Faced with the challenges of today's world, urban populations are constantly on the lookout for innovative solutions to improve their quality of life. All too often, it is understood that a better quality of life can only be achieved through regional development. However, this comes with its share of negative externalities: gentrification, increased consumption, widening wealth disparities, etc. It's time to rethink the way we live. It's time to rethink spaces and look beyond development. Our premise is that, in the current context, quality of life can only be improved through degrowth. Our project therefore seeks to rethink the reconversion of spaces by abandoning the growth imperative: it is also possible to fill a need by maintaining a void. The story of the Dickson and Carrières incinerators is part of this trend. Since their closure, several conversion projects have been proposed, but none has seen the light of day. Due to the high costs of demolition and decontamination, the City of Montreal followed the path of least resistance: inaction. As a result, the two buildings have become decaying emblems of the Montreal landscape, a reminder of the city's industrial past and the history of urban waste management. Although they represent unprecedented development potential, the need for such an approach must be questioned. Perhaps inaction wasn't such a bad idea after all...
This inaction, however, poses the problem of the site's inaccessibility and degradation. These elements then serve as the genesis for a new architectural device. Its aim: to appropriate the void without furnishing it, by interfering in the timeline of the buildings. En temps et lieu aims to reaffirm the identity of the buildings and give space back to the community. This identity revolves around two themes: evolution and continuity. Evolution, to reflect different uses over time; continuity, to recall the iconic volumetry of the towers in the Montreal landscapes. The question of temporality is central. The evolution of the buildings and their uses is illustrated in three tableaux, ranging from the near future to the distant future. Over time, the buildings decay, gradually giving way to ruins, but their memory remains through the installation of a steel veil. A void is thus naturally created on the site, but it retains a certain continuity as the emblematic contours of the towers remain anchored in the landscape, allowing an overlap of eras. The steel mesh creates a visual surplus that allows the buildings to take on new singularities and accompany their ageing, while the accumulation of patinas reflects the evolution of the work over time. The result is a blend of the modern and the contemporary, reminding us that the identity of buildings is constantly under construction.
Different uses and their evolution over time are imagined on the outside of the buildings, while their interiors remain untouched. At the Carrières incinerator, a workshop for repairing objects and bartering has been set up, in order to preserve the site's past identity, but in a more sustainable way, in line with a degrowth approach. In a second phase, the site comes alive at night: film screenings on a façade are organized to strengthen ties within the community and showcase culture from near and far. Considering the scarcity of green spaces in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, a great deal of emphasis is placed on vegetation, particularly at Dickson. On this site, rooftop contemplation areas are set up to provide a place for community members to pause and socialize. Over time, the buildings fall into disrepair. At Dickson, fallen debris, like snowflakes, inhabits the site and serves as an unofficial playground for children. Eventually, both sites are reclaimed. Brick and concrete make way for vegetation, but the memory of the incinerators is preserved in steel. The memory of heritage is thus preserved, in time and place.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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