Radio-Canada visits the new buildings going up beside the Monument-National incorporating dead-looking fragments of the façades of buildings that used to stand there. Essentially they are, of course, glass boxes, meant to house government functionaries – just what you want in a Quartier des spectacles.
Updates from February, 2019 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Montreal high school kids followed in the footsteps of people their age around the world Friday with a march for the climate.
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Kate
The city likes to attract TV and movie productions, but also likes it when they pay their bills.
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Kate
After Téo Taxi, other Alexandre Taillefer projects are seen to be flagging.
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Kate
Radio-Canada has some details of changes to come on McGill College Avenue.
DeWolf
I like those recommendations. It’s a more nuanced and granular approach than simply creating a single big plaza from PVM to McGill.
qatzelok
It seems that any arricle describing the opening up of an area to pedestrians and greenery, is followed by comments (from the same posters) asking: “But where can I park my car?”
The commenter will often then go on to blame lack of parking for businesses that have closed in the last ten years.
For these commenters: It’s so easy to drive and park in Beloeil, Blainville and Chateauguay. Why not simply drive to those places instead? Is it because when you get there, it’s just dead asphalt?
jeather
Seems to make sense. It’s not a terribly busy street anyhow, and why would anyone ask about parking, as the street has none?
Ian
There’s actually a fairly large parking garage on McGill but I guess they will rejig the entrance somehow.
Faiz Imam
The PMV is already being modified to shift the entrance to the underground lot to the sides, there will be a massive staircase in the middle instead. Which fits in perfectly with whatever sort of square we end up with: https://placevillemarie.com/assets/images/futurs-escaliers2.jpg
Keeping a lane open from St cath to Kennedy, but cutting it off from Cathcart to Sherbrooke is actually a fascinating idea that I had never considered.
It should greatly reduce traffic from the North taking College down to cathcart to get to Bonaventure highway, while keeping access open for the parking garage inside the eaton’s center, as well as for local cars who need to turn around.
Closing the whole thing off completely would be quite disruptive to the street grid. This compromise at face value seems like an excellent idea.
I’m just hoping they don’t go crazy with the amount of trees. Having a good view of the mountain seems to me the highest priority.
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Kate
Some notes on driving this weekend.
Apparently we’ll have some snow Friday morning, followed by rain after midday, and then a plunge back down below freezing again in the evening, so driving (and walking) conditions may make getting around kind of interesting too.
Blork
It’s endless. Tuesday night was insanely bad for walking around my place, because all that very cold and smooth ice had a fresh layer of fluffy snow on it. So you couldn’t see the ice, and when you stepped on it the snow was like a lubricant. Oddly, yesterday was not slippery at all; it seems like the ice had developed a rough texture and the snow on top was hard packed, so there was grip. (That didn’t stop me from wiping out on rue MacKay yesterday…) I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like tomorrow.
Plus there’s the problem of flat-roofed houses (like mine) with 40cm of snow on top and then rain, Yikes!
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Kate
There’s a crucifix in the council chamber at city hall, just as there is in the National Assembly, both put up in 1937 – an interesting point, religious trappings being installed just as religious faith was widely starting to fade. (The U.S. saw something similar, with “under God” being added to its pledge in the 1950s; Canada lagged, adding God to the English version of the national anthem only in the 1980s.)
City hall will soon be closed for renovations and council sessions moved next door to the old courthouse for three years. Should the crucifix move with the council and be put up in the Édifice Lucien-Saulnier for the duration, then return to the council chamber when work is complete? Or should it quietly vanish, maybe going to the city archives or a history museum?
Blork
I am training my brain to switch “God” for “Doug” whenever I see or hear the word. It’s almost fully automatic by now. Thank Doug for that! (OMD I did it just there!)
jeather
I will eat my hat if they don’t keep the totally not religious! why would you even think otherwise? crucifix.
Chris
And don’t forget the “supremacy of God” in the Constitution’s preamble.
It’s the perfect opportunity to get rid of the bloody thing. A museum or similar would be a great place. The Ass Nat has mini museum/display in the entrance areas before tours, that would be a great place for the other one.
qatzelok 11:46 on 2019-02-16 Permalink
The architects have incorporated the old facades along St Lawrence in a way that symbolizes disrespect for architecture. And the result is very ugly – like some kind of failed, kitschy brutalism.
Christopher DeWolf 12:03 on 2019-02-16 Permalink
Brutalism is a specific genre of architecture, not just shorthand for any kind of building you don’t like.
I’m not a fan of the particular blue tint of the glass, but I don’t mind the way the historic façade was reconstructed. Apparently it would have been impossible to rebuild the old façades exactly as they were, because somebody screwed up and pieces were degraded in storage, so the architects chose to remix the historic materials in a way that acknowledged the past without trying to mimic it. Assuming it was indeed impossible to rebuild the old structures, this is an elegant workaround that avoids Disneyland-style fakery.
Also, this complex will contain a new home for the Centre d’histoire, as well as a large food hall with bars and restaurants, so it’s not exactly out of place in the QdS.
Su 13:13 on 2019-02-16 Permalink
Yaccarini and his “non profit ” . https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/grand-montreal/200910/30/01-916624-trois-edifices-phares-confies-a-un-homme-au-passe-criminel.php. Appalling .
Myles 19:05 on 2019-02-16 Permalink
Facadism can work, but that’s such a poor job it’s insulting to the public’s intelligence. The honest thing to do would have been to throw out the stone. There’s nothing really left of those old buildings.
qatzelok 19:54 on 2019-02-16 Permalink
Actually, there was lots of stone left. And the ones missing could have been filled in.
Now, a strip club is the nicest facade on that strip other than the MN.
But this is forced “podium” design, and the raw cement-infill looks like a Brutalism facade after it’s begun to disintegrate. Brutalism – as well as a trend – is also a strategy for creating the cheapest exterior treatment imaginable.
The windows that are “punched in” are an insult to the profession of architecture. The facade also recalls awful shopping mall “design tricks.”
Alex L 00:10 on 2019-02-17 Permalink
That stretch of the street sure lost its soul with that project.
Kate 13:03 on 2019-02-17 Permalink
Alex L, yes, it did. Johnny Zoumboulakis is a culture hero.