Agora Silva on the Avenue

WHEN A FOREST COMES TO DOWNTOWN MONTRÉAL

Agora Silva unfolding on the iconic corner of Montreal's Ste-Cath and McGill College.

During the summer of 2025, LAAB transformed the iconic intersection of Sainte-Catherine Street and McGill College Avenue into a forested realm. For the better part of 3 months, Agora Silva was born! An innovative tactical urbanism installation transforming a mineral streetscape into a vibrant and inhabited urban oasis.

" With Agora Silva, a sustainable, evolving, and sensitive way of inhabiting the city is enunciated, where public space becomes a lever for social and environmental transformation." - Michel Lauzon, LAAB

Building on the momentum of award-winning Agora Maximus installations in the Quartier Latin (2022–2024), Agora Silva embodies a radical approach to circular, modular, and sustainable architecture. Each planted pixel, built from robust yet elegant materials, can be reconfigured according to use, ensuring adaptability, resource efficiency, and longevity.

In an area heavily affected by urban heat islands, the project acts as a true island of coolness. With 131 pixels distributed across four modules, including 50 planted elements and 50 seating units with integrated tables, Agora Silva promotes urban greening, renaturalization, and the emergence of a streetside micro-forest. Together, these elements create a calming refuge where nature and architecture engage in dialogue, turning public space into a place for rest, encounter, and civic experimentation.

Credits

Projet designed and directed by LAAB architecture in collaboration with uneparcelle, landscape architect.

Photos by Raphaël Thibodeau x LAAB.