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  #1  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2012, 6:13 PM
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Opinion: At 50, Montreal's Place Ville Marie continues to shine

Interesting article on Montreal's grande-dame urban development complex.

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Opinion: At 50, Montreal's Place Ville Marie continues to shine
By Gavin Affleck, Special to The Gazette September 13, 2012


At one time, Place Ville Marie was the largest building - in term of square footage - in the British Commonwealth. Its pioneer use of underground retail shops, inspired the World Trade Center and helped put Montreal on the map in the 1960s as a major world city. Place Ville Marie turns 50.


MONTREAL - Place Ville Marie celebrates its 50th birthday Thursday, and it still looks and feels as it always has — fresh and exciting. Few buildings in the world have achieved and maintained such iconic status. Even as the city of Montreal has changed around it, PVM continues to shine.

Birthdays are both celebrations of the present and opportunities to reflect on the passage of time.

Initially, Place Ville Marie was all about the future: In 1962, this was bold new architecture of international calibre. Montreal was the metropolis of a young country coming of age, and Place Ville Marie took up the challenge with energy and ambition.

[...]

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...#ixzz26NIArMVW
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  #2  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2012, 6:20 PM
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Oh look!
Another Big Boring Box built in the 60's, what a shocker

BAH!
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Old Posted Sep 13, 2012, 9:26 PM
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Posts containing blatant personal attacks will be deleted. People who make repeated personal attacks after being warned not to will find themselves no longer welcome to post.

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Old Posted Sep 13, 2012, 9:38 PM
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Anyway, my opinion is that since PVM was built during the era when plain boxes were still an interesting and relatively new concept in architecture, it shouldn't be viewed with the same scorn as buildings designed to repeat the trick 50 years later.
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Old Posted Sep 13, 2012, 10:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Cirrus View Post
Posts containing blatant personal attacks will be deleted. People who make repeated personal attacks after being warned not to will find themselves no longer welcome to post.

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Whatever. We all understand that Tyler dislikes modern architecture, it isn't necessary for him to mention it in every corner of the forum.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 2:30 AM
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Never liked PVM.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 2:31 AM
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This forum includes an ignore function. You're welcome to use it. You are not welcome to make personal attacks.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 3:17 AM
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Nice box, better than all those tacky postmodernist buildings you see lying around everywhere.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 3:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CGII View Post
Whatever. We all understand that Tyler dislikes modern architecture, it isn't necessary for him to mention it in every corner of the forum.
Agreed. Isn't that the definition of trolling? I find it interesting that many of the aficionados of modern architecture are able to find value in revivalist architecture, but classicists can't do the same for modernism. Interesting but unsurprising.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 5:35 AM
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Long been one of my favourite buildings in the country. It's one of the things I think of first when it comes to Montreal.
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  #11  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 5:41 AM
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'It participates actively in both the street life of Montreal and the nightlife of its skyline. Inspiring us to imagine a better world, PVM has become both symbol and myth and by its very presence nurtures our daily lives.'


I am not sure how it actively participates in the street life of Montreal, considering the streets surrounding PVM are depressing dead zones..... 'nurtures our daily lives'.... ok....
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 12:57 PM
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Personally, I have never been a huge fan of the building. But it is emblematic of modern Montreal, and was one of the tallest buildings in the world outside of NYC when built. The underground shopping complex was revolutionary in its day, and still is perhaps the most successful portion of the world's largest contiguous underground city.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 3:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post
(...)and still is perhaps the most successful portion of the world's largest contiguous underground city.
Not sure I agree with this: while it is very busy on weekdays from 9 to 5, it's pretty much dead on evenings and weekends, contrarily to the Centre Eaton, for example.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 5:26 PM
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I've never been to Montreal, and so just know this building from Google Street View.

It does seem very much in the spirit of the original WTC, at least in terms of exteriors. I like international style architecture, but the street-level and pedestrian treatment is often so lacking.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 5:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyler Xyroadia View Post
Oh look!
Another Big Boring Box built in the 60's, what a shocker

BAH!
That's I.M. Pei! What's next, calling Paris boring because it's so uniform? Place Ville-Marie is almost flawless.
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Last edited by isaidso; Sep 14, 2012 at 7:11 PM.
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Old Posted Sep 14, 2012, 7:00 PM
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Calling it a box is a bit odd. How many cruciform boxes have you seen?

Anyway, I like it. It's definitely a Montreal landmark, perhaps more so at night, with its powerful rotating spotlight that can be seen for many miles.

I prefer Tour de la Bourse, which will soon also have its 50th anniversary though. Still, PVM is probably the most iconic of the currently 5 buildings over 600 feet in the city.
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Old Posted Sep 15, 2012, 1:27 AM
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It was definitely not just another boring box; the cruciform layout guaranteed that.

When I was a kid I took a picture of this building looking straight up the face on the south side. It ended up being a slide that when projected on the ceiling looked amazingly real.

Wish I still had it.
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Last edited by jodelli; Sep 19, 2012 at 10:04 PM.
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Old Posted Sep 15, 2012, 7:58 PM
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Just the fact that PVM has a cruciform footprint makes it unique. You have a relatively conservatively-sized footprint for its shape, yet more offices with sunlight coming in.
The rotating light on top is pretty cool (this was probably inspired by the Eiffel Tower's).
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