Infiltration

Emperor Wang location: On an island, in a river Fetish? What fetish? \|	Bibliotheque Nationale < on 5/8/2005 1:43 AM >

	So what do you guys think of our latest landmark building? I checked it out for the first time today and you can colour me impressed. The interior design is fantastic. I found the central atrium with the elevators and staircase most impressive. Crowds of people were moving about the place yet just a few steps away the stacks were quiet. The wood slats that extend the height of the place let lots of natural light into the interior and attenuate the distractions of the outside world at the same time. I spent a few minutes watching the elevators and those suckers are the most efficient ones I've seen. Not only do they move vertically at impressive speeds, but the doors open and close at high speed too. This is some serious people moving equipment, and the glass enclosures give great views onto the place too. If anything they got me from the bottom floor to the top too fast. The furnishings and equipment are all top notch too. The desks have built-in foot rests, they're ergonomically inclined, and they have these cool little cutouts to toss your pencil in so it doesn't roll off the desk. The banker's style reading lamps have electrical outlets where you can plug in your laptop or recharge your cell phone. All very nice little touches. There are hundreds of internet enabled computers scattered about the place. Most of them are concentrated in a handful of large areas, but enough are tucked away in the nooks and crannies that you can find a free one no matter how busy the place is. I played with one just long enough to determine that they're this year's model. Nakamichi listening stations for the CD collection, 19" LCD video viewing stations, state of the art microfilm viewers... this place has the goods, in spades. The appearance of the ceilings was most pleasing to my eye. It's just rough concrete, but the designers chose to embed the sprinklers, electrical and ventilation stuff inside the floors. Look up, and you see just the structure of the place and the light fixtures, without the usual jumble of pipes, conduits and attaching doodads. It's very clean looking. The main support columns are massive and circular but they're finished with a polish I don't much care for. I would've preferred rough concrete for compatibility with the ceiling. I think I'll reserve judgment on the exterior of the place for the time being. Light green isn't my favourite colour, but the colour matching between the metal (pre-patina'd copper?) and glass parts worked out well. The place has been open only a week and already the green glass seems to be collecting the atmospheric crud very efficiently. Overall the exterior seems a little "plain" for such an important public building, but who knows? Maybe it'll grow on me. Bottom line... this place kicks some serious architectural ass. I don't know whether it'll displace the National Gallery as my favourite public building, but it's certainly in the running from just this one quick visit. Anyway, I've blathered on long enough. Go check it out if you haven't yet, and tell me what ya think. It's great to be alive!

Swanny

location:
YUL
Gender: Male

1.21 Gigawatts!

Re: Bibliotheque Nationale
<Reply # 1 on 5/8/2005 2:16 AM >

I haven't yet checked the building out, but I did hear something funny about the website that goes along with it in the gazette this week.

Taken from their english website:

At the service of all Quebecers

By using, in particular, the new technologies, the BNQ seeks to provide all Quebecers with easy, practical access to numerous bibliographic and documentary resources. The complete catalogue will be accessible on the Internet, as will tens of thousands of digitized documents: to date, 30,000 books, sound recordings, postcards and posters are already available in digital format.

By setting up advanced technological systems, the BNQ aims, among other things, to combine the electronic catalogues of Québec's public libraries in order to provide users with simplified access to all of the documentary resources available in Québec.

This electronic architecture will further boost the BNQ's remote-access services and, at the same time, provide digital solutions for interlibrary loan. It will also make it possible to better evaluate and track the demand for, and development of, services. Finally, links with the electronic resources of other international institutions will multiply points of access to the great web of knowledge.

When you click on subscription on the english website, you are taken here.

Try clicking on the Subscription Form link in the first line...

Funny stuff.

Finder location: Montreal, QC Gender: Male Le légendaire 1280 de Montréal (1953-1994) \|	Re: Bibliotheque Nationale <Reply # 2 on 5/8/2005 2:44 AM >

	Nirvy, does the place have wireless internet?

Emperor Wang

location:
On an island, in a river

Fetish? What fetish?

Re: Bibliotheque Nationale
<Reply # 3 on 5/8/2005 3:15 AM >

Posted by Finder
Nirvy, does the place have wireless internet?

Not that I could tell, Finder, but I wasn't sniffin the air that closely. A few of the workstations I inspected had what appeared to be RJ-45 panels, but I didn't see any with connectors actually installed.

Swanny... I don't find anything about state sanctioned anglo discrimination funny, at all, but I don't think that this is the place for such discussion. The BNQ building does host significant English content, and I find it to be the only major Quebec government expenditure in recent memory that I'm actually proud to have financed, so let's just leave it at that shall we?

It's great to be alive!

Finder

location:
Montreal, QC
Gender: Male

Le légendaire 1280 de Montréal (1953-1994)

Re: Bibliotheque Nationale
<Reply # 4 on 5/8/2005 4:55 AM >

Posted by NirvyGuy

Not that I could tell, Finder, but I wasn't sniffin the air that closely. A few of the workstations I inspected had what appeared to be RJ-45 panels, but I didn't see any with connectors actually installed.

Swanny... I don't find anything about state sanctioned anglo discrimination funny, at all, but I don't think that this is the place for such discussion. The BNQ building does host significant English content, and I find it to be the only major Quebec government expenditure in recent memory that I'm actually proud to have financed, so let's just leave it at that shall we?

Hmm, big mistake I think. They really should have put 802.11g internet in there.

And yeah, for the first time in a long time, this is tax money well spent. Not like the Laval Metro boondoggle.

nostra-YOUPPI!

Umpire
location:
Shahre:'on Kaybec

Bonsoir et cest partie

Re: Bibliotheque Nationale
<Reply # 5 on 5/8/2005 6:23 AM >

i for one am impressed by the place also but we mustnt forget the 6 month work stoppage to allow for the investigation into accounting irregularities, the building was a boondogle when the foundations of the building cost as much as was set out for the entire building initially. i do say a good use of money but as in all government projects there are a lot of places where the accountants could have done a better job, i was sad to see the palais du commerce go, it was montreals first convention center and hosted a wide variety of events including the initial public intros to the metro construction prior to ground breaking

Montreal Expos 1969-2004 Forever Proud Lets Keep The Dream Alive

Swanny

location:
YUL
Gender: Male

1.21 Gigawatts!

Re: Bibliotheque Nationale
<Reply # 6 on 5/8/2005 9:09 AM >

Posted by NirvyGuy
Swanny... I don't find anything about state sanctioned anglo discrimination funny, at all, but I don't think that this is the place for such discussion. The BNQ building does host significant English content, and I find it to be the only major Quebec government expenditure in recent memory that I'm actually proud to have financed, so let's just leave it at that shall we?

I'm sure the building has a substantial amount of english content, and I did not post that to incite any kind of french/english debate... It is nice to see tax money spent on a place whose goal is to disseminate knowledge and wasn't hastily promised as a pre-election gift in a swing riding. However, it is quite ironic when one reaches the error page in view of the quote I attached. "Funny stuff" was not meant to be "ha ha funny" but more like ironic funny. I admit that my word choice was not clear. I hope that clarifies things.

Emperor Wang location: On an island, in a river Fetish? What fetish? \|	Re: Bibliotheque Nationale <Reply # 7 on 5/9/2005 3:24 AM >

	No worries at all, Swanny. As a half a Quebecer I got the irony in your post right off the bat. I was just in a ratty mood last night. I like the fact that all of us can get together around this here board all friendly-style and it just irks me a bit whenever the issue of language is brought up. It's not like anything good could come of that. Anyway... I can't wait to check out this building in more detail. I'm especially looking forward to drooling all over the Maps and Plans sections on Level 2. Not that I'm a map geek or anything like that. It's great to be alive!

nostra-YOUPPI! Umpire location: Shahre:'on Kaybec Bonsoir et cest partie \|	Re: Bibliotheque Nationale <Reply # 8 on 5/9/2005 4:31 AM >

	i agree, i have bigger fish to fry that argue about language, that was my parents war, im an anglo who lives and works in french , dated french girls and love french bars, according to the last census i am french so hey. lets all just get along Montreal Expos 1969-2004 Forever Proud Lets Keep The Dream Alive

uem-Tux Iron Wok Jan location: Montreal Gender: Male UE Geek \| \| \|	Re: Bibliotheque Nationale <Reply # 9 on 5/10/2005 1:26 AM >

	There is WiFi in the library. But don't do anything sensitive that's unencrypted on it. Sniffers will steal your packets. Urban Exploration Montreal Why are you the way that you are?

TaP location: Montreal, QC Gender: Male \|	Re: Bibliotheque Nationale <Reply # 10 on 5/11/2005 12:43 AM >

	they closed the taz for this

Emperor Wang

location:
On an island, in a river

Fetish? What fetish?

Re: Bibliotheque Nationale
<Reply # 11 on 5/11/2005 2:09 AM >

Posted by TaP
they closed the taz for this

It's not *all* bad, TaP...

http://catalogue.b...&ey=&scr=1&x=0&y=0

It's great to be alive!

cjb

location:
Sept-îles/Saint-John's/Corner Brooks/Montréal/Sydney
Gender: Male

Re: Bibliotheque Nationale
<Reply # 12 on 5/12/2005 4:33 AM >

Posted by TaP
they closed the taz for this

Yeah and meanwhile they opened a new state-of-the-art skatepark 4x bigger than the Taz close to métro Namur.

http://www.magazin...dossiers/index.htm

TaP

location:
Montreal, QC
Gender: Male

Re: Bibliotheque Nationale
<Reply # 13 on 5/12/2005 8:50 PM >

Yeah and meanwhile they opened a new state-of-the-art skatepark 4x bigger than the Taz close to métro Namur.

yes 4 years or so later, when im not into skateparks anymore.
Juss stickin' with the old school now

Finder location: Montreal, QC Gender: Male Le légendaire 1280 de Montréal (1953-1994) \|	Re: Bibliotheque Nationale <Reply # 14 on 7/26/2005 12:21 PM >

	So what's the deal with this place? The glass window panes on the facade have been falling off for a while now. And I heard on CKAC 73 news this morning that the front door was busted and the elevators no longer function properly. Can we not do anything right here? Geez....

nostra-YOUPPI! Umpire location: Shahre:'on Kaybec Bonsoir et cest partie \|	Re: Bibliotheque Nationale <Reply # 15 on 7/26/2005 12:57 PM >

	i took in the "et la lumiere fut" at notre dame and was reassured, we montrealers have a long history of blowing major public works, when notre dame was built, they put a huge window in the south wall where the altar is now, well at a high mass on sunday what did the window do? blind the parishioners of course! then there is the big owe, and the library has the flooding tunnel to, the tunnel leading to the metro station floods! Montreal Expos 1969-2004 Forever Proud Lets Keep The Dream Alive

Infiltration Forums > Archived Canada: Quebec > Bibliotheque Nationale (Viewed 746 times)