The Porous zone
Fall 2004 - M1 - McGill University - Prof. L. Bird and D. Drummond - in team with J. Poisson and J. Chouinard
The parking of Griffintown and Cité Mutimédia is to be concentrated within the Porous zone. There, it becomes a sculptural object that articulates the surrounding landscape. Its green roof becomes a smooth formal promenade. As we leave the Quartier International sector toward the Peel Bassin, the parking is gradually replaced by community activities.
This new object places itself between the Bonaventure Highway and the CP tracks. Those former barriers are reworked to become more permeable and favour cross-circulation. The arcades of the CP tracks are transformed into active doors and windows giving access to commerce and office space. Those activities combined to community life and parking ensure a continuous flow of people.
The Porous zone also relieves Griffintown from Downtown’s parking burden. This new space will be mainly used to create appropriate housing forms in conformance to its immediate
neighbourhood. A network of pedestrian paths links this renewed
neighbourhood to the Porous Zone.
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