Caisse Nationale d'Économie, Montreal

During the 10th World Congress on Art Deco in Montreal in May 2009 our tour of the 'old city' took us to the Caisse Nationale d'Économie building in Saint-Jacques Street West.

The building was designed by Payette and Crevier and constructed in 1938-39. There is simple decoration along the roofline and above the windows. The support for the flag pole is in the form of a fasces.

The dark panels in the centre of the façade between the widows are decorated with a stylised caduceus and almost look Victorian to me while the designs on the panels between the single windows on either side of the façade are striped back to very simple geometric patterns and look very modern.

The doors of the Caisse Nationale d'Économie building are lovely. This photo shows our tour guide Jean-Yves from the Art Deco Society of Montreal explaining the details and history of the building. You can see the interested faces of the group reflected in the glass panes.

A nice feature is the maple leaf included in the metalwork at the each corner of the doors.

As a matter of contrast, the building next door, on the right, was also contructed for the same company but twenty years later. That building was designed by Labelle, Duplessis and Dérome and has very little decoration illustrating the change from pre-WWII to post-WWII.

Reference:
Vieux-Montreal Tour Booklet, 10th World Congress on Art Deco, Montreal