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New Wellington Bath

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Opportunities for Public Observation & Private Glimpses

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Evan Marnoch
6792489
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Montreal, Quebec

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Advisor: Professor Patrick Harrop
University of Manitoba – Faculty of Architecture
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Abstract
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The site of interest for my design thesis proposal is that of Griffintown – a historical and industrial quarter
in the southwest portion of Montreal, Quebec. The neighbourhood is located along the Lachine Canal and
is considered to be the heart of the industrial revolution in Canada. Since the collapse of industry in the
late 1960s / early 1970s, Griffintown has been largely vacant of any residents as well as city interest. A
new development, however, has kindled some new attention for the dormant area and has created a
dichotomy of ideas for what should be developed. On one side of the argument the major developer,
Devimco, is proposing a complete re-appropriation of the district, which would transform it into a major
commercial and residential corridor. Opposing this development are a number of community groups
which have formed to defend Griffintown and have generated alternative plans which aim to preserve the
historical and cultural aspects of the neighbourhood.

My intentions are to do neither, explicitly. Rather, I am proposing a smaller scale intervention under the
notion of a public institution. I intend to develop a site in Griffintown – the abandoned CN Wellington
control tower – into a public bath, which will offer potential instances of intimacy and publicity for both its
users as well as the observers of the building. This will be accomplished through an investigation of
historical discoveries and anecdotes as well as the phenomena of observation existing on and around the
site.

I propose to use to carry out these intentions through a process, which I have developed for modeling
light as a representation for sight lines into the building using a projector and scale model of the existing
building. Finally, working between physical modeling and conventional architectural drawing will allow for
a comprehensive building proposal.
Context
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The opportunity to move to Montreal – to continue our work from last year with the Topological Media Lab
(TML) at Concordia – arose in March of 2008. Sha Xin Wei, director of the TML, and Patrick Harrop
invited myself along with Gregory Rubin and Candace Fempel after we participated in a week long
architectural / interactive art installation entitled Remedios Terrarium. The invitation was extended with the
intention that we would develop our work within the context of the TML – a collaborative new media
research lab – while taking full advantage of the technical expertise and resources available to us through
both the TML and Hexagram Institute for Research/Creation in Media Arts and Technologies.

Upon arrival to Montreal we were introduced to an area within the city known as “Griffintown”. It is an
industrial area in the Southwest quarter of Montreal and was established in the early 19th Century along
with the development of the Lachine Canal. Both Griffintown and the Lachine Canal are considered to be
at the heart of the Canadian Industrial revolution. The neighbourhood was primarily an Irish community -
which provided a strong and steady work force - and along with its location adjacent the canal and
railroads it was able to flourish as a major manufacturing sector in North America and the world.
(Gelly,65) Griffintown remained active industrially until just after the middle of the 20th Century when the
opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway rendered the Lachine Canal obsolete and was forced to close. This
drastically reduced the amount of shipping and manufacturing along the canal and as a result industry
moved out – leaving Griffintown nearly vacant. It remains largely in this state today with roughly only 50
residents left in the area.(Bauer, 2008)

Griffintown is currently rife with political controversy. A developer – Devimco – has proposed a complete
reappropriation of Griffintown in the form of major residential and commercial development. They intend to
completely gentrify the area, which has been largely void of any city interest since the 1970s. The
commercial aspect of the project completely conflicts with the citys long established shopping district –
rue Sainte-Catherine – which is only a few blocks away.(Gyulai,2008) Devimcos plan is also completely
out of scale with both the area that is Griffintown as well as Montreal as a whole. The proposal includes
plans to erect buildings between 12 and 14 storeys high along with a couple of towers while the building
code limits local structures to heights of no more than 4 - 6 storeys. (Patterson, 2008)

The other side of the Griffintown controversy that I became familiar with was that of political activism.
Despite the extremely low number of residents in the neighbourhood - there is a strong source of protest
against the Devimco proposal. Several community activist groups have been formed and alternative
proposals are continually being developed and presented to the city in the attempt to generate new ideas
for what could potentially take place in Griffintown rather than entirely gentrifying the area.(Bauer, 2008)
Intentions
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Out of this context, the position for my thesis topic becomes one of neither major development nor a kind
of historical preservation. Rather, this proposal is one of developing a smaller scale intervention that
might be able to nudge, or poke, at the dormancy that exists in Griffintown. In doing so I aim to potentially
agitate the neighbourhood in a way that a shopping mall, condominiums or a heritage building are not
capable of. My ambition is to develop the context for a kind of public institution.

But not institution in an authoritative sense, rather, in a socially generative manner. One, which functions
to facilitate the public, not to rule over it. The site on which I have chosen in order to implement this notion
of the public institute is the abandoned CN Wellington Control Tower. The structure is located at the
intersection of the Lachine Canal and the CN Via Rail passenger line – a location rich with a history of
transportation and exchange. CN Wellington was once a control station for the CN Rail and remained
active until roughly the middle of the 20th century.(CN Collection, 1945) The CN passenger line, today,
services many surrounding communities which make up the greater Montreal area, as well as National
routes. The line, which runs immediately adjacent the CN Wellington, is a direct route into the Place
Bonaventure train station and, accordingly, all departing and arriving trains traverse the line. This allows
for constant state of potential observation. (Train Plan, 2008) The area surrounding the building functions
largely as a leisure path for biking, running, walking, etc. This aspect also allows for a relationship
between the pedestrian and the building.

There are a number of different historical nuances, as well as specific phenomena, which have become
the catalysts for my intentions. The first is the pre-existence of a public bath adjacent to the current
location of the CN Wellington building.(Map, 1890 & 1907) As a very intensely industrial, and therefore
dirty neighbourhood, the health of the public was of great importance in the late 19th to early 20th century.
Public baths were necessary to stave off disease and to preserve a healthy work force in the absence of
the infrastructure necessary for homes to have their own private bathing facilities. This necessity
continued into the 1950s, when finally most homes were outfitted with plumbing systems – after which
point the need for the public bath fell off.(Mellin,2008) The notion of the public bath, while very appropriate
to the proposal of a public institution, also sets a fitting program for which to study the implications of
viewership, or observation, in architecture; very fundamental questions of privacy and publicity.

Another discovery, which further drives the notion of observing, is one that comes as a result of the
collapse of industry, and thus interest, in Griffintown. Through the 1970s until the mid 1990s – at which
point the Lachine Canal was redeveloped into a leisure park – the area around the CN Wellington became
notorious as a sexual “cruising” zone. With the area essentially vacant it provided the perfect setting for
such illicit acts to take place. These actions would go largely unseen in the area. However, the passenger
train line through Griffintown and into the downtown of Montreal remained active. Those acts that would
be considered very private now became - if the passenger was looking at the right moment - very public
glimpses. Again, this leads to definite implications of viewership in which there are certain acts or events
that should, or can, be seen and others, which shouldnt and cannot be seen.

As Schwarzer describes, “the train itself reorients the passengers understanding of space.”(46) Once in
locomotion, the observer does not experience the city, or architecture, in a tactile nor personal manner –
unlike the pedestrian. They are forced along by the will of the train – not of their own – at a distance from
the built environment. The train observer only has control over the direction of their gaze or focus. As the
observer is pulled past the CN Wellington, the structure is transformed into a surface with a series of
potential frames within frames, which offer themselves as fleeting glimpses. This is a result of the CN
Wellingtons abandoned nature; its open windows (apertures) leave distinct pathways through the building
– which in turn delineate a specific space within the direct confines of its walls, as well as outside of it.
Maturana describes the act of observation as, “…the pointing to a unity by performing an operation which
defines its boundaries and separates it from a background.”(Maturana,325) Within the relationship
between the rail line and the CN Wellington I am proposing that the defined boundaries might be derived
from these apertures, which continually shift with the passing of the train and exist only in certain
instances of time. The conversation between the pedestrian and the building differs, however, in that it is
– or rather has the potential to be – a much more tangible and physical relationship. The pedestrian is not
under the dictation of the train, but instead under their own guidance. It is through these two different
relationships where moments of observation and/or glimpses into the intimate events within the baths will
begin to formulate.

It has become clear to me that the CN Wellington structure exists within a realm of potentials. The study
of view paths into, and throughout, the building, which I am describing, are not guaranteed to ever present
themselves for the passenger on the train nor the pedestrian. But the opportunity for those defined
boundaries to materialize is present. I intend to exploit this relationship and develop the public bath based
upon an entropic interaction, or conversation, between observers – the bather, passenger and pedestrian.
The New Wellington Baths will begin to question the notion of transparency in building by providing a set
of potentially explicit locations for intimate or public events to be observed or glimpsed.
Process
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To do so I have already begun to study the rail passengers relationship with the CN Wellington building. I
began by investigating a series of situations and attempting to draw, in plan, the example of a single
observer on the trains sight line through the structure as windows aligned depending on their position on
the track. I then produced a series of drawings, which extracted the building and observer from the site to
help illustrate the manner in which the relationship between the two shifts and changes as the train moves
down the track.

Realizing that the idea of these pathways through the building was not a 2-dimensional problem, I moved
away from drawing and into 3-dimensional modeling where I began to construct an array of these framed
cones of vision. What I began to model were the different combinations of sight lines through the building
according to the CAD drawings. Moving into 3 dimensional space allowed me to realize that there are
nearly infinite permutations through a set of two given windows / apertures. The advantage to modeling
was that I could begin to actually see the spatial implications of the cones of vision moving through the
building. They delineate a very specific space, which exists at the moment the observer makes the visual
connection between the two apertures and lasts (shifts) until the gaze is turned elsewhere or until the path
between both apertures is physically impossible.

From 3-dimensional digital modeling, I have moved into the physical realm and constructed a model of the
existing CN Wellington building. The physical model is used in conjunction with projected light and a
particulate (haze) to make visible the many cones of vision afforded by the (aforementioned) apertures
through the building. Essentially, I have developed a method for modeling framed cones of vision in actual
space. This is accomplished by projecting light, in real time, out of a vector based drawing program
through which I am able to manipulate its shape to match the edges of any aperture existing on the
model.

I intend to continue to work within this method of using light as a, kind of, proof of concept for vision. By
modeling the cones of vision physically I have allowed myself the opportunity to examine, in a very tactile
manner, the effects of both the trains observer on the building and conversely, the building – and user of
the building – back out onto the train. I will be able to perceive, in real time, the effects that my structural
interventions, both into and onto, the building will have on this relationship. Along with modeling I will
begin to investigate the potential that different materialities and physical orientations have on the
conversation between the train and the structure, as well as the pedestrian / structure relationship. This
will be accompanied by drawing exercises, which will help to bring the project into a comprehensive
building proposal through conventional plan, elevation, section and detail drawings.
For my Term 1 Portfolio follow this link: http://griffintownstudio.blogspot.com/

Resources
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Concordia University: As a Concordia student I have access to a number of different resources including a fully
equipped wood shop, a metal shop, CNC milling machines, a full array or printing equipment (screen printing, etc.)

Topological Media Lab: The Topological Media Lab provides a locus for studying subjectivation, agency and
materiality from phenomenological, social and computational perspectives. Investigating such questions, the atelier-
studio-laboratory creates material poetry, and speculative, live events in responsive environments. The TML invents
novel forms of gestural media, expressive instruments and compositional systems that support these speculative
performances and installations.

The products of the laboratory include scholarly presentations, media artifacts and performances as cultural
experiment, opportunities for students and affiliates to refine critical faculties in collective projects.

Current application domains include: real-time video and sound synthesis, embedded sensors, gesture tracking,
physical computing, media choreography, active fabric, and wearable or soft architecture.

The TML draws insights from and informs the studies of embodiment, performance and music, as well as the poietic
uses of dynamical systems, differential geometry and topology in philosophies of process. Its projects also serve as
case studies in the construction of fresh modes of cultural knowledge and the critical studies of media arts and
techno-science.

Topological media are physical and computational matter, image or sound fashioned as substances evolving under
continuous action. (http://www.topologicalmedialab.net)

The technical knowledge available throughout the TML is immense and will help to make possible some of the
intentions that I have for my project. Additionally, the TML can also provide me with many different types of
equipment for projection, photography, and digital purposes.

Hexagram Institute for Research/Creation in Media Arts and Technologies: The facilities offered by Hexagram
feature an HD editing room, powerful web servers, an automated weaving loom, HD audio editing room, extremely
powerful computers, video control room, rapid prototyping equipment, as well as camera and video equipment and
projection / production rooms. (http://www.hexagram.org)

Bibliotheque et Archives nationals Quebec – Archives: Offers archives of documents regarding the history of
Montreal including a series of Fire Insurance Maps which help to give an understanding of the evolution of the city
dating back to the late 1800s. (http://www.banq.qc.ca Path: Pistard-Archives)

Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA): The Library of the CCA is an international research collection devoted to
the history of architecture and the built environment. It comprises nearly 215,000 volumes with emphasis on rare
books and special collections relating to the history of architectural theory, practice, and publishing from the fifteenth
century to the present. It holds, in addition, over 5,000 serial titles (ca. 760 current subscriptions) and a variety of
special materials. (http://www.cca.qc.ca/ Path: Library)

McGill University's Blackader-Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art: The Library's holdings comprise
110,000 volumes, including 2,500 rare books and close to 320 current periodical subscriptions.
(http://www.mcgill.ca/blackader)

McCord Museum: The McCord is a public research and teaching museum that preserves the collective past - over
1,375,000 objects, images and manuscripts, irreplaceable reflections of the social history and material culture of
Montreal, Quebec and Canada.
Bibliography

Books
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Barbieri, Olivo, et al. The 6os: montréal thinks big. Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2004.

Brouwer, Joke, and Mulder, Arjen, et al. Interact or die. V2_Publishing/NAI Publishers, 2007.

Dourish, Paul. “A History of Interaction,” Where the Action Is: The Foundation of Embodied Interaction. Cambridge:
MIT Press, 2001, 1-24.

Dourish. Paul. “Being in the World,” Dourish. 2001, 99-126.

Guattari, Felix. “The Object of Ecosophy,” Eco-Tech: Architectures of the In Between. Ed. Amerigo Marras. Princeton:
Princeton Architectural Press, 1999, 11-20.

Illich, Ivan. H20 and the Waters of Forgetfulness: Reflections on the Historicity of Stuff. Dallas: The Dallas Institute of
Humanities and Culture, 1985.

Laurel, Brenda. “The Sixth Elements and the Casual Relations Among Them,” Computers as Theater. Reading, Pa:
Addison-Wesley, 1993, 49-65.

Schwarzer, Mitchell. Zoomscape: Architecture in Motion and Media. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2004.

Sennett, Richard. The Fall of Public Man. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 1976.

Suchman, Lucy. “Introduction and Interactive Artifacts,” Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human Machine
Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, 1-26.

Varela, Francisco. “The Re-enchantment of the Concrete,” Incorporations-Zone #6.ED. Jonathan Crary and Sanford
Kwinter. New York: Zone Book, 1992, 320-338.

Periodicals
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Desloges, Yvon. “Behind the Scene of the Lachine Canal Landscape.” Industrial Archeology. 29.1 (2003): 7-21

Gelly, Alain. “A Preciptous Decline, Steam as Motive Power in Montreal: A Case Study of the Lachine Canal
Industries.” Industrial Archeology. 29.1 (2003): 65-85

Humberto R. Maturana, “The organization of the living: A theory of the living organization,” Intl. J. Man-Machine
Studies, 7(1975):313-332.

Lewis. Robert D. “A city transformed: manufacturing districts and suburban growth in Montreal, 1850-1929.” Journal
of Historical Geography. 27.1 (2001): 20-35.

Marvin, David. Griffintown: a Brief Chronicle.

Newspaper
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Aubin, Henry. “Lets Tread Carefully on Griffintown.” The Gazette. 17, January 2008.

Aubin, Henry. “Private hospital would change the face of downtown.” The Gazette. March 20, 2008.

Aubin, Henry. “The Griffintown project: Better, but still no cigar.” The Gazette. April 26, 2008.

Gyulai, Linda. "City building discontent." The Gazette. 19, May 2008.
Web
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Mellin, Robert. An Historical Context. A Unique Bath Culture. October 2008
<http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/mellin/arch671/winter2000/llau/thesisweb/proposal/context/p_context.htm>.

Sound Recordings
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Gasior, Lisa. Sounding Griffintown A Listening Guide of a Montreal Neighbourhood. 2007.

Recorded Movies
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Leduc, Jacques and Renee Roy. Albedo. Office national du film du Canada (NFB), Montreal 1982.

Personal Interviews
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Bauer, Judith. Personal interview. 8 Nov. 2008.

Lev, Jesse. Personal interview.8 Nov. 2008; Dec. 2008.

Patterson, Juliette. Personal interview. Sept. 2008

Maps
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Fire Insurance Map. Montreal, QC: Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales Quebec, 1879.
Fire Insurance Map. Montreal, QC: Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales Quebec, 1890.
Fire Insurance Map. Montreal, QC: Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales Quebec, 1907.
Fire Insurance Map. Montreal, QC: Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales Quebec, 1909.
Fire Insurance Map. Montreal, QC: Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales Quebec, 1914.
Train Plan du reseau. Montreal, QC: Agence metropolitaine de transport, 2008.

Images
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CN Collection. Levermen at CTC Board Wellington Tower. 1945. Canada Science and Technology Museum – CN
Collection. October 2008
<http://imagescn.technomuses.ca>. Path: Communication & Computers; Radio Train Operations; Wellington Tower
Levermen.

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