Building Reflections

10 August 2009By Zhu 13 Comments

Ottawa’s city center is basically divided into the business district and the touristic district. And one thing I absolutely love in the former is the huge buildings with mirror-like facades.

These buildings reflect anything: the sky, the clouds, other buildings, passersby… Walking around this part of the city, around federal government ministries, feels like walking in a ghost town or a twisted mirror-maze. It’s impossible to see anything inside yet we are feeling watched! Looking at my own pictures, I can barely tell which building was a reflection and which building was actually in front of me.

Apparently, these buildings use the heat-mirror technology: a glazing system that provides high light transmission, low solar heat gain and low heat loss. Makes sense considering Ottawa is the coldest capital in the world…

13 Comments »

Seb said:

Awesome! Ottawa is on my ‘to visit’ list

makes me want to take some pics of the Phoenix downtown, has some cool buildings from the 20s to the 50s that are quite fun.
Seb´s last blog ..Benefits of Smoking.

# 15 August 2009 at 3:48 pm

Cuckoo said:

Those are some amazing reflections Zhu ! I didn’t know Ottawa could be so beautiful.
One more thing……. they really clean the exteriors of buildings.

I am late here because I was traveling.
Cuckoo´s last blog ..Palanquins at Elehanta Caves

# 15 August 2009 at 2:58 pm

Zhu (author) said:

@Tulsa Gentleman – You have a nice picture too! I love these mirror maze… that’s something I can’t find in Europe !

@shionge – I’d be scared too! It happened to my mum a few years ago, fortunately she wasn’t hurt.

@Adam – I had never thought of that! Poor birds… no wonder there are none downtown!

@Scarlet – Ottawa is very clean, especially for a big city!

@Seraphine – Yes, exactly! Although on bad hair day, I avoid looking into these buildings.

@kyh – I have always been told Ottawa was the coldest!

@Linguist-in-Waiting – You know what, I had been told that so many times, I actually believed it. But you are a right, apparently Ottawa only ranks 7th because we do have hot summer. Damn! No bragging rights!