In conversation with the women
Introduction
The nature of the public square is an opportunity for an ongoing dialogue between the place, the public, and the city through the narrative of prominent historic women figures of Montreal. The purpose of the place is defined through its location, at the threshold between the modern part of the city and the historic town, linking time and space, contemporary and historic landscapes.
A key feature of the proposal is a series of "contemporary monuments in conversation" dedicated to the commemoration of the women who have played an important role in the city's history and development. These pieces will create an active spatial and cultural dialogue to resonate with Montreal's culture in the past and present. Each monument will be a commission for a contemporary woman artist who has a meaningful relation to these historical figures. They will be positioned on higher platforms and will appear to be speaking in public and conversing with one another across the space and with the visitors. The lower platforms will serve as an open stage for visitors to participate the public space and the ongoing dialogue. A dynamic cultural program around this space including exhibitions, performances, screenings, concerts, and outdoor film programs will be developed to commemorate and celebrate the women of Montreal's past and present.
Welcoming point / Gathering Place
Champ de Mars metro station will be the major point of arrival for meeting before proceeding to discover the attractions of the Old Montreal. The project prioritises the Rue Sainte Élisabeth metro exit as the place for gathering, taking advantage of the grand view on axis with the City Hall and activating the square as a transition space from the new city to the old. The Rue Sanguinet metro exit is designed as a space of quick passage with the larger trees buffering the turbulence of the winds at the footsteps of the monumental cityscape.
Space for Discovery
It is a place for discovery of the origins of Montreal - a place inhabited by Mohawks, a society in which women played a key role in public life. The proposal evokes the site's ecological past, celebrates the best attributes of plant life, and invites visitors to slow down, look closely, and ask questions. The design is climate change resilient using sustainable materials and planting as well as strategies of sustainable urban drainage systems.
Views of the Marcelle Ferron glassworks and the monumental cityscape
The design aims to maximise views towards the metro glassworks from the Champ-de-Mars and all areas of the site and to position all other elements in a strategic way to open up the views. The glassworks acts as a major landmark helping people to navigate through the landscape.
Challenges pertaining to the slab and the different levels
The center of the site leaves in place a trace of the highway - a layer in the history of Montreal and a scar to the urban fabric that has been made and a greater one that was avoided. In its new vocation, the sloped slab has a very thin sheet of water running across it, reflecting the dynamic changes of the landscape and the skies; creating a poetic and playful space. This new surface pays homage to the monumentality of its scale as a piece of found urban landscape that allows the public to reappropriate it as a platform for art and civic expression. Lateral loads on the side walls of the highway slab are avoided by a separate retaining structure containing the works on the southern portion of the site.
Appropriation of the space by users
The space is activated by maximising its use not only as a transition space from the metro to the Old City but also as a new public place for commemoration, a zone with meandering paths to discover this new landscape, siting on the slopes and appreciating the grand views of Montreal. The proposal offers a sensorial variety of spaces - from a shaded permeable hardscape suited for large gatherings, a zone with mobile furniture that allows visitors to appropriate the space, a café for a snack on the way, a labyrinth of forms for children to climb and play, wooden paths through the soft carpet of the forest floor, a space for a hockey ring in the winter, a potential for a food market and urban community garden.
(From competitor's text)
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