Présences du littéraire dans l’espace public canadien - PLEPUC Workshop 3 (2011) : Pointe des Seigneurs (Montréal)

VERS LACHINE

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sun, 01 May 2011 21:45:56 +0000

Source: Photo supplied by members of the team.

Team members:

Clouard, Micheline

Team members:

Forget, Pascal

Team members:

Brouillette, Marc André

Workshop year:

2011

Location:

Parc de la Pointe-des-Seigneurs

Description:

Pointe-des-Seigneurs Park is bounded by the des Seigneurs Street, the Lachine Canal and the tailrace in Griffintown, borough Southwest. It's characterized by the presence of ruins, which are currently the object of archaeological excavations, and several vehicular axes (streets, bike paths and waterways). The project aims to develop the site, first, by integrating a second tip of land that lies within the perimeter formed by the tailrace and Basin and Richmond Street. This extension of the site, which is similar to the reflection of the original site in the shimmering water of the tailrace, has the advantage of preserving the banks of the canal from the development and providing a public space to meet the needs of future residents in a neighborhood that will become much more denser in the coming years. The project is divided into three areas of intervention:

Zone 1: the concrete slab
The first intervention area is bounded by the perimeter of the slab, which lies north of the archaeological remains. Suggesting both a palimpsest and a patchwork of concrete that remind the presence of the Caledonia Iron Works foundry and Ogilvie Mills, this slab will be extended to des Seigneurs Street to create a junction point with the sidewalk. It will be used as a literary medium integrating large letters of metal (cast iron), which will be embedded in concrete. The poetic text will establish a dreamlike link between several historical and symbolic aspects of this site, which is the starting point of the explorer La Salle (1643-1687) who was wishing to visit China. This expedition is also the origin of the name of Lachine assigned to this district.

Zone 2: the tailrace
Over the decades, the banks of the tailrace formed a waste land and still present today, from the small bridge connecting them both, a bucolic view that we wish to preserve and emphasize through a second literary intervention. Here, we wish to pay tribute to individuals who have worked on this place by installing different names lying on the surface of the water. In the manner of certain representations of the character of Ophelia floating on the water, these names will recall the importance of individuals, known or anonymous, who have made this place live and who were from various cultural and linguistic communities. At night, these letters will illuminate discreetly and sporadically, thereby continuing to be reflected in the water of the canal.

Zone 3: the esplanade of stables
Inspired by the historical timber storage area and corrugated roofs of some buildings which formely characterized this place, we propose to transform the second tip added to the original site into an urban plaza where residents can come to walk, relax, and have fun. This tip contains one of the oldest stables in Montreal and a heritage building that will be integrated into the development of this site, which consists of a large wooden terrace that will be object of undulations and unevenness, offering an organic and recreational environment. In a scattered way throughout the terrace, fragments of words, associated with the site and its history, will be integrated into the ground by using extrusion or pyrography. Those fragments will evoke the memory and the passage of time in a funny way, and everyone will be invited, such as crossword or Scrabble fans, to complete them.

Text:

Text area 1 :

la chine a fondu
dans les eaux de son rêve
partir d’ici ou de là
à la pointe d’un désir
où se rencontrent l’ailleurs
et le rêve de l’ailleurs

construire c’est grandir
au milieu d’une forêt
de fer de bois et de blé

s’emporte en fumée
le cœur à l’ouvrage
l’effort de transformer
sa vie sa descendance
au pied des eaux éclusées

face au feu
de grandeur haute et chaude
qui retombe en cendres
sous nos pieds
où poussent les souvenirs
et les rêves nouveaux

Text area 2 :

Minot
Boileau
Boismenu
Dubois
Ferland
Laferrière
Ogilvie
McDougall
Lasalle

Text area 3 :

achin
seign
nstruire
clus
cend e
ri

Dimensions

Note(s):

Micheline Clouard (landscape architect)

Pascal Forget (architectural designer)

Marc André Brouillette (writer)

CANAUX DE FUITE

Marie-Claude Langevin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:05:03 +0000

Source : Photo submitted by members of the team

Team members:

Dumont, François

Team members:

Messier-Moreau, Isabelle

Team members:

Valois, Nicole

Workshop year:

2011

Location:

Pointe-des-Seigneurs

Description:

The goal is to enroll in the landscape of the Pointe-des-Seigneurs presence of people through the dissemination of sound fragments of narrative or meditation featuring: workers who lived in the era of industrial activity in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century; visitors themselves; individuals who choose one day to live nearby.

Two types of sites would be located:
• A stop along the canal, where nine schools would be prepared.
• Nine stops where a bench is placed.

A device would make texts listen concerning persons whose name would be placed on the bench: sitting on it, visitor would activate the sound. In the case of the stopover, all fragments would be heard (sounds come from the canal); in the case of stops, three possibilities are present whenever: a name, and a "you", a "he" or a "she". Entries (luminous in the dark) would refer to the various names and pronouns mentioned in the texts:
— Thomas, Benjamin, John, Owen, Alexander, Duncan, Évelyne, Félix, Ovide and Mary. These characters were inspired by the paper by David B. Hanna, Griffintown : son histoire et son cadre bâti (City of Montreal, Service de la mise en valeur du territoire et du patrimoine, November 2007). The author provides information about various people who inhabited this place, especially as workers.
— A "you" referring to the visitor, and to the experience of the landscape.
— A "he" and a "she" referring to the future inhabitants of the area.

In texts dealing with people who once occupied the space, the simple past tense is used in order to make an experience of the moment and not only a bygone aspect of the related events. In texts with 'you', the present tense translates into immediate experience. Finally, texts suggesting possible existences use the conditional tense.

We felt that this place showed with a lot of strengh a meeting of the temporality, associated with contrasts: intense industrial activity in the past with regard to the quiet present; tiring character of the existence in the past with regard to the presumed availability of the passer-by. In it is added the feeling of an imminent transition, which can lead to a new configuration of the neighbouring space.

Because texts would be recorded, it would be easy to plan their replacement by texts from other authors who would respect the same constraints related to names and surnames. So, texts could accompany the transformation of places.

Text:

Thomas sortit très tôt, comme d’habitude. Il marchait vite; il courait presque, en se répétant « Allez, Thomas! », mais sa voix, au fond de lui, était couverte par le bruit.

Ce paysage s’offre à toi comme un passage.

En route vers chez lui, elle serait tout occupée par son désir.

Benjamin songeait parfois à rejoindre le fleuve, dont l’image lui revenait lorsqu’il traversait le canal.

Tant de bâtiments morts, te dis-tu, tant de ruines faites de sang, pour personne.

Elle s’étonnerait.

John fut happé par une puissance de briques.

Tu es cet oiseau qui s’adapte.

Elle prononcerait avec plaisir le mot « comment ».

Owen rêvait à ses livres, qui ne le quittaient pas. Une nuit, les livres d’eux-mêmes se fermèrent et il crut voir son plus jeune qui les rouvrait.

Le paysage pivote sur ton axe.

Elle sourirait aux inconnus.

Alexander croisa l’ingénieur en chef, qui ne le reconnut pas. Un peu plus loin, il se retourna et regretta d’avoir baissé les yeux.

D’un côté, les résidus de la nature t’offrent leur fête. De l’autre, l’histoire de ton corps se répand dans la ville.

Elle récapitulerait encore une fois : ici, conclurait-elle, ça devrait aller.

Ce soir-là, malgré la fatigue, Duncan fit vraiment l’amour avec Évelyne, mais n’osa pas lui en parler.

Étagement du temps, n’est-ce pas? Mais ce moment précis où tu m’entends est mince comme la suie.

Il apprécierait pas mal de gens, au fond, se dirait-il.

Ce tas de sable me ressemble, se dit Félix en pressant le pas.

Tu aimerais bien parler d’enfermement avec ceux qui ne sont plus là.

Habité par le présent, il songerait que le passé lui ressemblait peu.

Affamé, assourdi, rempli de tout ce qu’il avait manipulé, Ovide ne trouva rien à dire à sa femme qui l’accueillait au seuil de son logis.

Cet arbre te décrit le noir d’où il vient en faisant des gestes clairs.

Il reverrait encore une fois sa nouvelle voisine, et, cette fois, lui parlerait.

Mary tenta le coup : elle dessina l’espace qu’elle désirait; elle fit une place pour chaque chose — mais chaque chose se déroba.

Il y a tout à coup un peu d’espace pour ce qui n’est pas toi.

Elle serait sortie prendre un peu l’air, sachant que ses recommencements continueraient.

Dimensions

Note(s):

François Dumont, writer
Isabelle Messier-Moreau, architect
Nicole Valois, landscape architect

LA CLAIRIÈRE

Marie-Claude Langevin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:01:10 +0000

Source : Photo submitted by members of the team.

Team members:

Dorsey, Talia

Team members:

Neveu, Chantal

Team members:

Patterson, Juliette

Workshop year:

2011

Location:

Pointe-des-Seigneurs

Description:

INTRODUCTION: La Clairière is a manifesto in favor of a potential reversal of "dead-end spaces" as poetic experiment and work. Off the grid. Within an urban network. La Clairière allows a possible opening, in oneself, alone, with the other one, brothers, water, land, horse - a slowdown in rhythm, cycle, era - a walk, a break, a move towards the center, a return to basics or a source. A response or an action following the post-modernity of our contemporary condition. Now, wherever. Vegetal, animal, mineral, neuronal, and human sensations and attitudes. Radically. Cheerfully. And literary.

La Clairière __ une oreille __ au bord de l’eau __ langue de terre __ une

presqu’île __ triangle __ table ou tableau __ une idylle __ petite prose __ un

plateau __ hors de la grille __ un havre __ rare __ pastoral __ un

boisé __ traversé __ chaque jour __ le jour __ la nuit __ à toute heure __ avec

la peur sans peur __ clearing __ entendre __ littéralement __ les mots __ l’action

des mots __ une mémoire __ vive __ une persistance __ at water __en soi __ nos

eaux __ un bien __ commun __ dans le monde __ un

geste __ architectural __ paysager __ le premier __ effacer le pont __ à l’extrêmité

de la pointe Est __ pouvoir __ voir __ revoir __ inside __ le site __ le

paysage __ initial __ original __ actuel __ fluide __ tel qu’il est __ et dévier et

dessiner __ la piste __ piétonne __ cyclable __ un autre triangle __ au nord __ rue

Basin __ de l’autre côté du canal dit de fuite __ une voûte d’arbres __ l’eau __ les

écuries __ roses __ Barragán __ hacienda __ du Nord __ les chevaux __ naseaux

sabots __ présence __ animale __ la nôtre __ en milieu __ urbain __ out of the grid __ des

fleurs et des pommes __ les pommiers __ l’orge __ le cuir __ les odeurs __ nos

humeurs __ nos pas __ au sol __ des grains lancés __ une forêt miniature __ jusqu’à la

pointe __ la lisière __ rose __ le périmètre __ les parois __ rose coït __ l’heure rose __ une

prose __ rose néon __ poésie __ une indication __ un signal __ au-dessus de la cime des

arbres __ de nos têtes __ le balayage lumineux des lettres __ rémanence __ spacious __ nos

affects __ face aux écluses __ les vues __ d’en haut __ en

coupe __ éclaircissement __ decrescendo __ jusqu’à l’eau __ panoramique __ au

large __ FARINE FIVE ROSES __ champ __ au large __ contrechamp __ rose c’est la

vie __ La Clairière __ notre conscience commune __ brothers & sisters __ nous

sommes __ sur la pointe

Text:

clearing __ une idylle __ avec mes frères __ nous
sommes __ une même eau __ le ciel __ wild
west __ nos bassins __ et les biefs __ devant __ au milieu __ du
gué __ we are __ alive __ nous allons __ au gré

Dimensions

Note(s):

Talia Dorsey (architect)
Chantal Neveu (writer)
Juliette Patterson (landscape architect)