Union Line
The Petit Maghreb neighborhood is home to one of the major shopping streets in the northeast part of the island of Montreal. It spreads along Jean-Talon Street East between Saint-Michel and Pie-IX boulevards. The community is rich in cultural diversity and is home to a large number of families with young children. The neighborhood represents an important landmark for the Maghrebi community in Montreal, an affluence that is directly reflected in the commercial offer of the street.
However, the street is ill-adapted to the fight against climate change and to the reactivity in space in the event of future health crises. The population of the neighborhood is even more vulnerable to social exclusion and segregation in the commercial offer. Finally, the neighbourhood is currently characterized by an eclectic built environment that does not allow for the implementation of generic strategies at the street level, a lack of vegetation and a strong mineralization of the ground that contributes to the formation of heat islands, an absence of equipment that encourages active transportation, a strong presence of cars, and narrow sidewalks that do not allow for the respect of physical distancing standards. The intervention zone presented corresponds to the head of the block of Jean-Talon Street between 14th Avenue and 17th Avenue.
The Trait-D Union project proposes:
- Vegetation of the street to balance the energy input of the buildings and create islands of coolness.
- The replacement of reserved transportation lanes, currently used as parking lots, by modular insertions along the entire street to encourage ephemerality and collaboration between the city and the commercial associations in order to create a craze for Montrealers in the Maghreb district.
- The extension of the sidewalks to the facades combined with the creation of stimulating routes to engage passers-by in the journey.
- A spread of businesses on the sidewalk through seasonally adapted deployments proposing a street that invites itself into the private domain and businesses that extend onto the public space in order to encourage local consumption.
- The development of urban furniture encouraging interaction and gathering in front of facades, a practice already anchored in the Maghrebi community, while respecting a layout that allows for physical distancing.
- The development of plazas at the head of the block allowing for the elimination of parking lots at intersections to create spaces that can be appropriated by the local population, reinforcing their attachment to the neighborhood in order to fight against gentrification in the supply of businesses.
The urban void formed by the blue line extension project is the starting point for multiscalar interventions at the street level and for a remodeling of the mobility of the population that respects the existing buildings. We then observe the mobilization of commercial extensions on the sidewalks encouraging local purchasing, the consolidation of former parking spaces for the benefit of the community and merchants and the appearance of green spaces in the form of plazas. All of this to form a symbiosis between vibrant local businesses and a complete street; a link between the commercial street and our communities.
(Competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
The jury greatly appreciated the lexicon presentation of strategies to deal with a variety of situations.
One of the strengths of the proposal was the simple overall plan to address the climate and health crisis through the greening of sidewalks. The plan has been described as mature and coherent.
Each element (plots) may not be as relevant and coherent as desired, but the juries liked the fact that the many issues of the commercial street and society (cultural, health and environmental) were widely addressed.
The jury expressed appreciation for the attention to detail and refinement of the board, which made it stand out from the other proposals.
(From jury report)
11 scanned / 11 viewable
- Presentation Panel
- Perspective
- Plan
- Section
- Section
- Axonometric Drawing
- Axonometric Drawing
- Axonometric Drawing
- Axonometric Drawing
- Axonometric Drawing
- Axonometric Drawing
