Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral Montréal

“Nestled among office buildings in Montréal’s downtown core, lies this cathedral, the third largest church in Québec. Built at the end of the 19th century in the heart of what was then the city's Anglo-Protestant sector, this ornate Renaissance cathedral is replica of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, a departure from the Gothic Revival style so popular at the time. Covering nearly 4,700 square meters, the cathedral is built in the shape of a Latin cross. In 1919, Pope Benedict XV conferred the title of Minor Basilica on Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur Cathedral, renamed to Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral in 1955.” —mtl.org

I ended up inside Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral purely by chance. This place wasn’t on our list of places to visit when me and my friends went to Montréal, but a couple having their engagement shoot in front of the building did make us stop to see the towering architecture they were using as their backdrop. My friend got curious and went inside the building to look around and came out a couple of minutes later saying that it’s actually a big cathedral inside. 

And so I also got curious and went in to check the place out. The view that greeted me the moment I stepped into the main hall was nothing short of amazing. The inside of the cathedral is enormous (at least bigger than what I expected it to be) and the architecture is pretty remarkable. There’s a familiarity that I couldn’t quite put my finger on but after reading that this cathedral is a replica of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, it kind of make sense. Maybe that’s what I was reminded of when seeing this place. 

There were other tourists like me who were admiring the architecture of the cathedral and there were others who came to sit on the pews or light a candle and pray. Everybody was honoring the quiet stillness inside the cathedral which I found comforting.

Although my visit to the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral was unplanned, I’m glad that I got to see this place because this cathedral was one of the more impressive architecture I saw during my Montréal trip. 

 

---

The Ring Montréal

The Ring is a 30-meter wide stainless steel circle installation that is sitting snugly in between two buildings and on top of a staircase, giving it the illusion as if it is floating mid air. Completed in 2022, the installation is part of the revitalization project of Esplanade Place Ville Marie, an urban gathering space in the downtown Montreal’s business district. This magnificent structure was designed by award-winning landscape architects Claude Cormier + Associés and it took nearly two years to completion. 

“The Ring, commissioned by Ivanhoé Cambridge, is a customized art installation and a one-of-a-kind reflection of the symbolic importance of Place Ville Marie, an icon of Montreal’s modernity. The suspended metal ring is a site-specific installation that conveys monumentality and humility. It highlights a unique visual perspective where the McGill University campus, the architecture of the Victoria Hospital, the steep slope of Mount Royal, and the Mount Royal Cross follow one another. The Ring frames this axis of strength and contributes to the physical, symbolic, and functional articulation of Place Ville Marie pole, which marked the birth of the modern city.

This artistic installation reinforces the timeless character of the whole of Place Ville Marie through a gesture of great sobriety, of an elegance that gives a dimension of durability. The Ring is a unifying project, a new element of the Montréalité, a proof of love for Place Ville Marie, downtown Montreal and Mount Royal.” —Art Public Montréal

 

---

BEXCO • 벡스코

After our somewhat disappointing visit to Busan Cinema Center (영화의전당), we decided to check out Bexco (벡스코) since it was nearby. I actually went the day before to check the place out so this was my second visit to the place. There was barely anybody in the vicinity compared to how huge the structure is, which kinda made it more fun. Felt like we had the place all to ourselves. There are lots of windows in this place, which makes photographing the interior area quite fun but those windows also made the temperature inside so hot (plus since there were not much going on, the AC was off). I took a good amount of shots in this place and decided to move on to our next destination after we feel like we've seen enough of the space.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

---

Ewha Campus Complex

Ewha Campus Complex (이화여자대학교) is one of my favorite architectures here in Seoul. Built by Dominique Perrault, this grand complex certainly left quite an impression for first time, even returning visitors. The modern campus complex is nothing like I've seen before anywhere else in this city. It is also interesting to see, even when they have this very modern building structure, they're still preserving the old 19th-century gothic brick buildings surrounding the top part of the complex.

Sharing the shots I took during winter, that particular day was pretty cold. So not a lot of people were crowding the place, only the locals who were braving the cold weather, I assumed. We got there right before sunset, and it was my first time too coming to the campus at that time of day. Seeing how the sunlight hit the vertical structure of the stainless metal was certainly a new experience.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

---

Seoul City Hall

Can't believe the first 6 months of 2015 is almost over. It's almost the end of June and time sure flies fast. The first half of 2015 have been super awesome for me. I think I've learned and experienced lots of new things that I've never imagined before. School life, work, (new) friends, and traveling probably occupied most of my time. Made lots of great memories and hopefully I can share it here later on :) Now that I'm back in Seoul, I finally have a down time to work through all the backlogged photos that have been sitting on my hard drive all these times :p

Sharing one of the sessions from earlier this year, a visit to Seoul City Hall (서울시청) with Ken and Davina in one cold winter day. To be honest, the interior of the city hall kinda reminds me just a little of Singapore's famous Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay (but of course Cloud Forest is much more impressive) just because they have all these green plants on the walls with the concrete structure on the background. But anyways, the whole building is pretty cool. Lots of natural light (we went on a pretty bright sunny day), tall windows, and interesting building structure. A lot of different angles you can play with when taking shots. There were lots of older people that were hanging out in the cafe on the upper floor—reading or meeting up with their friends. Although seeing that made me think of how much official business actually going on around here? ;p

View fullsize

View fullsize

---