Reading the city: Montreal and its neighbourhoods

Wednesdays 8:30 am to 10:30 am
Room G-01, Macdonald-Harrington Building
except for walking tours – departure points listed in schedule
Nancy Dunton 514-846-8904 nancy@ndunton.com

Course Description

To intervene, an architect has to understand; to understand one has to know how to read the city. This course is intended to develop both the capacity to read and an understanding of the architecture of Montreal and its context at the level of the neighbourhood. The emphasis will be on the evolution of Montreal architecture as seen from the sidewalk – seven of the thirteen sessions are walking tours.

The class is a lecture-based course – both in class and in situ – that will seek to make the city real for a generation more comfortable in the virtual. The intent is that the history of the city reveals itself over the course of the lectures and visits. Maps from every era will serve as the thread that binds in the course – they will demonstrate the successive layers of construction of the city. Images will help the student understand the form, volume and materials used in each period as well as changes to the character and nature of neighbourhoods.

Significant emphasis will be placed on buildings of the last twenty-five years in the course so as to stress the importance of intervention in the practice of Montreal architects. The course is intended to make students aware of the ‘Montrealness’ of the city.

Objectives

Having completed the course, the student should:

understand how Montreal has evolved over the course of its history
understand the architectural intentions, the forms and materials that characterise the different eras; the socio-cultural context of those eras and how they manifest themselves in different neighbourhoods
be aware of the post-1945 era and the changes in Montreal architecture in the latter half of the 20th century – most particularly the relationship between contemporary architecture and its environment

Format

Each session will present one or more neighbourhoods either in class in a lecture format or in a walking tour which will start from a designated metro station or intersection.

Evaluation

1.	attendance at all sessions – in class and walking tours	10%
2.	a written analysis of an ensemble of buildings in a particular neighbourhood	25%
3.	presentation of recent interventions to the same neighbourhood	25%
4.	termpaper	40%

All assignments must be submitted to complete the course.