Abstract

In 2000, Quartier Éphémère, a contemporary arts organization, reclaimed the ruins of the Darling Foundry, a nineteenth-century metalworks factory located in Griffintown, Montreal's historic industrial district. Like many deindustrialized landscapes, Griffintown is a reservoir of social, cultural and architectural history that remains a part of the urban palimpsest. It is in a constant state of transition. Some changes keep its past alive while other changes, such as private redevelopment schemes, have eradicated the past. Using the Darling Foundry as a case study, this thesis examines the adaptive reuse of post-industrial architecture for cultural purposes, the relationship between contemporary art practice and architecture, and the notion of place making. The reuse and rehabilitation of industrial ruins is necessarily related to their cultural meaning, questions of urban preservation and memory. This thesis asks, how does the artistic reclamation and reuse of abandoned and ruined spaces become an act of place making that contributes to the urban imaginary and cultural landscape of the city? A critical interdisciplinary reading of the Darling Foundry's transformation, as well as the exhibitions and interventions in relation to the sites in which they occur, shows how contemporary, site-specific art projects and performances enact historical resonances that describe the mutual relationship between the sites and interventions. Using architectural history, cultural anthropology and methods specific to oral history practice, this thesis demonstrates how Quartier Éphémère 's initiatives create conditions for rethinking the mutuality between historical architecture and communities in relation to their spatial narratives and cultural meaning.