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• 1 2019-11-27T19:00:56-08:00 Symbolism of the interior 7 Reem Siage plain 2019-12-08T10:15:18-08:00 Saint Paul University’s chapel was of great significance to the new facility, as well as the campus of University of Ottawa. With religion being the main value of the university, it had many references to the bible using symbolism within the interior design. The Renaissance style is represented with the pastels around the chapel, the blue on the ceiling contrasting the yellow walls and the white detailing. They compliment the paintings found along a strip that wraps around the room that tell stories of biblical significance, emphasizing historical value. These painting were done between 1942 and 1945 to showcase different episodes of apostle in Saint Paul’s life from the bible. The pale blues and yellows break from the past with new form and expression by combining modernity with biblical times using the Renaissance Style. The colours of the stained-glass windows were chosen to match with the pastels and the colours in the biblical paintings, creating aesthetical value of the chapel. The windows also consist of lozenges that symbolize aspects from the bible, such as the sacrificial lamb, wheat from bread, and the grapes of wine. Aside from historic and religious importance of the windows, they hold artistic value, as a specialist was consulted to better understand how their shapes and colours would play with lights and shadows within the space. This is also shown within the interior, where there is a hidden light only visible from the front of the room that illuminates the most important part of the space; the alter.
  As demonstrated in the analysis, a chapel consists of religious, historical, spiritual, aesthetical, and artistic value. Within a university, it also provides educational values and a safe-space for students who seek guidance during the difficult times that come with school and living away from their families. The chapel of Saint Paul University is found in the heart of the first building, emphasizing its importance using its location. As the campus grew, it no longer had this urban context, as it was pulled away from the centre of the campus. The university started to offer more programs, spreading its students between two buildings. Religion was still valued as seminarian studies held in Laframboise, while the other programs were found in Guiges, the new building named after the Catholic Archdicese of Ottawa. In 1970, there was a decrease in seminarians, creating a gap of a generation that abandoned the church. With this decrease came an uninterest in the study of seminarian, causing a drop of student population at the university. The last seminarian to graduate was 2008, becoming the end of the first chapter of Saint Paul University. The university then opened to a wider variety of people, bringing in students of different social status, cultural views, and religious beliefs. 

  This information was either gotten from personal analysis of the Chapel, or provided on a site visit by Daniel Hurtubise, a historian of Saint Paul University.