Eighth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

While critiquing contemporary urban practices where the car is the dominant figure in the city’s organization, this paper outlines the success of the Forêt Urbaine as a road transformation. Asphalt is everywhere. In fact, asphalt spaces are our most public landscapes, and their use is higher than any park or plaza. As the spatial and material deposit of a global community that favors the car as the dominant figure in the city, asphalt spaces are compromised ecologically, socially, and culturally. While a body of literature continues to question car spaces, little output in the world testifies to a positive response. How can asphalt spaces be transformed? Over the last six years, the McCord Museum, in conjunction with the City of Montreal is transforming Victoria Street from a ubiquitous automobile dominated road into an otherworldly environment. For the duration of the summer, the street is used for relaxation, play, music, food, health-related events, and political manifestations. Forêt Urbaine, or Urban Forest, demonstrates the desire for a different kind of space, one in which the car is an incidental visitor rather than the dominant user.