Écologie des lieux is a monumental sculpture composed of two white-painted aluminum structures, with one segment in bronze. Meeting above a pedestrian path, they form the geographic contours of the Sainte-Marie and Saint-Jacques districts, which are joined to form the Centre-Sud sector and bring together neighbourhoods such as the Village and the Quartier des Faubourgs.

The work is inspired by both the urban environment and nature. Its shapes evoke the neighbourhood’s houses, cornices, and roofs, and also refer to treetops and the veins of leaves. The street grid thus becomes the network of veins in two huge suspended leaves that form a canopy above passersby. This reference to the urban forest brings to mind the diversity of ecosystems and the human, cultural, and social richness of the Centre-Sud sector.

The trunks feature tree-bark motifs. The trunk north of the pedestrian path was developed from digitally transformed photographs of bark – a nod to the creativity and innovation for which these neighbourhoods are known.

Citizen participation is an important part of the project. During a co-creation workshop, residents made clay models of part of the bronze trunk. Their handprints are now incorporated into it, testifying to their presence and their contribution to neighbourhood life. Thus, Bérubé establishes a dialogue among nature, technology, territory, and community. With its form evoking both canopy and portal, Écologie des lieux acts as an urban landmark, meeting place, and symbol of belonging.

To increase the Centre-Sud sector’s resilience to heavy rains, the Ville-Marie borough is permanently redeveloping Rue Larivière to create the first “sponge street” in Montréal. This new public space for ecological rainwater management will bolster biodiversity, urban adaptability, and the quality of neighbourhood life. Designed with input from residents and the Comité du Quartier culturel des Faubourgs, the project reflects the area’s identity. In August 2024, the Bureau d’art public, with the Ville-Marie borough and the Comité du Quartier culturel des Faubourgs, launched a competition for an artwork to be integrated into the project. The project receives financial support from the Gouvernement du Québec and the Ville de Montréal as part of the Montréal Cultural Development Agreement.