August 2025.
Montreal’s Square-Victoria-OACI Station is interesting in that it is a reconstruction of Hector Guimard’s famous Art Nouveau metro entrances in Paris. Unfortunately, orthodox Art Nouveau architecture is very rare in the United States and Canada, so until I visit Paris this summer and get around to writing that stuff up, this’ll be the blog’s best look at the style. It’s a shame, because Art Nouveau is one of my favorite styles.
Square-Victoria-OACI Station is located in Victoria Square in downtown Montreal, Quebec. It is bordered by Rue du Square-Victoria to the north and south, Rue Saint-Antoine to the east, and Avenue Viger West to the west.
History
When the Paris Metro began operation in 1900, a design competition was held to calm public worries that the metro’s entrances would be industrial and inelegant stylistically. French architect Hector Guimard was commissioned to design the stations’ above-ground entrances, which he did in the Art Nouveau style using cast iron and glass. Most were simple signs and railings surrounding a stairway underground, but Guimard also designed three that took the form of pavilions.
Bastille station, since demolished, an example of one of Guimard’s more fanciful designs. (Wikimedia)
Guimard’s stations were polarizing. The designs ultimately popularized the Art Nouveau style, but critics and the public disliked their coloring and the font used on the signage. The Metro ultimately fired Guimard in 1904 due to high costs and his highly controversial design for the Opera station, though they purchased his molds and continued to build stations in his style until 1913.
Over time, Guimard’s metro stations dwindled. Some were replaced by classical entrances designed by Joseph-Marie Cassien-Bernard, while others were demolished after World War I with the rise of Modern architecture in Europe. By 1970, 91 of the original 141 stations stood, and only 86 remain today (though they are classified as historic monuments and legally protected).
Montreal’s station shortly after installation. (Societe de transport de Montreal)
Montreal’s Guimard metro station was given to the city in 1967 by the French RATP, which operates the metro, to commemorate the collaboration between French and Canadian engineers on Montreal’s metro’s construction. It was incorrectly proportioned and missing the signage at the time, due to Montreal’s wider entrances. The entrance was damaged and vandalized over time, including the theft of one of the shield motifs. Montreal had contemplated removing it until the Quartier International project.
The station was restored between 2001 and 2002, which provided it with a more authentic appearance with reconstructions of Guimard’s signage. A building code exemption was approved to bring the opening to the Parisian dimensions, and the missing features were replaced by modern ones made with the original molds. It was also discovered that it was the only station with the original glass light globes, which were replaced in Paris for safety reasons.
Photos
Looking down Victoria Square towards the station:
Art Nouveau architecture is characterized by its sinuous, naturalistic forms. The cast iron bends freely to support both the lights and central sign:
The light fixtures are possibly inspired by lilies-of-the-valley. They are so thin and curvy, yet richly textured:
I like their contrasting, oblong red globes:
I love the wacky Art Nouveau fonts used here and across other designs:
From the rear, featuring the scrolling shield motifs centered on each module of the balustrade:
A closer look:
One of the corner posts, which looks almost like two bones fusing together:
I had learned about these stations in architectural history and was shocked to see one in the middle of downtown Montreal. I also didn’t know it was an original Guimard design, I figured it was a reproduction.
Sources:
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