Press review

Not only is this chic, bistro-like space a place for post-service receptions, it also acts as a public coffee house, art gallery, concert venue and exhibition space, as well as providing room for seminars and a huge library on grieving.

Death and art have had a long-time love affair – from great works grappling with human mortality to funeral finery, monuments, death masks and mourning jewellery. But recent times have seen their share of bad white satin, lugubrious red velvet and drab grey stone, making death and its trappings seem rather grim. And a number of Montreal businesses are trying to spruce things up a bit, revitalizing death and its trimmings, you might say. (…)

Alfred Dallaire Memoria’s president Jocelyne Légaré would no doubt agree that death and aesthetics can mix. The renovated Alfred Dallaire Memoria funeral home on Laurier Ave. recently won an award as part of the Créativité Montréal 2007 competition for its light, natural interior design. (…)

Légaré has also launched services that more strictly relate to mourning. The funeral home offers complementary art therapy to customers in mourning. This penchant for integrating the world of the arts with the world of things funereal is probably down to Légaré’s own artistic pursuits, which include writing and filmmaking. But it is also telling of our times.

The final note of interior design should be one that makes us feel good, or at least better, even in the most difficult times. Situated in 1950’s building, the Alfred Dallaire Memoria funeral home was entirely revamped according to these simple principles: natural light, modernity and hospitality. (…) In the actual salons, there is hardly a trace of the rooms’ main function. They simply make you feel good with their modern and comfortable furniture such as big settees, Le Corbusier sofas, a grand piano and a sound and video projection system. In one of the rooms, the eye is treated to a huge blue painting by Guido Molinari.