Aesop Rideau Centre

Slender, handmade tiles in mottled herbal hues form an unceasing grid along the walls. Recessed shelving reinforces the lines while rhythmic concaves become unexpected places of passage and pause.

The circular ramp within the rectilinear envelope of Ottawa’s Train Station, designed by mid-century modern architect John B. Parkin, provided a departure point for our internal design department at Rideau Centre. Looking to Aldo Van Eyck’s plays on pure geometries in his contemporaneous Sculpture Pavilion, the store explores the intersections between lines and curves.