Plural Vertical (Canada, Montreal)

In the Old Montreal district, the architecture plays on visual as well as temporal layers . This composition juxtaposes several of the city's landmark buildings, from the Art Deco and Neo-Gothic movements, dominant between 1920 and 1940. In the foreground, the Aldred Building , built in 1931 , illustrates this period of controlled verticality. Its design is directly inspired by the Empire State Building , but adapts its lines to the specific angle of Place d'Armes , creating an architectural prow effect.

The structures superimposed by double exposure reveal the play of scale, light and urban memory. Montreal has imposed a height limit for its constructions: no building can exceed the 233 meters of Mount Royal , thus preserving a singular urban silhouette, made of contrasts and formal sobriety .

Here, urban planning works with the sacred topography , forcing architects to compete in graphic ingenuity rather than gigantism. This constraint has shaped a city where the gaze moves vertically in nuance , not in excess.