Montreal Parkway Montreals International Gateway Corridor (MIGC) will be transformed within the next 20 years. Old industrial areas Surrounding the gateway will transform into new urban areas. This process provides a great opportunity to design a whole new scenographic experience: the Gateway as a sequence of scenes which reveals the story and identity of Montreal and functions as a new city entrance. Our proposal introduces a strategy to transform the MIGC into a contemporary parkway which connects Montreal¬Trudeau Airport and the downtown area.
From landfill to parkhill What would Montreal be without Mont Royal? The Parc du Mont Royal,designed by Frederic Olmsted, provides beautiful views and offers visitors stunning vistas on the city. We want to introduce a contemporary version: Polluted soil coming from the the vast area of brownfields, estimated around 1 million square meters, will be stored in landfills and finally develop into new parkhills along the gateway. They will refer to the existing number of current landfills and industrial hills along the MIGC.
The parkhills will play a significant role. Not only from the perspective of the A20 but also for the existing and future residential and industrial areas, which will be connected with these parkhills. Together with the Mount Royal a counterpart of the Underground City will arise: The Higher City. Connected with views on the main landscape features like the Lachine Channel, Côte-Saint-Luc yard and Fleuve st Lauren, The Higher City provides views and lush green parks for recreational purposes in these new city parts.
10000 maple trees The perception of Montreal from the MIGC by car is currently fragmented and diffuse. To generate a new welcoming environment in the corridor area Scenographic design principles can be very helpful.
Understood as tree different zones: the front as a rapid moving and blurry, the back which is motionless and the in-between which is sharply moving we propose a following landscaping principle. By planting 4 species of maple trees in the front a coherent visual net forms not only a visual frame for the Metropolis to distinguish itself, but trees will also be a functional substitute for large concrete sound barriers. Noise CO2 and fine dust particles are collected and buffered by an iconic sea of maple trees which will change during the season from yellow to red. Gradually changing densities result into different views from permeable and transparent (10 trees/ha) showing characteristic buildings and cityparts, creating a moiré effect (40 trees/ha) into dense and closed (64 trees/ha). The parkhills will be the landscape features in the background moving slow and sometimes motionless.
New city parks The new parkhills, named after the surrounding districts, will transform in time and function as parks for the new mixed cityparts. Strategically located on the main existing and new north south axis, the parks will be anchored in the cityfabric. Functioning as a reminder to the old industrial heritage of former brownfields and envisioning a new sustainable future, theparkhills will have different uses and identities adapting to the surrounding areas, and at the same time create one large landscape structure with the beautiful mount royal as a final climax.
