Claude Provencher
One of Quebec?s most important architects died on Friday, May 6. Claude Provencher was a generous man?and an architect with a visionary mind. He loved Montreal, his hometown, and had a major impact on the city?s urban fabric over the last four decades. 
Claude started his practice in the early 80s, at a time when the city was still reeling from the massive controversy that surrounded the 1976 Olympics. But for someone as passionate?and inventive?as he was, this period also held opportunities.
Interior view, Centre du commerce Mondial. Photo by Stéphane Poulin
Aerial view of Centre du commerce Mondial, Montreal. Courtesy Provencher_roy
We owe to Claude?along with a developer friend?the idea of transforming a half-dilapidated Old Montreal city block into a majestic galleria, a horizontal reinterpretation of the World Trade Centre. Claude imagined connecting the existing street into a long, linear court, skylit by an immense glazed rood. Framing the court, the once grandiose banks along St. James Street would be rehabilitated, and lots left vacant by years of neglect would be filled. The Centre de commerce Mondial de Montréal was inaugurated in 1992. The architectural team did include Claude?s firm, Provencher_Roy, although not as lead designer. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion. Photo by Marc Cramer
Meanwhile, Claude Provencher?s longstanding relationship with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts led to his taking an active part in...