Jacques-Cartier Bridge Park
Jacques-Cartier Bridge Park
Montréal (Québec), Canada

An urban gateway to East Montreal

To celebrate the arrival point from the Jacques-Cartier bridge onto the island of Montreal, we proposed a landscape that engages the symbolic identity of the city. Nicknamed La ville aux cent clochers (City of the Hundred Steeples), Montreal has a rich religious heritage, and its importance is evidenced by the cross at the summit of Mount Royal, a visual presence throughout the city. We proposed a second, green cross: a forest at the city’s gateway planted in a cross-shaped plan. The monumental Jacques-Cartier bridge is likened to a giant rosary collecting a chain of peripheral highways; the 375 m x 175 m park in which it culminates works at on similarly grand scale. Leading axially to an existing church by Ernest Cormier, a dialogue is created between the green cross, the infrastructure that it houses, the religious institution that it makes reference to, and the iconic identity of Montreal that it upholds.

Client
Service des parcs, des jardins et des espaces verts, Ville de Montréal

Collaboration
Luc Laporte architectes

Area
67 900 m2 (16,8 acres)

Year
2002

Status
Concept

Categories
Master Plan
Park
Detail of the contextual plan, CC+A, 2002
Contextual plan, CC+A, 2002
Plan, CC+A, 2002