy, Dreessen says a national policy is also needed.
While Quebec's order of architects is consulting with the Quebec government about a provincial architecture policy, Dreessen says a national policy is also needed. © Jeff Walters/CBC

"It's not so much just about ugly buildings, but really about what does the built environment say about us as a people?" Toon Dreessen told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning. 

The City of Gatineau is one of dozens of municipalities lining up to support the push for a policy in Quebec, but Dreessen said the landscape on Ottawa's side of the river could also benefit from a framework. He cited as an example the acrimonious debate about the site of the Ottawa Hospital's new Civic campus.

"A national architecture policy that creates a framework for siting, for design, might have made that process much shorter," said Dreessen. "We'd have policy objectives that we could test our designs against."

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The Canadian War Museum is a 'spectacular building,' according to Ottawa architect Toon Dreessen. But he says that too often, price dictates what gets built, and a national architecture policy is needed to promote more great buildings.
The Canadian War Museum is a 'spectacular building,' according to Ottawa architect Toon Dreessen. But he says that too often, price dictates what gets built, and a national architecture policy is needed to promote more great buildings. © www.warmuseum.ca