As Portland’s cement industry bloomed at the turn of the 1900s and architects became increasingly tired of conventional materials, Montreal became something of a playground for concrete experimentation.
France Vanlaethum, emeritus professor of architecture at the University of Montreal’s School of Design unfolds the city’s love of liquid stone in the Blue Crow Media’s latest architecture map.
Vanlaethum leaves no concrete block left unturned, highlighting the most daring architects to operate within the city between 1913 and 1986. From Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 – the instantly recognisable model community on the Marc-Drouin Quay – to Roger Taillibert’s monolithic Olympic Stadium, constructs of all shapes and sizes are brought into the fold.
Photography by architectural photographer Raphaël Thibodeau accompanies Supergroup Studios’ minimalist map design, emphasising the raw nature of the material with cold washed-out imagery. Teasing shots of the Église Saint-Maurice-de-Duvernay, Silo No. 5 and the futurist Verdun Station inspire city locals and visitors alike to discover every site featured between Angringnon and Nouveau-Rosement.
RELATED STORY
A total of 56 buildings are featured with construction dates, associated firms and locations, creating a comprehensive guide to the city’s brutalist architectural landscape. Concrete Montreal Map / Carte Montréal Béton is the 20th architecture-themed city map published by Blue Crow Media, following recent chartings of Los Angeles, Boston and Berlin. For fans of Australian concrete architecture, Concrete Melbourne Map is out later this summer.
Habitat 67 by Moshe Safdie; David, Barott, Boulva
Place Desjardins by Société La Haye-Ouellet; Longpré, Marchand, Goudreau; Blouin et Blouin; Gauthier, Guité, Roy; Ouellet et Reeves
Verdun station by Jean-Marie Dubé
INFORMATION
Concrete Montreal Map / Carte Montréal Béton, £8, published by Blue Crow Media
-
Audi launches AUDI, a China-only sub-brand, with a handsome new EV conceptThe AUDI E previews a new range of China-specific electric vehicles from the German carmaker’s new local sub-brand
-
Inside Izza Marrakech: A new riad where art and bohemian luxury meetHonouring the late Bill Willis’ hedonistic style, Izza Marrakech fuses traditional Moroccan craftsmanship with the best of contemporary art
-
Clocking on: the bedside analogue timepieces that won’t alarm your aestheticWe track down the only tick-tocks that matter, nine traditional alarm clocks that tell the time with minimum fuss and maximum visual impact
-
Soviet brutalist architecture: beyond the genre's striking imageSoviet brutalist architecture offers eye-catching imagery; we delve into the genre’s daring concepts and look beyond its buildings’ photogenic richness
-
Is Rochester Street Office a creative worker’s dream? Inside a Sydney workspace echoing calmness and lightRochester Street Office by Allied_Office merges utilitarian design with cascading vegetation, presenting a thriving environment for creativity and collaboration
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
‘Brutalist Plants’ is a new monograph capturing the best of eco-brutalism'Brutalist Plants,' the new book by Olivia Broome, captures concrete architecture engulfed with nature
-
All hail the power of concrete architecture‘Concrete Architecture’ surveys more than a century’s worth of the world’s most influential buildings using the material, from brutalist memorials to sculptural apartment blocks
-
Three Object Apartment embraces raw concrete honesty in the heart of AthensThree Object Apartment by DeMachinas is a raw concrete home in Athens, which confidently celebrates its modernist bones
-
Giovanni Michelucci’s dramatic concrete church in the Italian DolomitesGiovanni Michelucci’s concrete Church of Santa Maria Immacolata in the Italian Dolomites is a reverently uplifting memorial to the victims of a local disaster
-
This 1970s brutalist house in Belgium has a new life as a designer’s home and studio1970s brutalist house Villa Stuyven is now home to creative couple Bram Kerkhofs and Lore Baeyens, providing a concrete-lined backdrop to a life of design and collaboration
