I am in Montréal, and here is what we came to visit. That’s right, we have been flying all day so we can visit an empty parking lot. And tomorrow we get to spend more time at the parking lot – measuring it, documenting where trees exist, and drawing the buildings around it. Alejandra and I finished up our programming study before we left Ames, so we will also be doing a bit of research to see if the building scheme we devised will work or not.
My first impressions of Montréal were not the best. The airport was disorganized and crowded. Too many of the walking paths (between the terminal and customs) overlapped one another, creating much unnecessary walking and confusion. Our cab driver was insociable at best, and he drove like there were no lane divisions on the road, or turn signals on his car. Many of the bridges we passed were falling apart, and covered in spray paint. When we finally arrived at our hotel in one piece, we found out that some male guests in the hotel had taken over our room, and we had no place to stay. We got that cleared up, and inhabited our incredibly small room (which is actually pretty nice compared to what they normally make us stay in), only to have to rush out to catch up with the rest of our class at the site.
Walking through the older part of Montréal proved that the inner city is in better shape than its perimeter. There is a wonderful juxtaposition of modern and historical architecture on the streets around our site. There is also a highly public feel to the city – there are many people commuting by foot, and the buildings cater to that. Now, I have to observe how these buildings work in this manner, so we can apply the same techniques to the Médiathèque.
