The request for the demolition of the house-studio of artist Charles Daudelin, submitted to the City of Kirkland, has raised the ire of cultural and heritage circles. The house, the fruit of the work of several important architects, is now under threat. The municipality has never protected this exceptional residence, as Quebec law allows it to do.
Joined by The duty, the Ministry of Culture and Communications (MCC) says it has not received any request for protection for the sculptor’s house so far. Neither from the municipality nor from the public. The Cultural Heritage Act, recently revised, does not provide for a general protection measure for buildings built after 1940. Several jewels of modern heritage are thus in a state of great vulnerability.
In 1951, the architectural firm Rother, Bland, Trudeau had been commissioned by the artist Charles Daudelin to design his artist’s residence, envisaged as an extension of his own work. The design will be entrusted to Charles Elliott Trudeau, the uncle of the current Prime Minister of Canada. The house was enlarged a few times, thanks in part to the work of architect Jean-Louis Lalonde. In Paris, this Lalonde was associated with one of the largest post-war projects, the construction of the UNESCO Palace (1953-1958). The architect Gordon Edwards, to whom we owe the Mirabel air terminal, also worked on the layout of the Daudelin house.
Can the ministry nevertheless act alone to protect and enhance this cultural property? “The Ministry of Culture and Communications will assess different scenarios, particularly with regard to the decisions that will be taken by the municipal council and its demolition committee”, we replied to the To have towhile adding that nothing more will be said at this time.
Aware that Kirkland has not protected this rare building, the MCC assures that it “is in communication with the City and is following the file closely”.
Several protests have been heard since The duty reported that the house was subject to a request for demolition by its new owner, a real estate developer.
The former curator of contemporary art at the Musée regional de Rimouski, Ève De Garie-Lamanque, now artistic director of the International Reford Gardens Festival, has signed a contract with Eve Katinoglou, head of collections management at the Musée des beaux-arts. arts de Montréal, as well as a dozen other specialists in a letter sent to the municipal administration.
According to the signatories, the residence “is triply exceptional”. It is a “jewel of modern architecture”. The “lot on which it was built has unusual dimensions and shape that refer to the development history of the Town of Kirkland”. And finally, Charles Daudelin, “a major Quebec artist and pioneer in the integration of the arts into architecture and the environment, lived and worked there with his wife Louise (close collaborator and artist) from 1951 until his death. , in 2001 “.
This letter of protest addressed to the municipality expresses a strong “opposition to the demolition”, according to the words of the signatories. She “requests a stay of proceedings”, pending a request for classification from the MCC. Ève De Garie-Lamanque affirms that this approach is supported by the Daudelin family.
The Docomomo Quebec organization, dedicated to the enhancement and protection of modern heritage, also protested against this carelessness in favor of the preservation of the legacy of Charles Daudelin.