Morgan Hill
Morgan Avenue, the oldest street in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood, is the only thoroughfare in Montreal inspired by the City Beautiful movement. It was built in the heart of a strip of land that once belonged to the Morgan family, formerly bordered on one side by a steep slope and on the other by the St. Lawrence River. These two natural boundaries are now occupied by the Olympic Stadium and the Port of Montreal, respectively.
The perspective of Morgan Avenue, designed by Frederic Gage Todd, stretches from the former Maisonneuve Market to Morgan Park. The presence of Beaux-Arts style buildings in the area bears witness to the era in which it was created. Although the original purpose of these buildings has changed over the years, it was modern urban planning initiatives--notably the creation of Notre-Dame Street--that distorted the concept envisioned by Todd and permanently shattered the promise of a potential connection between Morgan Avenue and the river.
The project, titled La Colline Morgan, is part of an effort to fulfill (renew) this promise and reinterpret it in a contemporary way by constructing a unique pedestrian bridge spanning the harbor, on the one hand, and providing better access to the public sports facilities at Champêtre Park, on the other.
Paradoxically, the project is structured around the use of components from the roof of the Olympic Stadium--which itself was responsible for transforming the landscape at the eastern end of the Morgan Avenue axis, formerly known as Morgan Hill, a site once used for sledding and skiing.
In a salvific gesture, the materials reassembled to the east of Morgan Park create, on the one hand, an architectural landscape--like a hill--that spans Notre-Dame Street and ultimately offers a vast natural space overlooking the harbor and engaging with the river and its expanse. On the other hand, they form a "floating" dome above Champêtre Park, protecting the existing public sports facilities in line with their original purpose. This opens up broader opportunities for sports activities while facilitating their continued use throughout the seasons--particularly in winter--much like the now-defunct Côte Morgan once did.
The resulting civic intervention balances aesthetics and utility and is intended for individuals as well as the city and its surroundings. It thus builds on the City Beautiful movement while establishing itself as a contemporary, sensitive, and sustainable solution for the neighborhood's residents.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
