One of my favorite architectural spots on Le Plateau is rue de Grand-Pré where it intersects with rue Gilford. Two features that make this area of interest is that there is a fairly rare triangular building on the east side of Grand-Pré, and the line of colourful town houses with ajoining porches that line the west side between Gilford and Villeneuve streets.

 

I thought it would be fun to do a mirror image of the triangular building, although I didn’t realize doing so would create what appears to be giant spider living in the resulting alley between the buildings.

 

The long row of porches make a nice subject when shot from one end – particularly since a window is perfectly aligned at the other end. It would be nice to take this same shot at night when the porch lights are on.

Although I said triangular buildings are pretty rare, there is another just one street to the west on Gilford street where it crosses rue Drolet. This building has a wonderful balcony at the corner with ornate dome topped with a weather vane. I would love the top floor as an apartment.

 

I couldn’t resist doing another mirror image…

 

Opposite, on the corner of Gilford and Grand-Pré I spotted a couple of wheelie bins against a mural on a brick wall that made for a nice contrasting image of textures.

 

Nearby on rue Villeneuve is J. Rene dépanneur. I love the vintage Coca Cola signage of this corner store.

 

Speaking of vintage signs, another favourite of mine is the LIDEC sign on the corner of rue Marie Anne and avenue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville. Something you often see on Montreal streets after a long winter are mangled bikes…I’m thinking I should do a whole photo series on this topic.

I love diptych’s and since I had a couple of other shots of the Lidec sign, I thought I would give it a go.

 

Final shot for this post was taken on the corner of rue Marie-Anne and rue Saint Dominique. The corner is somewhat derelict with a graffiti covered abandoned store on one side of the street and a empty car repair shop (also covered in graffiti) opposite. Hopefully one day these buildings will find a new life. Being opposite the small Parc du Portugal that has recently had a make-over, it would be a welcome improvement for the area around boulevard Saint-Laurent.

Boulevard Saint Laurent has lost a lot of the popularity it once had, with many stores now closed. I still love the Main and maybe I will do a post in the near future on the current state of the street.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

Montréal in Pictures

Your virtual guide in and around Montréal

 

Related Images: