Within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Center for Canadian Architecture contains a library holding one of the world's largest collections of architectural documents. The public exhibits on a recent visit were a tad cerebral for this average visitor, and confusion about where to enter the fortress-like building seemed to signal a failure of design.
Across from the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel, architects Henry Cobb and I.M. Pei built the urban plaza Place Ville Marie in 1962, capping an underground rail station. Montrealers tend to navigate by the plaza's signature aluminum skyscraper, which has a cruciform shape that allows light to penetrate to the building's core. (Club 737, a restaurant on top, offers a 360-degree city view.)
