Montreal Métropole, 1880-1930

David Kimmel, who has been teaching history and Canadian Studies at
Brock University, now resides in Montreal.

We are conditioned to notice the natural charms of this country but
frequently fail to appreciate the beauty humans have created. For over a
century, Canadians have concerned themselves with parks and public
spaces, town planning, and the construction of buildings, and many
groups have played a role in beautification schemes. But the only
consistent force in shaping modern cities has been the architectural
profession. Its impact on Montreal’s landscape is the subject of this
commendable but flawed book.

Nine chapters written by eight authors—geographers, historians, and
sociologists—establish the context of Montreal’s rise from colonial
city to major metropolis. The period from 1880 to 1930 was its “golden
age,” when industrial expansion made the city’s economy boom. Times
were good for business and especially for architects. The result was a
conspiracy that changed the “scale, scope, and even the colour” of
Montreal. Without question, this was a vital phase: planned suburbs
emerged, transportation systems stretched across and beyond the island,
and skyscrapers grew to gigantic proportions. But why write a book about
it? There had been skyscrapers in American cities for decades; England
got its first “garden city” in 1903. The authors suggest that
Montreal was exceptional. It was a crucible, a place where British- and
French-Canadian architects, each with different commissions and
inspirations, came together. Unlike Toronto and Winnipeg, which embraced
the styles and professional services of Chicago, Montreal was solidly in
New York’s orbit. Furthermore, Montreal’s built environment
benefited from the patronage of the Roman Catholic Church, which
injected the city with a vigor that business alone could not deliver.

This book is an attempt to synthesize Montreal’s “urban legacy,”
to study buildings and builders and their impact within and outside the
city limits. It brings to the page excellent photographs and
contemporary documents, many published for the first time. But it gives
short shrift to domestic and landscape architecture, and its structure
(five chapters to set the scene and four to give substance) makes for
repetition and disunity. The book’s origin as part of a Canadian
Centre for Architecture exhibition likely explains these shortcomings.