The City of Shadows

The intent of this investigation is to reconnect elements of the existing urban fabric at key locations that the Portage Complex somehow corrupted or discontinued. Strategies related to the original design of the government buildings by Etienne Gaboury are being used in the investigative process. For the sake of this study, we focused on a particular area by the shoreline below ground, in alignment with the Place d’Accueil to propose a thesis and anti thesis strategy. This new point of connection is meant to bring the inhabitants away from a governmental setup, set a different pace in order to experience the space at a more human scale. The actions undertaken to reconnect la Place d’Accueil with the shoreline contribute to reconcile the people and their land, the City with its history. The architectural intervention is a critique of the governmental apparatus, how it can be seen from the inside and the outside.