Place Ville Marie is the closest thing Montreal has to a civic metronome. When it opened in 1962, the cross-shaped tower rewired the downtown skyline and signalled that the city was stepping into its modern era. Designed by I.M. Pei with a sprawling underground concourse beneath it, PVM stitched office towers, shops, and the nascent métro into a single urban circuit.

Today it still pulls thousands through its corridors—office workers grabbing lunch, families cutting across the underground network, crowds filling the Esplanade for seasonal events. The recent revitalisation pushed the complex back into public life, turning its central plaza into a gathering space and its observation deck now a series of high-class restaurants and bars.