Tag Archive for the term: urban planning

What makes Montreal Montreal?
That’s what Steph Troeth and AJ Kandy asked the crowd that gathered at the City Mess last Friday night. We all recognized the images of Saint-Laurent and Mount Royal avenue, but what makes these places so distinct and so dearly loved? According to the urbanist presenters, Montreal is all about the mix: […]

Pictures taken quickly by Ric, our awesome ally and host at Studio 300 from the Indyish Monthlymess showcase going on right now, in Old Montreal. We’re listening to the GriffinTown presentation now - history, architecture, urban planning, a quiet learnin crowd… and Lake of Stew arrived so all the acts are officially accounted for! Ay!

Indyish’s 11th Monthly Mess brings together indie artists and indie urbanists to reflect on our experience of the city. The music, spoken word, film and images presented are all inspired by the artists’ urban experience and, with this unique show, Indyish explores the ways in which art can create collective meaning and contribute to building […]

In the NYC vs X-Mas contest, Williamsburg is waaay ahead. Thanks to ye olde heat-island effect, it’s practically t-shirt weather, without a snowflake in sight. Of course, nobody who lives in this neighbourhood is actually from Williamsburg and anybody who is hung up on Christmas traidtions is likely home for the holidays.
Centered around the Bedford […]

The storefront was brightly lit, the only sign of life on Beaubien East, apart from a few sports bar patrons deflated by the final score (Canadians 1; sabers 4). It was nearly midnight, perhaps past this neighbourhood’s bedtime, but Plan D’Aménagement, a performance piece presented by public art gurus Dare-Dare, was just about to begin.
In […]

According to cleanliness laws in the Plateau Montreal, it is illegal to stick, staple or nail anything to public property. Like the other boroughs that address postering, the Plateau lumps “affichage sauvage” together with graffiti and tagging. This betrays the city’s complete failure to grasp the role of postering, and to address and regulate it in a relevant way.

When I was invited to participate in Design Montreal’s student workshop about the future of Place d’Armes, a historical square in Old Montreal, I expected to be the sole artsy in a room full of technically-trained urban planning students and lanscape architects. Turns out I haven’t seen such an eclectic spectacle since Indyish’s last Monthly […]

I’m usually reluctant to let city planners lose on our precious public spaces - especially ones with great historical significance like Place d’Armes. However, an afternoon spent in the square revealed to me that there is indeed room for improvement in the site’s design. For one thing, the square is disconnected from the urban fabric, an island lost in a sea of traffic and tour busses.

The Parc Sans Nom is cross-hatched off on the borough’s zoning map as a sector “to be built and transformed.” According to Dare-Dare, this means putting up a parking lot…On the other hand, formally converting the site into a city park would hardly be a better way to preserve the spirit of the place. It is because this space is unplanned that is invested it with so much potential.

I am always on the lookout for places that are more than just settings, places that turn up as characters in our lives and in our fictions. My posts will be about the bits of Montreal that feel like art and pieces of art that feel like Montreal.