Urban Galleries

Photography

Perhaps I can start this blog with a musing about what might be an ideal city? These days, fantastical, futuristic city designs generated by AI, stunning yet somehow dehumanized, are regular in my Instagram feed. Prompting the question – would I like to live in these cities?

Honestly, I do like the image or concept (and do not doubt that AI can help in designing more functional cities). Yet, can these ‘designer’ cities replace the ‘vibe’ of a real city, pulsing and beating in its own rhythm? A ‘vibe’ that embraces both beauty and chaos, history and future, diversity of architecture, thoughts, cultures, and generations?

Well, this is not to deny that thoughtful urban planning is in order. With a goal of creating livable and vibrant yet esthetically engaging cities – where history and traditions meet modern design in an interconnected manner. On a grand scale…

Take for example Piet Mondrian‘s paintings of New York City – verticals and horizontals intersecting to create a visual balance. To guide the gaze as it travels along streets and hills. One can not tame the city in these geometric and primary color principles but can likely exploit them to attain a (visual) balance that often divides ugly from beautiful.

Enough musings, the city of Montreal, on our recent visit, proved to be all of the above. An urban gallery to discover and savor. An unmistakably unique city ‘vibe’ – a vivacious mix of cultural heritage, modernity and traditions cohabiting, city vistas reminiscent of art canvases and its artists bold and relentless in challenging boundaries…