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The Main Media Inc. 2026

✦ Built By Field Office
    The Main

    Montreal's Cultural Directory

    Help us improve! Share your thoughts on how we can make your experience better.

    Leave feedback

    For partnerships and collaborations:

    partnerships@themain.com

    Explore

    • About us
    • Shop
    • Advertise
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    Connect

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    • Twitter
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    Legal

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    The Main Media Inc. 2026

    ✦ Built By Field Office
      --°C|Saturday, March 7, 2026|
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      Magazine
      Categories
      • Arts & Culture

        Creativity, heritage, and expression.

      • Beyond Montreal

        Travel, adventure, and global perspectives.

      • Design

        The best of Montreal design.

      • Food & Drink

        La bonne bouffe.

      • History

        Stories, lessons, and context.

      • Newsletter

        Our weekly newsletter.

      • See all original stories
      Explore Montreal
      Popular Guides
      • The Best Restaurants in Montreal
      • Best new Restaurants
      • Best Cafés
      • Unique Boutiques
      • Romantic Restaurants
      • Best Bookstores
      • See all Guides
      Neighbourhood
      • Downtown
      • Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
      • Mile End
      • Mile-Ex
      • Saint-Henri
      • See All
      Business Type
      • Restaurant
      • Café
      • Boutique / Store
      • Bar
      • Bakery
      • See All
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      1. Articles
      2. History Lesson

      How Montreal Falls in and Out of Love with Brutalist Architecture

      How Montreal’s unapologetic concrete giants went from symbols of modernist utopia to polarizing relics—and why the city just can’t quit them.

      By J.P. KarwackiJanuary 17, 2025 - Read time: 5 min
      How Montreal falls in and out of love with Brutalist architecture
      Photograph: @dontdieforfree / X
      “Montreal is like the most Brutalist non-Soviet place on earth. Our entire metro system is brutalist af.” — Reddit, u/Gap1293
      The Hydro-quebec building near Berri-UQAM. | Photograph: Chymick6 / Reddit

      Montreal isn’t shy about its architectural identity.

      These days, we’ve got our share of glass and steel structures like anybody else, but that’s only in addition to a skyline that leans into rawness and embraces the unapologetic honesty of Brutalism.

      From the iconic Habitat 67 to the sprawling Guy-Favreau Complex, the city’s Brutalist landmarks are cultural artifacts, each etched with the ideals and contradictions of their era.

      But how’d we get here?

      Photograph: Eddy Lee / Jaykumar Bherwani / Phil Desforges / charlesdeluvio

      The birth of Brutalism in Montreal

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      Create a free account to read this story and access 3 articles per month, plus our weekly Bulletin.

      Independent. Local. Reader-supported. Join 10,000+ Montrealers today.

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      What Happened to Montreal's Red Light District?
      History Lesson
      J.P. Karwacki

      What Happened to Montreal's Red Light District?

      Jazz legends, burlesque queens, and organized crime made it one of the most alive corners in North America. Then Montreal decided it had a reputation to protect.

      The House That Haitian Montreal Built
      History Lesson
      The Main

      The House That Haitian Montreal Built

      The story of La Maison d'Haïti: Its welcome and advocacy for Montreal's growing Haitian community since 1972.

      The Woman Who Taught a City How to Play the Piano
      History Lesson
      J.P. Karwacki

      The Woman Who Taught a City How to Play the Piano

      In so many ways, Montreal jazz exists because Daisy Peterson Sweeney both masters and generations of kids in Little Burgundy.

      How a Railway Porter Built Montreal's Most Storied Jazz Club
      History Lesson
      J.P. Karwacki

      How a Railway Porter Built Montreal's Most Storied Jazz Club

      The story of Rufus Rockhead, the Jamaican-born railway porter who built Montreal's most legendary jazz club—and spent decades defending it.

      What Montreal's 1976 Olympics left behind, 50 years later
      History Lesson
      J.P. Karwacki

      What Montreal's 1976 Olympics Left Behind, 50 Years Later

      Were the Summer Games a triumph, a total failure, or somewhere in between?

      The hidden politics of Montreal's 19th-century ice palaces
      History Lesson
      Kaitlyn DiBartolo

      The Hidden Politics of Montreal's 19th-century Ice Palaces

      Built from 500-pound blocks of ice pulled from the St. Lawrence, the Neo-Gothic castles dazzled international crowds while reinforcing who really held power.

      1. Articles
      2. History Lesson

      How Montreal Falls in and Out of Love with Brutalist Architecture

      How Montreal’s unapologetic concrete giants went from symbols of modernist utopia to polarizing relics—and why the city just can’t quit them.

      By J.P. KarwackiJanuary 17, 2025 - Read time: 5 min
      How Montreal falls in and out of love with Brutalist architecture
      Photograph: @dontdieforfree / X
      “Montreal is like the most Brutalist non-Soviet place on earth. Our entire metro system is brutalist af.” — Reddit, u/Gap1293
      The Hydro-quebec building near Berri-UQAM. | Photograph: Chymick6 / Reddit

      Montreal isn’t shy about its architectural identity.

      These days, we’ve got our share of glass and steel structures like anybody else, but that’s only in addition to a skyline that leans into rawness and embraces the unapologetic honesty of Brutalism.

      From the iconic Habitat 67 to the sprawling Guy-Favreau Complex, the city’s Brutalist landmarks are cultural artifacts, each etched with the ideals and contradictions of their era.

      But how’d we get here?

      Photograph: Eddy Lee / Jaykumar Bherwani / Phil Desforges / charlesdeluvio

      The birth of Brutalism in Montreal

      Free account required

      For readers who care about Montreal

      Create a free account to read this story and access 3 articles per month, plus our weekly Bulletin.

      Independent. Local. Reader-supported. Join 10,000+ Montrealers today.

      or

      Already a member? Sign in

      What Happened to Montreal's Red Light District?
      History Lesson
      J.P. Karwacki

      What Happened to Montreal's Red Light District?

      Jazz legends, burlesque queens, and organized crime made it one of the most alive corners in North America. Then Montreal decided it had a reputation to protect.

      The House That Haitian Montreal Built
      History Lesson
      The Main

      The House That Haitian Montreal Built

      The story of La Maison d'Haïti: Its welcome and advocacy for Montreal's growing Haitian community since 1972.

      The Woman Who Taught a City How to Play the Piano
      History Lesson
      J.P. Karwacki

      The Woman Who Taught a City How to Play the Piano

      In so many ways, Montreal jazz exists because Daisy Peterson Sweeney both masters and generations of kids in Little Burgundy.

      How a Railway Porter Built Montreal's Most Storied Jazz Club
      History Lesson
      J.P. Karwacki

      How a Railway Porter Built Montreal's Most Storied Jazz Club

      The story of Rufus Rockhead, the Jamaican-born railway porter who built Montreal's most legendary jazz club—and spent decades defending it.

      What Montreal's 1976 Olympics left behind, 50 years later
      History Lesson
      J.P. Karwacki

      What Montreal's 1976 Olympics Left Behind, 50 Years Later

      Were the Summer Games a triumph, a total failure, or somewhere in between?

      The hidden politics of Montreal's 19th-century ice palaces
      History Lesson
      Kaitlyn DiBartolo

      The Hidden Politics of Montreal's 19th-century Ice Palaces

      Built from 500-pound blocks of ice pulled from the St. Lawrence, the Neo-Gothic castles dazzled international crowds while reinforcing who really held power.

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      A Royal Road Trip: The Chemin du Roy Between Montreal and Quebec City

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      The Bulletin: A weekend in January that belongs in the summer [Issue #112]

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      The Bulletin: A Weekend in January That Belongs in the Summer [Issue #112]

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      A Royal Road Trip: The Chemin du Roy Between Montreal and Quebec City

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      Beau Type Vol. 1

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      Le Dépanneur

      Shop The Main's Dépanneur. Open 24/7.

      Beau Type Vol. 1

      Beau Type Vol. 1

      $16.00

      Beau Type Vol. 2

      Beau Type Vol. 2

      $16.00

      The Reeds: A Novel [Stamped by Author]

      The Reeds: A Novel [Stamped by Author]

      $24.95

      Shop our Dép!

      See more