Underground "malls" like Toronto's PATH and Montréal's RÉSO were a somewhat obvious urban solution to inclement weather. But they are often criticized for sucking life underground and making the streets at grade feel dead.

When I've toured my American friends through Toronto's CBD in the past, I've heard comments like, "How come you have no retail downtown? It feels dead." And then I have to cheekily say, "Oh, well, we actually have tons of it, we just decided to hide it all underground so it's harder to find and confusing to navigate."

The way you start to counteract these negatives — lack of street life and challenging wayfinding — is to do what Sid Lee Architecture did masterfully here at Place Ville Marie. To the extent possible, you make grade and below grade feel like one space.

Underground "malls" like Toronto's PATH and Montréal's RÉSO were a somewhat obvious urban solution to inclement weather. But they are often criticized for sucking life underground and making the streets at grade feel dead.

When I've toured my American friends through Toronto's CBD in the past, I've heard comments like, "How come you have no retail downtown? It feels dead." And then I have to cheekily say, "Oh, well, we actually have tons of it, we just decided to hide it all underground so it's harder to find and confusing to navigate."

The way you start to counteract these negatives — lack of street life and challenging wayfinding — is to do what Sid Lee Architecture did masterfully here at Place Ville Marie. To the extent possible, you make grade and below grade feel like one space.

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