À l’ombre de Paris, Coloniale Street, YH2, architects, 2001

A few steps down the road, we see a porte cochère from the 19th century. A bright yellow portal attracts our attention, and in an instant we have changed eras. From the outside this house tells us little, but at the same time indicates the contemporary era. The house enters into dialogue with our curiosity and our questions of being at home, today, in the city.

Hôtel de Ville Street

The balconies are the same - we could even have a conversation with the neighbours - but the gesture is contemporary, and combines multiple eras. Behind the chequer-patterned brick, one can observe the street without being seen.

Twin House, Laval Street, Build architects, 1997

Separating twins can be a difficult task… And living vertically in a tight spot wouldn’t prevent us from moving around with ease. Taking a few steps back, we notice fir trees growing on the roof… maybe a communal garden?

Maison Coloniale, Jacques Rousseau, architect, 1990

The house dominates the horizon between city and sky. One wonders what lies behind this fortress-like façade. A spiral stairway is observed, stemming out from where the vineyards grow. Where does it lead?

A feeling of vertigo grows within, looking at this door perched above the void. How do we dwell in this unusual house? How does it reveal itself to the city; what does it tell us about it?

Observing every detail on the façade, the concrete appears less austere, as we slowly imagine a carefully-crafted work.

A private garden that resembles a passage.

A concrete wall divides cars from nature. On one side, there is the garden and on the other, the city. The ground treatment is different: you can imagine yourself at home, behind this wall, in the shade created by trees.

Being nested in the city, intimacy, public and private, interstitial spaces, neighbours, light, nature, openings, doors, sidewalks, thresholds, past and present, materials, street, culture, city, architect…

These are some of the words and ideas brought up in the first part of the Some Ideas on Living in Montréal program for college and university students. Integrating these words during a tour of the exhibition, students discover living spaces conceived by architects in London and Tokyo. They then leave the CCA to explore five contemporary urban houses, ingeniously designed in tight urban lots in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood of Montréal. The words and ideas remain the same, but the city is changed - it is their city.

The houses presented during the walk include Maison Coloniale (Jacques Rousseau, architect); À l’ombre de Paris, (YH2, architects); Twin House, (atelier BUILD, architects); Box House, (atelier BUILD, architects); and Pavot Rouge, (YH2, architects).

Before launching the program, the CCA’s Educational Services team embarked on a walking tour of the Plateau Mont-Royal. Beginning tomorrow, we’ll be presenting some “field notes” on the tour based on first impressions, and we encourage you to do the same.

If you took part in the program, post your own impressions and/or images of the tour on this website. Or if you simply have some ideas to share on the neighbourhood, we’d love to see them too.

Photo by Anne-Claire Richard © Canadian Centre for Architecture.

We’re pleased to announce that the catalogue accompanying the Some Ideas exhibition is now available in the CCA Bookstore. In addition to their individual contributions, the book includes a conversation between Stephen Taylor, Ryue Nishizawa, and Giovanna Borasi, as seen in this image. Peter Allison, a professor at London South Bank University, situates the architects’ work in context in his essay “City, Courtyard, House,” while the projects and the exhibition itself are depticted through numerous colour images.

Co-published by the CCA and Lars Müller, the catalogue is available in English or French for $29.90 (CAD) through the CCA Bookstore.

Photo by Michel Legendre © Canadian Centre for Architecture.

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In the Moriyama House gallery, a little girl was wide-eyed. While half-listening to explanations of the exhibition, she was envisioning the vast array of possibilities for hiding places inside and outside the house, even within the urban sprawl of Tokyo.

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Two women from Montréal discussed the important concerns of urban space explored in both the work of Stephen Taylor and Ryue Nishizawa. They broached issues of comfort, cost, and notions of the individual within the collective. We were immersed in various discussions throughout the entire visit.

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A young researcher from Paris was keenly drawn to the architectural resolutions presented in the galleries. He wondered whether certain projects shown in the exhibition were contributing to the gentrification of neighbourhoods such as London’s East End. After mentioning the theme of the preceding CCA exhibition on the oil crisis of 1973, he was reminded of his experience of living in East Pasadena, Los Angeles. His impressions described an aggressive configuration of urban space lacking in public transport. Regarding projects of both architects in the galleries, he recalled how hard it is to live in East Pasadena without a car. This consequently robs the city of its social architecture, as people prefer gathering in their homes to socialize with friends.

The (B)log On to Some Ideas event this past Saturday during the Journées de la culture generated some interesting discussion around the uses of social media and blogging, on such topics as:

Why we blog; how we can maintain an openness to multiple voices and opinions that may diverge from our own; the melding of public and private spheres; how we sort through the noise of content on the Internet; and how or what archivists will conserve for the future.

And despite the participants’ online activeness, all seemed to appreciate the importance of face to face interaction that is possible in an informal discussion such as this one.

For a thread of the conversation, see onelinr.

Thanks again to Fady Atallah, Mouna Andraos, Véronique Boisjoly, Steven Mansour, Christine Préfontaine, and Evan Prodromou for the discussion and to all those in attendance for your participation and comments.

We’ll be sure to do this again.

Photo by Isabelle Petit © Canadian Centre for Architecture.

The activity begins with an invitation to children to express their ideas of a house in the city, after which they are led on a discovery of Some Ideas on Living in London and Tokyo by Stephen Taylor and Ryue Nishizawa.

As they visit the exhibition, they are introduced to what architects do, that is, to imagine and design living spaces - sometimes in unusual places - using drawings and models.

The children are then invited to build their own houses in the city using a very simple construction element: sugar cubes.

Immersed in an atmosphere of play, their imaginations lead the way as they learn how to make architectural models.

The activity ends as the sugar houses are joined to create an entire neighbourhood: we learn to live together in the city, with gardens growing between the houses.

If you’d like to register for the last Sugar Houses activity on 19 October, please call 514 939 7026. The cost is $10 per family (max: 2 adults).

Photos by Michel Boulet © Canadian Centre for Architecture.

Lars Müller is co-publisher of the catalogue that accompanies the Some Ideas exhibition.

In this excerpt from his lecture at the CCA last Thursday, If this was not the End, what is the Future of Print?, the maverick publisher and graphic designer describes his concept for the catalogue, in which he has sought to pursue the idea of a conversation between the architects and the CCA, as evident in the exhibition.

The CCA also collaborated with Lars Müller on the exhibition catalogues Sense of the City (2005) and Herzog & de Meuron: Natural History (2002). The Some Ideas publication, due out any minute, will be available through the CCA Bookstore.

Hope to see you there!

A special event this Saturday from 4 to 7 pm as part of Journées de la culture, with video projections, music and coffee as well as free access to the exhibitions Some Ideas on Living and Will Alsop: OCAD, An Urban Manifesto.

Bring your laptop and log on to the new Wi-Fi network at the CCA.

From 4:30 to 6 pm, Fady Atallah and Mouna Andraos will lead a discussion about online media and social activism.

Fady Atallah is Director of Bluesponge creative agency, Montréal. Mouna Andraos is an electronic artist and designer working in Montréal and New York.

Admission is free.