“In the eyes of the government, there is no heritage vision,” says architectural historian and urban planner François Rémillard, on the occasion of the publication of a book devoted to beautiful residences. history of Quebec and its region.
“I have been dealing with heritage since the 1970s. At the time, we were holding demonstrations to denounce the situation. I even chained myself after the house of Ucal-Henri Dandurand [à Montréal] to save it… They destroyed it anyway, during the night. It was in 1981.
Times have not changed so much, he regrets. “I chose to write books rather than going to demonstrate again, but it is not certain that it will be more effective”, he says in a tone of annoyance, at the time of presenting to the public his last -born : Beautiful historic homes in Quebec and its region.
François Rémillard is one of the founding members of Héritage Montréal. “With Brian Merrett, Phyllis Lambert and many others with whom I have worked, we have saved homes! We cannot say that we have accomplished nothing. But I am forced to say today, to my greatest regret, that we have made almost no progress. The mentalities remain the same. »
Beautiful historic homes in Quebec and its region is the sequel to Beautiful historic homes on the island of Montreal, published in 2016. “In my works, I try to highlight the importance of heritage, architecture and urban planning. I wanted to present here, with my friend Brian Merrett, who takes care of all the photos, buildings that are often overlooked and which the public, in any case, cannot easily access. »
“Big zeros”
While congratulating himself that these exceptional residences have been preserved against all odds, François Rémillard regrets the lack of education, in Canada as in Quebec, in architectural matters. He doesn’t beat around the bush: “We’re big zeros! Not just in architecture, but in urban planning too. I think there are many African countries that are doing better than us, with infinitely fewer resources. I tell you: often, I want to cry. »
The story of the destruction of the Domain-de-l’Esterel seems to him emblematic of a catastrophic laissez-faire that persists beyond time. This original building, planted in the middle of the Laurentians, designed in the 1930s by the Belgian architect Antoine Courtens, was destroyed last May with mechanical shovels, even if it was in principle protected to the highest degree by the Quebec state. The latter had started by letting the adjoining outbuildings in the heart of the building be destroyed, which was swept away in the momentum.
“To see it destroys, like so many other things in recent years, it destroys me too! There is no regard for culture in Quebec, for such things to repeat themselves! Heritage is not considered for what it is, that is to say as traces of culture, of collective wealth. We are laughed at so much our management of heritage is miserable! We add useless and stupid stuff. Or we let the goods deteriorate. I do not know what to do ! protested François Rémillard.
Recipes for disaster
The architectural historian deplores the destruction of the Villa Livernois, in Quebec, associated with a large family of photographers and well preserved until its recent abandonment. In the XXIe century, “one would have thought that the demolitions of remarkable historic residences were behind us. However, it is not. The absence of clear heritage policies, which should normally be accompanied by coercive and proactive measures, such as those applied in France for example, make the good days of real estate developers and unscrupulous owners. »
The means used to destroy these buildings can be summed up in two, he says. First recipe: “we leave the heritage building abandoned for a few years, open to all winds, without heating, without electricity, but with the water freezing in the pipes”. Second recipe, just as infallible: “the heritage building is boarded up to make a good impression or to comply with a municipal by-law, while leaving a few openings unsupervised”. In this case, the fire never fails to lay on the ground what persisted.
These dramas are replayed everywhere, according to barely reworked scenarios. “How is it that we didn’t take the trouble to protect the Taschereau manor, in Beauce? This state-listed house, abandoned following the flooding of the Chaudière River, was devoured by flames fueled by criminal hands, just like the Busteed house in Gaspésie, to speak only of those.
What to do ?
“I believe that the responsibility must first be state. It is a serious mistake to think that it is the municipalities that should be responsible for overseeing what should be preserved and enhanced for everyone. According to François Rémillard, the new Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, should at least hasten to review the law that his predecessor left behind. Even if this law has just been modified, it does not allow, judge François Rémillard, to change the catastrophic trajectory from which the Quebec heritage has suffered so far.
“It must be a law that finally gives the State the possibility of having teeth. It was a mistake to entrust this to the municipalities, ”he repeats several times.
“Municipalities are often in collusion with contractors, because their only revenue comes from municipal taxes. Which makes it more profitable for them to have a Tim Hortons than a historic building! The overhaul of the law only created additional problems. It’s not settled at all, heritage in Quebec. For things to really change, the state would first have to show a real vision in this area, says this connoisseur of the history of Quebec buildings.
A sample
In Beautiful historic homes in Quebec and its regionFrançois Rémillard wishes to give a sample of the most remarkable buildings in the region of Quebec, without denying that in this corner of the country as elsewhere, the misfortunes are recorded one after the other.
He regrets not including more contemporary buildings in his book. They too are important, he says, although the Cultural Heritage Law does not make too much of buildings built after 1940. Unfortunately, the pandemic has slowed down the work of documentation on this side, ahead of the publication of the book. .
“I still talked about the house of Édouard Fiset, built in Quebec in 1961. It was he, as an architect, who planned the campus of Laval University. Fiset will also work on the Expo 67 construction site. His house is a bit like a Mondrian canvas. An architectural canvas that has the good taste not to be presented upside down.
François Rémillard regrets that remarkable houses from the 1950s and 1960s are demolished one after the other, “as if it had no value”. They are replaced “by imitations of the old style, most often neo-Victorian horrors, monster house “. As a society, we lack imagination, he says. Beautiful houses remain.