GRANDS PRIX

International Grand Prix Art & Photography

Canada

By

Stéphane Brügger photographe

Québec, Canada stephanebrugger.com

A Red Tattoo on a Building’s Skin

The architectural photographs taken of Montréal’s Îlot Balmoral reinforce the larger dimension bright red scar that splits the emblematic building’s two glass volumes like an oblique tattoo on its clear skin.

THE SYMBOLIC OF RED In this architectural design, red refers to the Quartier des Spectacles’ cultural institutions’ brand where it stands to host, notably, the headquarters of the National Film Board.

RED, RED… LINE! The red wall of the northern part of the island folds inwards before touching the ground, increasing the lightness and transparency of the ground floor in a floating impression. Located in the cultural hub of the city, Îlot Balmoral becomes a central point and a major player in its environment. And since pictures are worth a thousand words, the work of Stéphane Brügger photographer tells it all!

A PLACE TO SHINE The opening splits the building into two distinct blocks and reveals a full-height atrium. These daylight photographs are a reminder of the extent to which sun rays penetrate to the very depths of the building and illuminate the footbridges which connect the two volumes.

LIGHTNESS & TRANSPARENCY The red graphic scar allows natural light to penetrate the heart of the building and to showcase the two volumes’ surprising angles. All the lightness and transparency of the volumes are felt in the shots of this project which revisits the world of the arts thanks to a modern and assumed architectural language.

International Grand Prix Art & Photography

Project Dazzle My Heart Murale Hôtel Le Germain

Montréal, Canada

By

Artiste Michelle Hoogveld

Québec, Canada germainhotels.com michellehoogveld.com

Germain, You Dazzle My Heart!

Le Germain Montreal Hotel innovates once again my displaying an impressive permanent mural on its front facade, a vertical rainbow adding joy and bedazzlement to the downtown concrete world.

ART & HOSPITALITY Signed by Canadian artist Michelle Hoogveld, this large-scale project is the result of a collaboration with Mural.

A COLORFUL PREMIERE Hotel guests now have an extraordinary experience waiting for them somewhere over the rainbow mural. The work brings an unexpected splash of color and a wonderfully disconcerting cheerfulness to downtown Montreal. The visual artist designed an original work specifically imagined for the building. Her idea was to create a sectional color gradient in which each of the sections would transition to the next.

PUTTING HER HEART INTO HER ART "Dazzle My Heart" is not only a major artistic project, it was also a logistical feat. Suspended from the Le Germain Montréal’s roof, the muralist applied more than eighty different colors to create this 171-foot-high mural, reaching the 17th floor of the hotel. The result is a polychome, variegated and colourful facelift and a “razzle dazzle”- patterned black-and-white side profile that gave the artwork its name.

LOVE AT SECOND GLANCE “The work has a hidden heart in it, but it is well hidden!”, admits the artist. It, however, is paramount to the concept. “My art always comes back to the emotional reaction we have with the colors.” What can we say, except… love is in the air!

PIECING IT TOGETHER