Quartier International When the crosstown highway, Route 720, was constructed some years ago, it left behind a desolate swath of derelict buildings, parking lots, and empty spaces roughly located smack-dab between downtown and Vieux- Montréal. Bounded, more or less, by rue St-Antoine on the south, avenue Viger, under the highway, on the north, rue St-Urbain on the east, and rue University on the west, this no-man's land is slowly being spruced up with new parks, office buildings, and a recently expanded Palais des Congrès (Convention Center). A small plaza, opposite the west end of the Convention Center, is named for Jean-Paul-Piopelle, a prominent Québec artist of the latter half of the 20th century. One of his sculptures stands there. By some definitions, the Quartier incorporates the World Trade Center Montréal, a complex of brokerage houses, law firms, and import-export companies.