Actualité 03.05.2013

VISITS – Nancy Dunton – "As Seen from the Sidewalk: The Architecture of Downtown Montreal"

Curious about what that building is, how parts of the downtown evolved?

Starting each week from the Roddick Gates, this course offers four walks that look at four different areas of downtown and the buildings that are part of them. Participants will be encouraged to look at buildings and to read the language of their architecture – what material they were built in, whether buildings are set back from the sidewalk, where front doors are located. The context and the story of each of the four neighbourhoods will also be explored.

Thursday May 23, 2013:  The McGill Campus – a two-hour walk followed by an in-class discussion. How has the design of buildings on the McGill campus changed from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day?  What role did the different buildings play in the evolution of the University? What is the importance of the campus within the downtown core?

Thursday May 30, 2013: The Square Mile Grand houses were built on the slopes of Mount Royal at the end of the nineteenth century in a whole gamut of architectural expressions from the Italianate of 1860s Ravenscrag to the Richardsonian Romanesque of the 1897 Lady Meredith house.  How and why Montreal architects designed these houses is the focus of this walk.

Thursday June 6, 2013: Milton-Parc.  Montreal’s residential architecture –the triplex, the rowhouse, the apartment building – are explored in a neighbourhood that has undergone significant change but still retains its sense of community.

Thursday June 13, 2013: Downtown Montreal – This walk will emphasize the grand projects of the 1960s and will move from Place Ville Marie to Place des Arts as a way of understanding not only their architectural significance but the role they played in redefining Montreal’s downtown.

Walks will take place rain or shine. Walks will last three hours and will finish back at the starting point. The Square Mile walk includes some uphill walking and good shoes are a must.

Facilitator

Nancy Dunton has been active in the field of management of organizations and architectural projects since 1981. She received her degree in Commerce from McGill University in 1991. With Arcop Associates, Architects, she was involved in projects such as Maison Alcan and No. 1 Wood Avenue as well as being responsible for office administration and promotion. In 1990, Nancy Dunton joined the Société de Promotion du Centre de Commerce Mondial as the coordinator responsible for design and construction of the Hotel Inter-Continental. From 1992 to 1997, she was executive director of Heritage Montreal, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the protection of Montreal’s built heritage.”

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(Source: PACE)