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Le chemin des tortues
By : Castor et Pollux
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Landscape & Territories
Categories : Landscape Architecture / Landscape Architecture - Public Space : Gold Certification
Categories : Urban Design / Civic Design Project : Gold Certification
A fun and safe route
Subject to many issues related to soft mobility and safety, the City of Montreal wishes to secure a passageway near Boulevard Crémazie and the metropolitan highway in Montreal’s Saint-Michel district. Located close to an elementary school, this corridor allows children to walk and wheel to school, through an attractive, playful and safe transit space.
Designed on the site’s strengths, this green and shaded route takes shape on three island heads. Natural vegetated knolls planted with trees are formed, providing relief from the boulevard. A new topography is established, and a path is embedded in it. Winding between the mounds, this concrete path rises on either side of the terrain, creating beaches overlaid with stones that invite to wander the space dynamically.
Citizen participation in co-creating the space
This place conducive to soft mobility takes inspiration from the world of turtles. Symbolizing slowness, the universe of turtles is the subject of a participatory workshop to involve children from St-Bernardin school in the graphic universe of the place. Turtle drawings created by the path’s young users are reproduced on stencils and sandblasted into the concrete surface.
Free play in the spotlight
The turtle path allows children to walk through the site on their way to school, and elements invite to play all along the path. Design street paintings, evoking foam on beaches, create the continuity of the flow and mark play zones. Grassed areas widen the path and let to explore the mounds and vegetated surfaces. Jumping from stone to stone on the beaches, allows one to test their limits. On the ground, turtles invite you to step from one to another, or to play at recognizing your own. The path becomes more than just a place to pass through, but a playful space to explore.
Social and environmental impact:
- Protect users from highway nuisances
- Create freshness in an urban heat island, promoting conviviality and play
- Involve children in creating their living environment
- Enhance and strengthen the existing vegetation cover
Collaboration
