Станция метро "Place des Arts" в Монреале: История и искусство

Montreal Metro station

Place des Arts station is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville Marie, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and serves the Green Line. The station opened on October 14, 1966, as part of the original network of the Metro. It is located in the Quartier des spectacles district, in east central downtown.

The station features art by Frédéric Back: a massive stained glass mural entitled L'histoire de la musique à Montréal ("history of music in Montreal"). The work is composed of thousands of layered pieces of glass backlit by 105 lighting tubes and supported by a tonne of steel. The glass surface is rippled, causing the brilliant colours to shimmer ethereally. The work was originally intended to be an homage to four important Quebec musical artists: the composers Calixa Lavallée, Guillaume Couture, Alexis Contant, and soprano Dame Emma Albani. Unveiled on December 20, 1967, this stained glass was the first work of art to be commissioned for the Metro system. In 2008 the lighting system was completely renovated by the lighting artist Axel Morgenthaler. The second work of art is a hand glazed ceramic mosaic by the artist Saskia Siebrand, installed in 2005. It contains tiles of over 300 colours, all custom hand glazed. This architectural composition made of perforated aluminum panels was added to conceal a telecommunications room that had been added over the station's western tunnel opening. Before this work was added, the Montréal métro featured only one mosaic, the one by Gabriel Bastien and Andrea Vau at Sherbrooke station.

In March 2019, a real estate developer announced a new condo project on top of the De Bleury north entrance, and the entrance building was closed to the public. In the meantime, the STM also worked on improving the station's accessibility by installing three elevators from the street level to the platforms. The entrance building reopened on June 16, 2022 and the station became accessible on July 21, 2022.

This station is named for the Place des Arts cultural complex. Opened in 1963, this complex includes five concert halls, including the largest multipurpose concert hall in Canada, and an art museum.