IN-PERSON: Prague – Section B

Abstract

The history of Viger Square in downtown Montreal is like a palimpsest of the city’s 20th century development phases. Originally built as a classical city square, it was once the central point of French-speaking bourgeois society. However, after a period of decline, the square was demolished to build an underground highway and later redesign by high-profile visual artist Charles Daudelin. Intitled Agora (1983), the work, which consists of multiple concrete structures, is rather idealistic, as it aims at providing a bridge between the old and the new city but also a communal space for citizens and visitors. Despite such aspirations, the space was rapidly considered a failure both from an artistic and a social point of view, the square being inhabited almost exclusively by homeless people and drug addicts. Nevertheless, when in 2015 a design firm planned to dispose of Daudelin’s structures to accommodate their new concept, representatives of art and heritage institutions strongly opposed arguing the work is a part of the city’s heritage and has a place in local art history. This paper follows the “social life” of this square focusing particularly of the last decades as it offers a particularly rich case to study the complex balance city developers have to find between preserving the past, valuing local creativity and building spaces that fit current needs. As Montreal prides itself on being an international “city of design”, the town is caught in a dilemma between creating new spaces aligned with international tastes and valuing its art and design heritage.