First, we have the Verdun station on the Green line.
This is one of my favorite stations. The images do not capture the feeling of the place; it is HUGE. The platforms are so far underground, there is no staircase up, only escalators. I haven't been to all the stations, but from what I've seen, this is unique to Verdun.
You can see the platform stretching far into the distance. Actually, the roof slopes down towards the train tunnel at the far end, giving the place a greater sense of distance. It is a cool effect, and as is true in much of the metro system, it would be cooler if the city had the money to keep up maintenance (in this case, replacing the burnt-out bulbs).
From there, I take us to Place-Saint-Henri. I've never gotten off here, but I took a meandering stroll one night with a friend, and we ended up at the station. As you can see below, the station has a similarly huge sense of scale to Verdun.
There is no set Montreal style when it comes to the stations, with many of them having a unique artistic flair. One of my favorite building ornamentations is simple glazed brick, and whoever designed Place-Saint-Henri must have had a similar interest. I like the use of different shades of brick in each section, and the effect is understated, which is not something always associated with the stations in this city.
Station Villa-Maria is not a very attractive station, but I really appreciate the use of colors in the seating. The first time I saw this station, I thought, "Oh, that's kind of cool." That's still how I feel about it.
Côte-Sainte-Catherine is a great example of one of the defining features of Montreal architecture: a heavy reliance on cast concrete in artistic shapes. For whatever reason, a lot of the construction from the 1960s and 1970s uses this rather bland technique to add - what? - artistic merit or visual interest to what is essentially a cheaply constructed concrete structure. There is something about this affected nod towards art, but with absolutely no financial backing, which reminds me a lot of Eastern Europe. Vast tracts of this city are incredibly ugly, and a lady died just this past summer when some of the concrete ornamentation on a hotel downtown broke off and crushed her while she and her husband were dining. If any Montrealais or Québecois can explain how stations like Côte-Sainte-Catherine are not horribly ugly abominations, I am all ears.
Despite my rant, I do think this zig-zag effect is pretty cool. See how the pattern is on an angle (look at the second picture)? The station feels clean, too.
In the same vein as Villa-Maria, Plamondon has a seating design which, when I first saw it, I thought, "That's kind of cool." Unlike Villa-Maria, I no longer think Plamondon is nearly as cool as when I first saw it, though I do like the use of color. However, the illusion was ruined for me when I noticed the horribly chipped paint on most of the seats. I am not sure if it shows up in the picture below, so you will have to trust me.
This tour ends with another one of my favorites: Namur. First off, Namur is a city in Belgium, the capital of francophone Wallonie, and I spent a serene week there the spring of 2006. So, I was predisposed to like this station. The platform looks almost identical, brick for brick, as De la Savane, the next station along the line, and the one closest to my office. However, while De la Savane is rather bland and uninspiring from the platform on up to street level, Namur has the most amazing art installation I have seen anywhere in the world, in any metro station. Unless you are braindead, this light sculpture is dazzling and utterly breathtaking as you come up from the dark station platform.
Finally, there were new ads in the metro cars today. They are for the Polytechnique, Québec's (and one of Canada's) premier schools for science and engineering.
I was looking at it, wondering if they used models or real students. "That blonde in front is awfully good-looking to be studying at the Polytechnique," I thought. But then, I noticed the guy in the blue polo, centered in the close-up below.
So, yeah, I'm pretty sure they used at least one real student.
