I acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
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Decaying Architecture has become the subject of Ivan Markovic's recent work. Often shrouded in mystery, abandoned buildings fall into a state of disrepair. This adds to their arresting appearance. Ivan Markovic feels captivated by these structures and their power to elicit our connection to the past.
Scale Model of the Redpath Mansion
Ivan Markovic
The Redpath Mansion was built in 1886 for members of the Redpath family – wealthy industrialists who constructed the Lachine Canal and founded the sugar refinery that bears their name. This majestic house was erected in the fabled Golden Square Mile of Montreal. By the mid-20th century, it was one of the few remaining Queen Anne style homes in this city. The most recent owners, purchased it in 1986 and within that year, obtained a license to demolish the building. Approximately 40% of the property was levelled. Organizations such as Heritage Montreal and Save Montreal obtained an injunction to suspend the execution of the license and the destruction of the mansion. It was temporarily saved. In 2014, the former Mayor of Montreal, sided in favour of the proprietors, granting them the license to level the Redpath Mansion. In a statement to the media, when substantiating his reasoning, the mayor said, “It was too dangerous, so I asked that we demolish the building.”
The disappearance of the Redpath Mansion represented a great loss to Montreal’s architectural landscape. Organizations such as Heritage Montreal and Save Montreal, contended that it possessed immense cultural value; and during the course of almost three decades – 1986 to 2014 - struggled to save this rare Queen Anne style home from the wrecking ball. Albeit, the owners of the property argued that it was old and unsafe, and that a restoration of the once stately home would be very costly.
During the span (i.e. 1986 – 2014) marked by the first attempt at a demolition and the final decision by the former Mayor of Montreal, the Redpath Mansion’s already dire condition worsened. It stood vacant and exposed to the elements. Nothing to upkeep the house was implemented, neither by the owners, or the city of Montreal; which ultimately compromised its structural viability.
The events surrounding the Redpath Mansion, came to my attention in the summer of 2010. It was during a visit to Mount Sinai Hospital, in Montreal, where my father lay stricken by a terminal disease know as pulmonary fibrosis. I came upon a newspaper article in the Montreal Gazette. It described the Redpath Mansion case. I likened the decaying building with the final stages of my father’s life.
The Redpath Mansion gained even greater significance for me when I went in person to the Golden Square Mile - in the city centre – and stood before it along Du Musée Street. I experienced it as a powerful metaphor for the transient nature of life. It also inspired thoughts related to generational ties, and how familial bonds act to influence and shape a person’s identity.
The program of work I undertook aimed at building a scale model of the Redpath Mansion, as it appeared just before its demolition, in 2014. The physical height of this scale model was set at approximately 1 metre. I placed emphasis on the craft aspect, by which to create a visual idiom based on details and decaying forms that allude to our connection to the past. For example, old pictures found among the rubble, scattered clothing and shoes, all of which are suggestive of a past ethos.
I circumvented political and social issues, to place the emphasis on unresolved questions that lay within us. Ultimately, the message veers more toward an introspective and emotional reading, and denotes that the past weighs heavily on the present, almost to the point of haunting.
The viewer of the finished scale model will view it in the round, and in so doing perceive a definite narrative that addresses questions of identity, memory and loss.
Scale Model of the Redpath Mansion
Ivan Markovic
The Redpath Mansion was built in 1886 for members of the Redpath family – wealthy industrialists who constructed the Lachine Canal and founded the sugar refinery that bears their name. This majestic house was erected in the fabled Golden Square Mile of Montreal. By the mid-20th century, it was one of the few remaining Queen Anne style homes in this city. The most recent owners, purchased it in 1986 and within that year, obtained a license to demolish the building. Approximately 40% of the property was levelled. Organizations such as Heritage Montreal and Save Montreal obtained an injunction to suspend the execution of the license and the destruction of the mansion. It was temporarily saved. In 2014, the former Mayor of Montreal, sided in favour of the proprietors, granting them the license to level the Redpath Mansion. In a statement to the media, when substantiating his reasoning, the mayor said, “It was too dangerous, so I asked that we demolish the building.”
The disappearance of the Redpath Mansion represented a great loss to Montreal’s architectural landscape. Organizations such as Heritage Montreal and Save Montreal, contended that it possessed immense cultural value; and during the course of almost three decades – 1986 to 2014 - struggled to save this rare Queen Anne style home from the wrecking ball. Albeit, the owners of the property argued that it was old and unsafe, and that a restoration of the once stately home would be very costly.
During the span (i.e. 1986 – 2014) marked by the first attempt at a demolition and the final decision by the former Mayor of Montreal, the Redpath Mansion’s already dire condition worsened. It stood vacant and exposed to the elements. Nothing to upkeep the house was implemented, neither by the owners, or the city of Montreal; which ultimately compromised its structural viability.
The events surrounding the Redpath Mansion, came to my attention in the summer of 2010. It was during a visit to Mount Sinai Hospital, in Montreal, where my father lay stricken by a terminal disease know as pulmonary fibrosis. I came upon a newspaper article in the Montreal Gazette. It described the Redpath Mansion case. I likened the decaying building with the final stages of my father’s life.
The Redpath Mansion gained even greater significance for me when I went in person to the Golden Square Mile - in the city centre – and stood before it along Du Musée Street. I experienced it as a powerful metaphor for the transient nature of life. It also inspired thoughts related to generational ties, and how familial bonds act to influence and shape a person’s identity.
The program of work I undertook aimed at building a scale model of the Redpath Mansion, as it appeared just before its demolition, in 2014. The physical height of this scale model was set at approximately 1 metre. I placed emphasis on the craft aspect, by which to create a visual idiom based on details and decaying forms that allude to our connection to the past. For example, old pictures found among the rubble, scattered clothing and shoes, all of which are suggestive of a past ethos.
I circumvented political and social issues, to place the emphasis on unresolved questions that lay within us. Ultimately, the message veers more toward an introspective and emotional reading, and denotes that the past weighs heavily on the present, almost to the point of haunting.
The viewer of the finished scale model will view it in the round, and in so doing perceive a definite narrative that addresses questions of identity, memory and loss.