The signs in fabrication!
Design concept photo simulation
Montreal exploded when Expo 67 came to town. It brought the world to Montreal and contemporary architecture too. Above, Moshe Safdie's Habitat 67 heralded a new era for Montreal and most of the newer buildings in the city today date from that period. Above, the site glows from the setting sun's reflected light.
The 1976 Summer Olympics brought more lasting architecture to Montreal and a beautiful Olympic Park which today welcomes visitors to the Biodome (above left), an observation tower (right) and many beautiful gardens, including Japanese and Classical Chinese.
Montreal's classical Chinese Garden has many of the classical forms we recognize in our Portland garden only they are much larger and more spread out. It was a thrill to see it after visiting very similar, much older gardens in Suzhou, China last year.
Bixi Bikes! The zip cars of Montreal. Slide your credit card, get 40 free minutes, then pay by the hour. These line ups are all over the city, often with few bikes - everyone's riding!
Montreal's newest design excitement is the "Quartier des Spectacles" in the center of the city. Created by closing streets to vehicular traffic, a large event plaza is still in construction. The most significant design feature, however, is illumination that changes nightly to spotlight the cultural activities within the quarter. Venues are illuminated only when something's happening. Above, an LED light display changes colors on the facade of the art museum.
Settled by the French in the mid-seventeenth century, Montreal expanded when the British won the city in 1759 and English, Irish and Scottish settlers followed. At the summit of Mont Royal, a crest represents all countries equally: fleur de lis for France; rose for Britain, thistle for Scotland and shamrock for Ireland. At the bottom, Montreal's motto: "concordia salus" - well-being through harmony.
British presence in Montreal is illustrated at the waterfront, where the country's maritime influence is reflected in the architecture.
In the center of Vieux Montreal (the old city), Place des Armes is anchored by Notre Dame of Montreal, spiritual home to the City's French Catholics.
Delightful hand crafted shop signs in the traditional French style.
Layers of architectural history outline the facades of Old Montreal where stone walls of earlier buildings are part of later buildings.
SEGD's Montreal Conference broke into "workshops on wheels" Thursday afternoon when participants from all corners of the globe explored Montreal. EA joined the group hike on Mont Royal (Mont Real), after which the city is named and where we enjoyed panoramic views in all directions.
Begun in 1874, Mont Royal features a lookout and park design by Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of New York City's Central Park.
The city of Montreal is an island located at the confluence of the St. Lawrence (shown above) and Ottawa Rivers.
Parlez vous francais? In Montreal, as in all Quebec province, French is the official language - and that means no bilingual signs!
Elizabeth and Lynn toast AK's 20th Anniversary in Montreal where we are attending the SEGD (Society for Environmental Graphic Design) international design conference. It's hard to believe it's been that long since EA and John Krygier combined their talents to form Anderson Krygier, Inc. and even more astounding that six years have passed since we lost John to cancer and continued his legacy