An afternoon stroll at the Cité-du-Havre neighbourhood in Montréal presented me with a surf and turf feast. Walking towards Dieppe Park I encountered people—not those who dressed like me with shorts and a hoodie—but those in wetsuits or colourful bermuda shorts, carrying full-sized surfboards. I happen to be a curious person so I followed them into a green space, passing through a 20-meters long segment with “No Trespassing” signs onto a trail next to the rapids. The trail has several signs that say the City of Montréal which lessened my worry about the earlier trespassing. Nonetheless at this point trespassing or not was no longer an issue at stake. My attention was fully drawn to those surfers who were already catching the waves on the St. Lawrence River.
This is urban surfing and I enjoyed what I saw. I like to think of water as an extension of urban space. The activities happening on the water also represent a unique human-space relationship. Surfers appropriate the urban space as they maneuver the waves. It was later that I learnt (from an all-season surfer there) that this particular spot has four waves. As he pointed towards the waves I imagined those waves as natural designs on the water and as surfers paddle in and out of the currents, perform with the standing wave, and ride with various sorts of surfboards they are concurrently initiating a dialogue with the water space. In this sense the surfer, the surfboard, the waves, and the techniques together engage in the interaction with the urban space—the water.
The surfing spot I was at is known as the Habitat 67 surf. The trail next to the rapids is adjacent to the Habitat 67 housing complex. Habitat 67 is an experimental urban residential complex designed by Israeli-born architect Moshe Safdie. It was designed as the Canadian Pavilion for the World Exposition of 1967 with the intention of exploring experimental solutions for high-quality housing in dense urban environments. Habitat 67 was constructed from 354 identical and completely prefabricated modules (referred to as “boxes”) stacked in various combinations and connected by steel cables. Safdie aimed to create a series of properties with their own identities hence each housing unit featured its own roof garden and could be accessed from an external "street". Today Habitat 67 remains an iconic building in Montréal.
That afternoon I had a feast. Toward the St. Lawrence River I savoured the surf—the surfers and their performativity with the water space; toward the land I savoured the turf—the iconic building which shows and tells stories and ideologies of the past as well as the present.
Figure 1. The trail next to the rapids borders Habitat 67. This trail leads to the spot where surfers launch. Image source: Judy Chen. Montréal, 2021.
Figure 2. Habitat 67 housing complex. Image source: Judy Chen. Montréal, 2021.
Figure 3. The surfers on the St. Lawrence River. It was truly an amazing experience to see real surfers in the middle of the city. Image source: Judy Chen. Montréal, 2021.
Figure 4. Surfing the Habitat 67 river wave. Surfing is a unique addition to the cityscape. Source: Judy Chen. Montréal, 2021.
Additional reading
The Unexpected Benefits of Surfing (BBC, 2021)