Montreal City Weblog

Kate 09:06 on 2020-08-31 Permalink Reply  

• CE 10:13 on 2020-08-31 Permalink

  I’m surprised that buildings in that style were still being built into the 1940s. I thought that the mansard roofs and all the ornamentation had died out by then.

• JoeNotCharles 10:41 on 2020-08-31 Permalink

  Of those images:

  #2 looks ridiculous, being able to see right through it

  #5 is borderline. You can’t really tell from the angle in the photograph how obvious it is that this is just a facade, but I know from seeing it in person that it’s clearly just a shell. It’s not as bad looking as #2 though, so I’m divided on whether it’s stupid or interesting in this case.

  #1 I like, because it’s a freestanding structure it feels like a solid building that’s there for architectural interest, not just a facade. I wouldn’t want this to become a huge trend though – once or twice it’s interesting (especially if they keep a different part of the church in each instance) but if every project has a bit of church sticking out it will stop being original.

  #4 I wouldn’t even call facade-ism – these buildings are still in use. Great use of the existing style IMHO. (Not a big fan of the blocky look of the new condo behind it but keeping the older houses mitigates that a bit.)

  #2 and #6 – Can’t really tell since they’re still under construction but it looks like the facades are going to be integrated into the new buildings like in #4, not slapped on like #2 and #5, so looks fine to me.

• DeWolf 11:09 on 2020-08-31 Permalink

  CE, I’m thinking there’s something wonky with the rôle foncier’s entry on that building. I have come across other buildings that are clearly quite old but have strangely recent construction dates listed in the rôle.

• DeWolf 11:12 on 2020-08-31 Permalink

  I’ve always thought the most egregious examples of façadism were the old façades glued to the St-Antoine side of the Palais des Congrès.

• Kate 11:45 on 2020-08-31 Permalink

  JoeNotCharles, they did something similar to #2 in my neighbourhood. Like École Baril, École Saint-Gérard had to be razed to the ground after decades of neglect, so they put up a brand new building and preserved a stone arch from the original façade in the same way, separated from the building, more like a piece of sculpture than an architectural element.

• CE 12:45 on 2020-08-31 Permalink

  @DeWolf, I used to think the same thing until they put up that building on St-Laurent between Café Cléopâtre and the Monument National.

• DeWolf 13:34 on 2020-08-31 Permalink

  I know those are controversial but at least an attempt was made to recontextualize them, rather than pretending they’re still the same old buildings that existed before.