After Laure, Taïka and Amélie, we present Mathieu Boisclair, project manager for the new Memento platform (formerly called H-MTL). Find out more about his background, missions and more in the interview below!
Héritage Montréal and you
Can you introduce yourself quickly (your studies, your background...)?
I completed a bachelor's degree in architecture at Université Laval, a minor in urban studies at UQÀM and a master's degree in urban planning at Université de Montréal. My dissertation is still to be written and submitted, and there are many subjects of interest: heritage, commercial arteries and neighbourhood cores, sustainable urban design... I just have to make my choice!
What does your job involve? A typical day at Héritage Montréal?
As Project Manager for the Memento platform, my days at Héritage Montréal are never the same. However, I've worked mainly on the development of Memento with the various partners working on the project, I'm also in charge of responding to public requests for citizen alerts, and I'll continue to promote the use of Memento and foster collaboration between the various heritage players at local level. Finally, I'll be going out into the field more and more, meeting people and citizen groups who are seeking to safeguard their local heritage, to support them in their efforts.
What inspired you to join Héritage Montréal?
The relevance ofHéritage Montréal's work and mission, beyond the simple fact that it's linked to my academic training. I was already following the organization's work and positions from a distance, and I wanted to join the team to do something useful to protect and enhance the built and landscape heritage of the metropolitan region.
What is your favourite ArchitecTours tour?
Certainly the one who gave us a tour of Silo No. 5 about ten years ago. It was frankly impressive to enter this concrete monster, witness of the Old Port's industrial past, which we should (re)learn to love and revalorize.
What activities or content would you like to create at Héritage Montréal?
I would very much like to democratize the urban planning tools and procedures of the municipal world, in addition to raising public awareness of the importance of citizen participation. Many people do not know what forums they can use, to give just one example. The municipal community, although it is the level of government closest to the citizens, is still very much a closed community, and I often see people who are powerless to see what is happening in their neighbourhoods when we all have a role to play and it is simpler than it seems. All you need is an interest, of course, and a modicum of curiosity.
In keeping with Memento's aim of supporting and assisting citizens in their efforts to protect and enhance our collective heritage, it seems appropriate to me thatHéritage Montréal, in partnership with local players, should contribute to raising awareness and equipping citizens with the tools they need to express their views on the issues affecting their living environment.
The city, the elsewhere
What was your last crush on a building/landscape in Montreal?
The boardwalk along the Rivière des Prairies in Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Montréal-Nord and the Parc de l'île de la Visitation. A place I knew little about but which deserves to be visited, both for the landscapes and for the houses full of history on Gouin Boulevard.
What do you see as the current challenges facing the city?
The pandemic revealed the lack of resilience of our metropolis. I am of the opinion that we should invest more in structuring public transit to make it the backbone of metropolitan development; the expansion of the metro should never have stopped in order to increase mobility in the city. Today, we are still waiting for the extension of the blue line, which has been a hot topic since the late 1980s. Finally, making more room for cyclists and pedestrians, although the Réseau Express Vélo (REV) is a step in the right direction.
How do you see the city of the future? The ideal city?
The city of the future will have a big role to play in the fight against climate change in the years to come. It will be resilient, green and eco-responsible. It will leave ample room for alternative modes of transport and neighbourhoods will offer local meeting, exchange and shopping facilities for residents. I also hope for greater citizen participation in urban, political and other issues.
Heritage and you
What is your first architectural or heritage related memory?
I remember the feeling of immensity, of monumentality the first time I set foot in the Olympic Stadium when I was 7 or 8 years old, during an Expos match. Visiting the tower and the unique view of the Montreal skyline only increased my fascination with the architecture, which has been maintained for all these years.
If you were an architect, who would you be?
Probably Zaha Hadid (1950-2016), for her unconventional and striking aesthetics, combining abstraction and formal rigour to create spaces and volumes with surprising geometries that leave no one indifferent. His architectural firm, associated with the Quebec firm Boutin Ramoisy Tremblay, was even a finalist in the international competition for the Grande Bibliothèque du Québec.
Right image: Proposal by the firm Zaha Hadid in association with Boutin Ramoisy Tremblay architects. Source: Canadian Competitions Catalogue.
Do you have a book on architecture, history, urban planning or heritage to recommend?
In architecture, the work 101 little architectural secrets that make great projects happen by Matthew Frederick, published by Dunod, is a small book for architecture enthusiasts to better read the spaces built and understand the secrets behind the composition of a building.
In urban planning, the book Streetfight. Handbook to an urban revolution of Janette Sadik-Khan. She traces her time at the New York Department of Transportation where she began a paradigm shift in the use of urban space by creating public spaces in the space formerly dedicated to the automobile. For example, the transformation of Times Square into a public square is one of her initiatives.
Finally, in heritage, the work of Martin Drouin, Le combat du patrimoine à Montréal (1973-2003) retraces the fierce struggles around the notion of heritage and which, today, allow us to appreciate the places and landscapes that make up Montreal's charm.
And finally, tell us something about yourself that your HM colleagues don't know ????
Assumed pleasure, I love karaoke! My hits: "Tous les cris les S.O.S." by Marie-Denise Pelletier (a classic!) and "Je voudrais voir la mer" by Michel Rivard. Finally, I'm an amateur flautist and, at 35, I still can't swim!
