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The architectural ruins that William Lyon Mackenzie King built at his Kingsmere estate defy simple explanation. Today, they are used for everything from picnics to ghost tours to wedding photos. But for King himself, they were hallowed ground. He read poetry among them, buried his beloved dogs there, and even considered having himself buried there. The ruins’ existence seems like an act of extreme eccentricity (to put it politely).

But ruins have their own inner logic and history – not just as individual monuments, but as an idea that has haunted and sparked the imagination for centuries. This presentation will explore the long imaginative tradition in which Mackenzie King’s ruins are situated, how that tradition came to Canada, and the seminal moments when King’s life intersected with it.

SPEAKER: Peter Coffman is an architectural historian and Associate Professor in Carleton University’s History & Theory of Architecture program. He specializes in the architecture of the Middle Ages and its revivals. He is the author of the book Newfoundland Gothic, as well as numerous scholarly articles in Canadian and European periodicals and books. He has also written about buildings in several newspapers and magazines, and can usually be counted on to speak up when a controversial architectural issue arises in Ottawa. He has degrees from the University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University, York University, and Queen’s University. He is also an award-winning photographer and in his spare time, he served two terms as president of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada and on the Board of Heritage Ottawa.

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