Eric Archambault: 1964-2024
May 31, 2024
The Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism community is saddened by the loss of Adjunct Professor Eric Archambault, who died on May 25 at the age of 59. He was a deeply valued teacher at the school for two decades.
“Eric was greatly appreciated as a colleague, a collaborator, and a studio instructor,” said Director Anne Bordeleau. “He has been a dedicated contributor to the school, teaching many studio groups. He was a friend to many of us and a great mentor to his students.”
In recent years, Archambault was part of the teaching team for the fourth-year housing studio and led Option Studios.
During the winter 2024 term, he brought his love of video for placemaking to a fourth-year Option Studio called “Children of Shingwauk Projections.” The immersive project, developed in collaboration with a group at Concordia University, combined storytelling and video projections to honour the memories of Indigenous Elders, storytellers, and survivors.
Archambault was born in Montreal on October 19, 1964. He studied architecture at Carleton University, graduating with a professional Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1988. He went on to complete graduate studies at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1994.
Earlier in his career, he worked for a variety of architectural firms, including Shulim Rubin Architectes, in Montreal, and the Ottawa-based firms of Gary Stunden Architect, Lemay, Dorval, Fortin, Doyle Architects, and Griffiths Rankin Cook Architects.
His family says his true passion was teaching.
Drawn by admiration for the refined craftsmanship of Nordic buildings, Archambault spent several years teaching in Finland as a guest lecturer at the Lahti Polytechnic Institute of Technology and the University of Oulu Dept. of Architecture.
When he returned home, he became a studio instructor in 2005 at the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, where his enthusiasm for design was welcomed.
Archambault also trained as a documentary filmmaker, using film as a design medium and means of visualization for architectural placemaking. He shared this approach with students as well as the broader arts community in Ottawa.
In a message to faculty, Dr. Bordeleau noted “his generous spirit, caring and friendly disposition, and love and commitment for the work he did and those he worked with.”
Archambault died at home in Ottawa surrounded by his family. He will be deeply missed.
