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McGill School of Architecture MSoA — ARCH673

Site

The "City Below the Hill"
by Charles Acton-Morin, Olivia Janiszewsky, Mathias Madelein & Julien Rozon

The second component of research was the site, considered at various scales and viewpoints. Located in the South-West borough of Montreal, Little Burgundy is the cradle of the Black community in Quebec, and in Canada aside from the Maritimes. Site analysis investigated ecology, environmental conditions, the built environment, transformations, zoning, the extended south-west, landmarks, mobility and program. The specific site of inquiry: the former NCC property, located at 2035 Rue Coursol. 

More than thirty years after the NCC/Charles H. Este Cultural Centre closed its doors, the western wall of the century-old building collapsed, forcing the board to declare bankruptcy and sell the remains of the building to a private condo developer in 2014. Until now, unable to build rental units due to the zoning, the lot remains fenced and inaccessible to the public, displaying the void left by the demolished institution to passersby.

“This was a precious place to us all. A home away from home, it was a safe haven where people could learn and be together.” 

Just South of the Georges-Vanier metro on Coursol St. in Little Burgundy, the site where the NCC once stood up leaves an important scar in the urban fabric.

Site plans 

Located at the corner of the block including George-Vanier’s metro aedicula, the site frames the Oscar-Peterson Park and hosts different public infrastructures. Surrounded by social housings which were implemented during the late 20^th century’s urban renewal projects, the lot transitions from the Ville-Marie Expressway to the Promenade de la Petite Bourgogne. Coursol and Canning streets being one-ways, car traffic around the site is minimal, allowing pedestrians to prevail. These characteristics, as shown by the results of the workshop, puts the former NCC site as an anchor point in the neighbourhood’s soft mobility.

Being unattended since the demolition of the institution, plants took over the new topography, covering rubbles and litter to display a lush greenery. The identified plants, mostly considered as weeds, grow rapidly undisturbed, with fully sunlight and properly drained terrain.  

More recently, planters have been placed along the fence perimeters, suggesting the community’s interest in taking advantage of the vacant lot.

Displaying a mostly green & reddish palette, the identified species bloom from March to October and most of them have edible elements and medicinal properties.

As emphasized by participants during the community workshop, the neighbourhood lacks public gardening spaces, explaining the lot’s border hosting various planters. Although two community gardens can be found at walking distance, providing the necessary infrastructure to grow and harvest, both locations are coveted and places are limited which restricts the number of community members to use the facilities.

The ±900m² lot, following a North-West/South-West orientation, will mostly be shaded by the West neighbouring buildings, therefore receiving the most energy from the South-South-East sun. Although they cast a noticeable shadow in winter, they also shield the site from the dominant winds coming from the West for the better part of the year.

The immediate field of views from the former NCC site constitutes mostly social housings, the Ville-Marie Expressway, the Ste-Cunégonde Church steeples’ and multiple condominium towers.

Since 1914, Little Burgundy has undergone many drastic urban changes. It is identified as a working-class and post-industrial neighbourhood, caused by its proximity to the city’s core and major industrial occupancies. Extensive urban renewal operations reshaped the neighbourhood, creating architectural and demographic tensions over the remaining context. The figure above highlights the changes overtime and the projected areas of intervention by the city, exposing the untouched against the repeatedly targeted.

Today, surrounding the site, where the NCC once existed, resides an abundance of residential spaces compared to commercial or public buildings that ultimately surround Oscar Peterson Park. When speaking with the community, although the park is beautiful and well kept, it sees little action besides the basketball court.

During the community workshop conducted in January 2023 at Youth in Motion, a staff member explained the lack of safety he felt growing up in Little Burgundy: “I wasn’t allowed to cross Des Seigneurs St. growing up”.

Before the urban renewal in 1966, there were a larger variety of commercial, residential, communal and cultural buildings in the neighbourhood.

Spaces such as CLSC and various Black owned businesses were among these and generated a higher traffic. This fact could be at the origin of the lower crime rate reported at that time.

When walking through Little Burgundy, it is hard not to notice the discrepancy in the morphology of single family homes and social housing that was separated by George-Vanier street. 

In the diagram above, you can see the relationship between single family homes and modernist social housing projects. Over the years, the area of Little Burgundy to the left of George-Vanier street has been taken over by multiple renovations, therefore, creating a strong divide.

Domestic typologies raise many distinct relationships to the street and have each of their qualities and flaws. The podium allows the inhabitants a significant level of privacy away from the street, detaching the immediate outdoor space from the artery, however, accessible to the neighbours. Conversely, townhouses have doorways directly onto the sidewalk, increasing activity with the immediate exterior. These typologies generally feature private outdoor courtyards.

The east and west division of Georges-Vanier St. is strongly marked by the finesse of the dwellings where on the one hand, we find dull and raw environments and, on the other multicoloured and ornamented domestic spaces.

However, when speaking with members of the community that have lived in social housing for their entire lives, this does not bother them. They enjoy watching the homes around them being redone as it inspires them to ask the government to ensure their homes are well maintained as well. The housing typologies elevate many various relationships towards the street. For example, the social housing facing Oscar Peterson Park is where one of the Youth In Motion members’ home is and he was proud to say the government gave funding to redo the roof and facades. Therefore, more morphologies of incoming buildings in the area means not only will the visual divide lessen, but the community divide will as well.