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12 Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Cana­dian Art

James Brittain

Marc Cramer

Tom Arban

Contents

9 News

Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes skillfully knits together an assemblage of disparate buildings through a new addition to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts campus. TEXT Tanya Southcott

ew Earth Sciences Building at UBC N opens; Brett McIntyre wins the Canada Council for the Arts’ Prix de Rome in Architecture for Emerging Practitioners.

29 Report

18 Quartier des Spectacles

A series of urban projects undertaken over the past decade have nourished the cultural development of Montreal immeasurably. TEXT Nik Luka

24 PHI Centre

32 Calendar

Phoebe Greenberg dedicates significant resources to the development of cuttingedge arts and culture institutions in her adopted city of Montreal. TEXT Elsa Lam

Don Toromanoff

Jyhling Lee assesses new tile trends at CERSAIE, the international exhibition of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings held each year in Bologna, Italy.

id-Century Icons: Architectural PhotogM raphy from the Panda Collection at the University of Calgary; Nader Tehrani lectures in support of a new school of architecture at the University of Saskatchewan.

34 Backpage

Yuan Yi Zhu’s winning student submission to the Maison de l’Architecture du Québec’s annual Young Architectural Critic competition.

FEBRUARY 2013, v.58 n.02

The National Review of Design and Practice/ The Journal of Record of Architecture Canada | RAIC

COVER The Place des Festivals—part of the Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal, Quebec. Photograph by Marc Cramer.

02/13 canadian architect

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Marc Simmons

Viewpoint LEFT Façade consultancy Front Inc designed the futuristic envelope for Neil Denari’s HL23, a residential building overlooking the elevated High Line park in Manhattan. Exploring new modes of practice, Front also worked through a sister company to supply the glazing portions, taking responsibility for all aspects of the system’s design and production. The firm was co-founded by Marc Simmons—who trained in architecture at the University of Waterloo— along with partners Bruce Nichol and Na Min Ra.

Among many Canadian architectural firms, a sense of concern currently prevails. Across the provinces, the past several years have seen the rise of mega-firms with large organiza­ tional umbrellas, and the arrival of new procurement procedures for a broad range of public commissions. Small- to mid-sized firms, wary of merging into large entities or entering the P3 game, seem in particular to seek new models of practice.

The theme of finding an alternative path— whether through specialization, collaboration or multidisciplinarity—was the subject of a recent symposium organized by grad students at Ryerson University. Emerging from a sem­ inar led by department chair Colin Ripley, the evening’s discussants included McGill professor Michael Jemtrud, the University of Calgary’s Branko Kolaveric, Montgomery Sisam principal Alice Liang, and New York-based Marc Simmons of Front Inc. Early on in the discussion, Jemtrud declared that “architects need to know a lot”—a refrain that echoed throughout the evening. The contours of this broad knowledge varied considerably for each speaker.

Kolaveric, for instance, hoped that new forms of design-build practice could emerge as architects learn to directly manufacture buildings using new technology. Jemtrud, who has headed a cluster of technology-centered initiatives at McGill, pointed out the need for critical historical thinking and lab-based environments to ground and test emerging tools. For 6 canadian architect 02/13

him, these tools include not only digital software, but also bureaucratic structures and policies that enable design.

Simmons emphasized the importance of understanding project financing and global economic structures. As a façade consultancy, his studio begins with an astute knowledge of budgetary constraints in order to produce innovative designs. Simmons is also no stranger to digital tools: Front’s staff includes a good number of computer geeks, fluent in programming languages that help generate complex patterns and pinpoint accurate geometries.

Liang stepped in to reassure the soon to be graduates that their liberal education and collaborative skills would open many doors, in architecture or otherwise. She spoke with satisfaction of her own success in influencing public policy, after many years practicing as a health-care architect. Politics, she hinted, would be a worthwhile path for more architects to pursue.

At the heart of all of these suggestions was the theme of passion. Whether carving out a specialized niche or cultivating a broader network of knowledge, a sense of conviction is key to pushing individual careers and larger practices forward. The huge teams behind most major architectural projects require strong leadership, a role that continues to be taken up by architects. The most successful architects continue to be those with both a strong head for design and a sharp nose for business. In this sense, the landscape of practice is perhaps no more or less difficult than it has ever been— only different, with its own particular challenges and opportunities.

Simmons ultimately sounded the most pessimistic—and optimistic—notes for the future of the profession. “Entropy is at work,” he pointed out. Buildings deteriorate, projects falter, relationships fall apart—all yielding openings for new working methods and new talent to enter the market.

Elsa Lam

elam@canadianarchitect.com

­­Editor Elsa Lam, MRAIC Associate Editor Leslie Jen, MRAIC Editorial Advisors Ian Chodikoff, OAA, FRAIC John McMinn, AADipl.

Contributing Editors Gavin Affleck, OAQ, MRAIC Herbert Enns, MAA, MRAIC Douglas MacLeod, ncarb, MRAIC Regional Correspondents Halifax Christine Macy, OAA Regina Bernard Flaman, SAA Montreal David Theodore Calgary David A. Down, AAA Winnipeg Herbert Enns, MAA Vancouver Adele Weder Publisher Tom Arkell 416-510-6806 Associate Publisher Greg Paliouras 416-510-6808 Circulation Manager Beata Olechnowicz 416-442-5600 ext. 3543 Customer Service Malkit Chana 416-442-5600 ext. 3539 Production Jessica Jubb Graphic Design Sue Williamson Vice President of Canadian Publishing Alex Papanou President of Business Information Group Bruce Creighton Head Office 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 Telephone 416-510-6845 Facsimile 416-510-5140 E-mail editors@canadianarchitect.com Web site www.canadianarchitect.com Canadian Architect is published monthly by BIG Magazines LP, a div. of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd., a leading Cana­dian information company with interests in daily and community news­papers and business-tobusiness information services.

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News Projects

Perkins+Will, Equilibrium Consulting, and the University of British Columbia recently celebrated the official opening of the Earth Sciences Building (ESB). Using wood as its primary structure, this innovative five-storey facility is North America’s largest panelized wood building. Shared between the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, the Department of Statistics, the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, the Office of the Dean of Science, and the Pacific Museum of the Earth, the ESB provides ample opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange between departments.

The building contains teaching, lab and office space, along with three lecture theatres, one of which has alternate rows of swivel seats and fixed tables to allow students to interact and work in groups. The five-storey structure is organized into two wings that surround an openconcept atrium with a free-floating cantilevered solid timber staircase. Unlike the concrete laboratory wing, the academic wing uses wood as the primary structural material, providing a welcoming environment while sequestering approximately 2,600 tonnes of CO2 based on the 1,320 tonnes of wood material used in the project. The combination of solid, cross-laminated wood and wood-concrete composite panels make the academic wing of ESB an innovative project in Canada—raising the bar for the use of wood in large-scale high-performance projects.

The building is also located directly across the street from the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, which presented an opportunity to develop a museum precinct in this area of campus, contributing to and reinforcing the public realm along Main Mall, the campus’s primary axis.

Patkau Architects to design Presentation House Gallery in North Vancouver.

With the support and direction of the City of North Vancouver, Presentation House Gallery has announced the appointment of Patkau Architects to design the Gallery’s new home at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue. Patkau Architects’ buildings have earned national and international accolades, and include such significant landmarks as the Beaty Biodiversity Museum in Vancouver and the new School of Art at the University of Manitoba, currently under construction in Winnipeg. In 2010, they won a prestigious international competition to design onsite cottages at Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright masterwork in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Most recently, they have been chosen to design the new Audain Art Museum in Whistler. In the

Martin Tessler/Courtesy Perkins+Will

New Earth Sciences Building at UBC opens.

ABOVE Designed by Perkins+Will and Equilibrium Consulting, the new Earth Sciences Building at UBC is North America’s largest panelized wood structure.

coming months, details will be revealed of the Patkaus’ design for this major public art gallery on the North Shore waterfront. http://presentationhousegallery.org

Awards Brett MacIntyre wins the Canada Council for the Arts’ Prix de Rome in Architecture for Emerging Practitioners.

The 2013 winner of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Prix de Rome in Architecture for Emerging Practitioners is Brett MacIntyre, who will bring his own aboriginal perspective to his research and future designs as an architect, working with Canada’s First Nations. Through his project, Lessons from Lappland: Exploring the Indigenous Architecture of the Sami, MacIntyre will also study the approaches taken by different countries towards the fostering of aboriginal cultures through architecture, travelling to the Arctic region of Sapmi, home to the indigenous culture of the Sami. This area covers the northern regions of Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. He plans to put together a public exhibition upon his return to Canada. The $34,000 Prix de Rome in Architecture for Emerging Practitioners is awarded to a recent graduate of one of Canada’s 11 accredited schools of architecture who demonstrates outstanding potential. The prizewinner is given the opportunity to visit significant architectural sites abroad and to intern at an architecture firm of international stature. MacIntyre was born in Williams Lake, BC and grew up in Fernie. He

graduated from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History before obtaining his Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies and Masters in Architecture from Dalhousie University in Halifax. MacIntyre’s interest in aboriginal identity and its potential for modern architecture stems from his own heritage as a member of the Haida of Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands). Growing up, he was fascinated by the art and architecture found on the Islands, which influenced much of his architectural education. In 2009, McIntyre received the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Post-Secondary Scholarship and the Dalhousie University Faculty of Architecture Thesis Prize in 2012 for his graduate thesis Memory and Myth: Storytelling as a Design Tool for a Youth Camp in Haida Gwaii. http://canadacouncil.ca/news/releases/2012/ gf130032812544654538.htm Three architects and one architectural historian receive Order of Canada.

Three Canadian architects and one architectural historian have been appointed Members of the Order of Canada, which recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to commu­ nity and service to the nation. The 2012 appointees include two Companions (C.C.), 33 Officers (O.C.) and 56 Members (C.M.). Brigitte Shim and A. Howard Sutcliffe of Toronto have been appointed “for their contributions as architects designing sophisticated structures that represent the best in Canadian design to the world.”

Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc. has won multiple 02/13­ canadian architect

9

design awards including Governor General’s awards and medals for architecture. Their public works, parks and residences grace both Canada and the United States. James K. M. Cheng of Vancouver has been appointed for “helping to develop the Vancouver style of architecture, influencing the face of a city and a generation of Cana­dian architects.” Cheng is best known for his green glass condominium towers in Vancouver that have helped create the architectural style known as “Vancouverism.” Harold Kalman of Vancouver has been appointed to the Order of Canada for “his contributions to the preservation of Canada’s built heritage, as an architectural historian, practitioner and author.” Canada’s first heritage consultant, Kalman co-founded Commonwealth Historic Resource Management Ltd. which developed an extensive Canadian and international conservation practice. http://dcnonl.com/article/id53517/--four-architectsreceive-order-of-canada

Competitions

announced. Endorsed by the Manitoba Association of Architects, proposals for the competition were all submitted online. From over 100 entries this year, jury members selected designs that best “push the envelope of design, craft and art.”

Five huts in total were built. Three huts were chosen from the open submission process: Hygge House by a Winnipeg-based collaborative team comprised of Plain Projects, URBANINK and Pike Projects; Woolhaus by Myung Kweon Park of New York; and Smokehouse by aamodt/plumb architects of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Weave Wave by University of Manitoba architecture students was the winning entry in a separate University of Manitoba competition. The fifth hut was designed and built by award-winning architectural firm Atelier Big City from Montreal.

The huts were built in early January on site and brought down the river trail shortly after. www.warminghuts.com/submissions

What’s New Applications being accepted for the Canada Council for the Arts’ Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture.

The winners of the Warming Huts v.2013: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice were recently

The Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture is awarded annually to either a young practi-

JOHN PORTER

ROBERT POOLE

ALISON HUGHES

MARLON BRAY

NAREN CHANDE

Warming Huts 2013: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice.

10 canadian architect 02/13

tioner of architecture or an architectural firm that has completed its first built works and has demonstrated exceptional artistic potential.

The prize encourages the development of artistic excellence in contemporary architectural practice by supporting the prize recipients to travel around the world to develop their skills and their creative practice, and to strengthen their position in the international architecture world. Candidates are to define the program of work and related travels that will best support the development and recog­ nition of their practice. The deadline for submission is March 1, 2013. www.canadacouncil.ca/NR/rdonlyres/67A6AC662F09-4E4C-A5EA-3C2913E93692/0/VAG4E0210.pdf

Erratum The caption for the rendering of Edmonton’s Civic Precinct Master Plan at the top of page 23 in the January 2013 issue of Canadian Architect neglected to credit the entire team who worked on the project. KASIAN, Gehl Architects and gh3 are in fact the design team for the Civic Precinct Master Plan, planned to go forward to Edmonton City Council in 2013.

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Art History 101

A marble-clad gallery block and a churchturned-concert hall form an unlikely union in the newest addition to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts campus.

Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian Art Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes Text Tanya Southcott Photos Tom Arban unless otherwise noted Project

Architect

Looking out from the fourth-floor galleria of the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion, the uneven slate of a century-old rooftop testifies to years of abuse by the harsh extremes of Montreal’s weather. The mottled texture of the tiles and their claret-coloured brick gable foreground a panorama of streets lined with historic mansions and modern apartment blocks that lead the eye north, towards the city’s iconic name­sake, Mount Royal. Here in the heart of Mon­treal’s Golden Square Mile district, the tides of change are ever present in the urban morphology.

12 canadian architect 02/13

Founded in 1860, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) has called the intersection of Sherbrooke Street and Avenue du Musée home since 1912, when the Art Gallery (as it was known at the time) moved from Phillips Square to a new pavilion by architects Edward and William S. Maxwell. Today, the architectural lineage of the complex—whose authors include design luminaries Fred Lebensold, Moshe Safdie and Frank Gehry—reflects a long tradition of institution-building. Through its mandate to provide the public with firsthand access

to art, the museum has, over the last 150 years, been a key player in a Canada-wide conversation about both the possibilities and responsibilities of building in a rich historic environment.

The newest addition to the MMFA’s everevolving campus, designed by Montreal-based Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes, is in two parts. It is made up of the exhibition galleries, housed in a four-storey chiselled white marble block, and the Bourgie Concert Hall, a restored 19th-century Romanesque Revival church. Each piece succeeds as a project in its own right; however, the overall composition that ties the unconventional pairing together is somewhat less developed.

The landmark Erskine and American Church

by Alexander C. Hutchison had long been on the museum’s radar, but it was not until after its deconsecration in 2004 that its acquisition could become a reality, in 2008. How to repurpose this 104-year-old structure was the next challenge. Adaptation to strict museum environmental control standards was determined to be

Marc Cramer Opposite Stitching into a tight urban fabric, the new pavilion’s exhibition spaces wrap underneath and behind the repurposed Erskine and American Church. Above, clockwise from top The sensitively restored interior of the Bourgie Concert Hall showcases a rare Cana­ dian commission of Tiffany stained-glass windows; A view into the underground gallery that links the pavilion to the main museum; The top-floor exhibition area’s Inuit art display.

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Marc Cramer Above, top to bottom A view down Avenue du musée, with the Bourgie pavilion at left, the Maxwells’ Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion at right, and Moshe Safdie’s Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion at the end of the vista; A view of rooftops and Mount Royal from the skylit top floor of the new pavilion. Opposite, left to right A marble entryway slices into the original masonry wall at the concert hall entrance; The deliberate sequencing of marble façade panels evokes the striations of the original Vermont quarry site.

14 canadian architect 02/13

costly and complicated, and the use of the nave remained an open question. A serendipitous meeting between Pierre Bourgie, Montreal businessman and philanthropist, and Nathalie Bondil, director of the MMFA, sparked the marriage between museum and music that gave birth to the new concert hall.

From Sherbrooke Street, the church’s restored south façade remains largely unchanged.

The exception, a slice of smooth white marble, cuts from the sidewalk through the rusticated stonework to frame the new hall’s street address. The contrast between the entry’s slick palette of metal, glass and polished marble along with the heavy texture of limestone introduces a language of insertion that revels in contrasts between rough and smooth, darkness and light. Once inside the new foyer, patrons are ushered upstairs to the pinnacle of their journey, the restored nave—now auditorium.

While the conversion of church to concert hall may seem a logical solution, the creation of a first-rate performance venue that respects the integrity of the historic building is no small feat. In this regard, the resolution of Bourgie Hall is a lesson in elegance and restraint. Many of the church’s original features were restored including the exterior masonry and stone detailing, and the interior dome ceiling, balcony and trim work. Several stained-glass windows, those defining elements of ecclesiastical architecture, were also preserved, among them 18 Tiffany windows that are reputed to be one of only two commissions by Tiffany Studios in Canada. Into this historic shell, the team inserted key modern design features to enhance the musical performance and the audience’s appreciation. Individual cushioned seats were added to the existing balcony pews, while 311 moveable chairs organized into three sections now fill the main floor, itself a new concrete slab. The modest stage, framed by undulating birch panelling and an inflected canopy, slots into the church’s north wall with knife-like precision to enhance the quality of sound in the room and reflect it back towards the audience.

A performance in this space has all the intimacy of a pastor and his congregation, but with the flexibility of a larger auditorium. No part of the venue’s functionality is compromised, with amenities including dressing rooms, green room, tech booth and rehearsal space integrated backstage.

From inside the church nave, the presence of the adjoining galleries is little felt. The lobby of Bourgie Hall is the only space in which circulation flows freely between the concert hall and the exhibition spaces, and this only happens during a performance event. Most of the time, visitors to the museum cannot glimpse into the

Marc Cramer Claire & Marc Bourgie Pavilion

Sherbrooke Street

church; their passage through the complex remains an entirely separate experience.

Impenetrable from the street, the marble and glass block of exhibition spaces positions itself in reference to the other buildings that make up the museum complex. To tie into the existing architectural language, Provencher Roy contacted the original quarry in Vermont, from which the white marble for the 1912 and 1991 pavilions had been cut. While the Maxwells used marble blocks to build load-bearing masonry walls, Safdie installed the material as a sealed cladding, shuffling slabs to form a random pattern. For the Bourgie Pavilion, Provencher Roy recreated an experience of the quarry itself, slicing the marble into thin panels and re­installing it in the same sequence as it was taken from the ground. The joints between the stacked 2’x 4’ tiles were left open, a gesture of honesty towards its use as cladding, and of efficiency for ease of drainage and maintenance. As a result, the building appears as a single block of marble, strategically carved out to let light in.

Visitors to the Bourgie Pavilion must enter the building through the museum’s main entrance across Sherbrooke Street. From there, the pavilion becomes a wing of the greater collection rather than an entity in its own right.

Visitors descend two storeys below ground level,

Avenue du Musée

Liliane & David M. Stewart Pavilion

Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion

Michal & Renata Hornstein Pavilion

Site Plan

and cross through a corridor that tunnels beneath the street. The path is punctuated by an oversized pyramidal skylight that links the interior of the museum to a glimpse of the buildings’ exterior façades. Rather than locating the visitor within the complex, however, the effect is disorienting. To the right is the entrance to the Quebec and Canadian art collection, an unassuming corridor that has been stretched to accommodate oversized contemporary works. But, it is unclear exactly where

the tunnel stops and the pavilion begins, and what their relationship is to the original foundations of the church.

According to Jacques Desrochers, curator of the new pavilion, “collections of local art are especially rewarding, because they shed light on original and little-known aspects of the society in question.” So too should the architecture that houses them. The Quebec and Canadian art collection follows an inverted chronology, beginning in the tunnel gallery with works from the 02/13­ canadian architect

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Jean-Guy Lambert

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1960s and ’70s, and continuing to the third floor above grade where works from the 1700s to the 1870s are displayed. The commitment of the pavilion to the evolution of the province’s and country’s cultural heritage is apparent in views of the city that are gradually revealed to the visitor as they ascend from one level to the next. In this respect, the art of the collection and the architecture of the pavilion complement each other by encouraging visitors to locate their experience within the continuum of Montreal’s art history in the space of the city. The most generous access to natural light and views occur at the top floor of the pavilion. Here, isolated as it is, the museum’s Inuit art collection is set against the building’s closest connection to the landscape, the silhouette of the mountain against the open sky.

Each floor plate is divided into two zones of activity—a space for the display of art and a circulation area. The exhibition spaces are generous, located to the north behind the stair and elevator cores, sheltered from natural light.

Their walls are painted to complement the individual works of art, and the sequence of each room is designed according to a specific theme.

Circulation is pushed to the west, overlooking the street, the other museum pavilions, and the sculpture garden below. Here, by contrast, the finishes are rough concrete against large expanses of glass. Museums are typically inwardfocused hermetic environments, designed to control atmospheric conditions as well as the visitor’s gaze. Provencher Roy has achieved an

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technical director green room rehearsAL ROOM COAT CHECK TICKETING

18 KITCHEN 19 foyer 20 bar 21 tunnel gallery on basement level B2

A artists’ entrance B music hall entrance C service entrance D pavilion main entrance E entrance from underground concourse

10M

Marc Cramer OPPOSITE TOP, left to right Careful excavations behind the church in preparation for the project’s new-build component; The primary circulation stairwell connecting the exhibition galleries; Old and new elements intersect in a second-floor washroom; An exhi­ bition gallery focused on the Museum’s annual exhibitions at the turn of the 19th century features a platform of sculptures surrounded by paintings hung in salon style.

exception to this rule: light floods in, and the view outdoors becomes as much a part of the pavilion as the art itself. It is unfortunate that these spaces, so central to the concept of the pavilion, are at times too confined. The stairs are another missed opportunity in the choreography of the visitor’s experience. Choosing the stairs feels too much like taking the elevator; there is little change and no sense of arrival at each floor.

Space is at a premium in an urban environ-

ment like downtown Montreal, dense with existing buildings and history. Rare is the tabula rasa, or opportunity to build outside of a predefined context. The Bourgie Pavilion and Bourgie Hall actively engage in this conversation between old and new. Like stereotypical urban dwellers, forced to live side by side in tight quarters, they tolerate each other’s differences, but are extremely cautious about how much they interact. They each do what they do, and they do it well, but leave their audience

questioning the potential for collaboration or open dialogue. Regardless of this conflicted relationship, the project as a whole—both the art pavilion and concert hall—grounds and celebrates the community through its heritage, by breathing new life into old things and ensuring their relevance and continued appreciation for generations to come. CA Tanya Southcott is a Montreal-based architect and writer.

Gallery

Gallery Auditorium Gallery

Gallery Tunnel Gallery

Pavilion Entrance

Client The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Architect Team Claude Provencher, Matthieu Geoffrion, Eugenio Carelli, Jean-Luc Rémy, Denis Gamache Structural Nicolet Chartrand Knoll Ltée Mechanical/Electrical Enerpro and Le Groupe Conseil Berman Inc. Masonry Restoration DFS Architecture + Design Technical and Stage Design GO multimédia Acoustics Legault & Davidson Sculpture garden Ville de Montréal Project Management Gesvel Inc. Contractor Pomerleau Inc. Area 5,483 m2 Budget $28.8 M Completion 2011

Section

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Urban Spectacular A bold series of downtown plazas reintroduces vibrant urban life into spaces left over from postwar mega-projects.

Quartier des spectacles–Secteur Place des Arts, Montreal, Quebec Daoust Lestage Inc. Text Nik Luka Photos Daoust Lestage Inc. unless otherwise noted Project

Stéphan Poulin

Architect

Montreal is defined, more than most cities in North America, by its public realm—how its streets, squares and parks are configured as well as the ways that people animate and appropriate those spaces. The casseroles and associated activities of the 2012 printemps érable were but the latest in a long history of Montrealers making public space live up to the democratic ideals extolled in the work of philosophers such as Hannah Arendt. There is something remarkable in Montreal’s very publicness, where streets literally teem with life both summer and winter. This is due in part to the city’s dense prewar neighbourhoods of residential multiplexes, in part to a certain cultural comfort with city life, and perhaps also in part to a panCanadian notion of Montreal as a cosmopolitan metropolis where business interests play a secondary role to arts, culture and joie de vivre.

Into this felicitous mix, locals have seen an encouraging if somewhat controversial series of urban projects undertaken over the last decade.

These fall under the banner of the Quartier des Spectacles, a state-led partnership of civil society, business interests, public institutions and para-municipal entities. Officially established in 2003, the place-based initiative aims to nourish the cultural development and enhancement of a one-square-kilometre area straddling the downtown core and the Latin Quarter. It is a fine example of a compelling Canadian tendency toward reurbanism—a sophisticated densifying and diversifying of urban form as we grow at long last more content with urbanity, thanks in significant measure to the continued influx of immigrants from cultures with strong traditions of city living and public life.

The Quartier des Spectacles zone has long been a hotbed of arts, culture,

Opposite Concert-goers fill Place des Festivals, one of several new public spaces in the ambitious Quartier des Spectacles project. Above Plazas, promenades and streetscapes reincorporate the Place des Arts mega-block into the urban fabric.

and racier forms of entertainment that staid English Canada historically found both titillating and alluring. With some 30 performance venues containing tens of thousands of seats, the area has endured as an important focal point of cultural expression. Major venues include the Monument National (Maurice Perrault, Albert Mesnard and Joseph Venne, 1891-3), the Place des Arts complex (including contributions by many Canadian firms, begun in the 1960s), and more recently, the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (Dan Hanganu, 1997) and the Société des Arts Technolo­ giques (Corriveau, Dionne et Girard, 2005 and Luc Laporte, 2010-2012).

The Quartier des Spectacles has arisen like a phoenix from the ashes of postwar urban renewal in central Montreal. From the ’50s to the ’70s, the area was fragmented by aggressive road-widening, construction of the metro system, and the development of mega-projects such as the Complexe Desjardins (Darling, Pearson and Cleveland, 1976) and the 788-unit social-housing complex Habitations Jeanne-Mance (Bland, Rother and Trudeau; Greenspoon; Freedlander and Dunne; Jacques Morin, 1961). By the 1970s, the sector was pockmarked by vacant parcels, parking lots and the planning leftovers or terrains vagues of the sort found across North America. The establishment of the Montreal Jazz Festival and Just for Laughs in the 1980s—and their growing success—occupied these spaces with summertime events that complemented nearby indoor cultural activities.

A confluence of forces led to a concerted public-private effort to consolidate and infuse this part of the city with transformative energy beginning in the 1990s. This perceived need was formally expressed at the 2002 02/13­ canadian architect

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Fountains incorporated flush to the ground provide animation when no events are scheduled; a series of gantrylike lights mark the area’s new public spaces. BOTTOM Along rue Ste-Catherine, Daoust Lestage levelled the sidewalks and roadway to encourage pedestrian flow. Removable bollards are installed when the street is open to vehicular traffic. OPPOSITE, top to bottom Springtime swings hang from open frames along the Promenade des Artistes; the same structures may serve a variety of functions, including hosting art displays; echoing the dramatic fountains on the other side of Place des Arts, fine mist marks a diagonal pathway across the Parterre.

Above, left to right

the project area, the Quartier des Spectacles project became a bold move in contemporary city-building.

In physical form, the Quartier des Spectacles includes multiple components organized into two “poles”—the Pôle Quartier Latin to the north­east, which is somewhat awkwardly separated by the Habitations Jeanne-Mance from the Pôle Place des Arts to the southwest. This review focuses on the major urban spaces of the latter, almost all of which have been completed in the last six years. The Montreal-based firm Daoust Lestage was commissioned to develop a comprehensive plan and detailed design in response to the PPU and through collaboration with members of the partnership as client-stakeholders. Building on their accomplished designs for the Quartier International de Montréal including Square Victoria, the firm articulated a four-phase build-out that effectively completes the Place des Arts complex as an urban armature. Indeed, Daoust Lestage has transformed the periphery of the 1960s mega-block into a series of fluid urban spaces, literally turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse.

The first element, which many consider the showpiece of the project, is the Place des Festivals. The long narrow block bordered by Jeanne-Mance, de Maisonneuve, Balmoral and Ste-Catherine Streets is rebuilt as a continuous ground plane combining a gently sloping grassy hillside and a handsome hard surface intended to accommodate concerts and similar large-scale events. Gantry-like arms serve both to light the space and to define it as an outdoor room, while also enabling recognition of the Place

Marc Cramer

Montreal Summit, convened to develop strategic planning visions for the newly amalgamated city. In 2003, the Quartier des Spectacles partnership was established to link individuals, associations and government agencies. In the early years, its interventions comprised activities and “light” identity-affirming measures of a decorative nature. It soon became apparent, however, that the area had certain significant challenges in terms of urban structure.

Architecture and urban design became a major focus in 2007, when municipal authorities established a Programme Particulier d’Urbanisme (PPU)—a district-focused planning framework enabling quick action and special measures for strategic intervention. This called for the aggressive development of a high-quality network of public spaces that could easily be adapted for the temporary but demanding needs of the summer festivals. A longer-term intention was to intensify activity and encourage private-sector development in the precinct.

In this respect, the Quartier des Spectacles was a classic 20th-century urban design project, intended to link public and private investments while enhancing the quality of urban space. It audaciously called for several blocks of land to be made into permanent public spaces by removing strategic parcels from private development (and foregoing the tax revenues on which cash-strapped Canadian municipalities such as Mon­ treal rely). Inspired by similar initiatives ranging from Battery Park City in New York to the Quartier International de Montréal, just to the south of

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des Festivals from a distance and during televised broadcasts.

To mitigate the service entrances on the Jeanne-Mance façade of the Musée d’Art Contemporain, Daoust Lestage created two delightful Vitrines Habitées. These linear structures house top-notch restaurants, each accommodating 60 patrons indoors and many more in the summer, when the 10-metre-wide sidewalks host popular outdoor dining terraces. Along with new ground-level public programming in the existing and proposed buildings on the far side of the space, including the Maison du Festival de Jazz and the Louis Bohème (see CA, February 2011), the Vitrines nourish the large square with transparent transition spaces blurring inside and outside. Some of this work remains to be done, but the pattern has been set, and it is a welcome return to the vitality and street life that postwar projects so often rejected.

Mature trees, handsomely detailed street furniture, and an extensive series of water fountains emerging from the smooth surface of the central space complete a thoughtful composition that feels comfortable and friendly for everyday life. All told, the Place des Festivals represents a fine reconciliation between the specific needs of large-scale performances and the polyvalence of a public square that can readily be appropriated by Montrealers and visitors throughout the seasons.

Flanking the northwest side of the Place des Arts complex is the Promenade des Artistes.

This linear space corrects the bizarre confluence of two parallel traffic sewers, Boulevard de Maisonneuve and Avenue du PrésidentKennedy, where several bus lines converge on a metro station. The Promenade ties together the Place des Festivals, the Université du Québec à Montréal’s science campus, and the new Maison Symphonique (see CA, November 2012). It structures a disjointed ground plane and coarse-grained mix of buildings with simple ground treatments, several more of the elegant lighting structures, and a delicate set of small open boxes that provide a sense of enclosure while serving as a venue for artistic installations. A series of urban swings, installed each spring in the boxes, heralds the beginning of the outdoor festival season.

A third major component aims to connect the Place des Arts complex with Boulevard St-Laurent, Mon­treal’s celebrated “main” street.

This represents perhaps the most challenging part of the Quartier des Spectacles in terms of urban structure. The blocks between rue St-Urbain and rue St-Dominique became transitory spaces with the construction of Place des Arts and Habitations Jeanne-Mance in the 1960s. Daoust Lestage sought to rectify this by creating the Parterre, a large green space bor02/13­ canadian architect

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Plans for the lot south of the Parterre include a winter skating rink. Above, top to bottom The current design for the new plaza includes an underground parking structure and ground-floor restaurant; art platforms double as benches in the planned streetscape along rue Jeanne-Mance.

Left

dered by hardscape that extends the sidewalks to frame summer concerts.

With the eventual addition of new built form on adjacent blocks, this space should help to ground the megastructures found nearby. It continues the bold but elegant architectural language of the Place des Festivals and the Promenade des Artistes, expressed fittingly at a human scale that one can best appreciate when moving on foot through these spaces.

The deftest interventions in the Quartier des Spectacles are found along rue Ste-Catherine, one of Montreal’s thriving pedestrian-dominated main streets. In the Place des Arts sector, Daoust Lestage levelled the roadway and the sidewalks to blur the transition between the interior spaces of the Place des Arts complex and Complexe Desjardins across the street. These interventions mesh well with the annual closure of rue Ste-Catherine in the Gay Village on the opposite side of Boulevard St-Laurent, adding to the growing array of people-oriented public spaces in central Montreal.

Here, technical and logistical challenges such as clearly demarcating the roadway for motorists were met through the use of handsome but humble fitments, including simple bollards that can be removed when the street is closed to vehicular traffic. Early work to humanize the blunt façades of Complexe Desjardins continues through the addition of trees and, along rue Jeanne-Mance, the insertion of several platforms for public art, all visually linked through consistent surface treatments.

The success of the public spaces and comprehensive plan for the Pôle Place des Arts in the Quartier des Spectacles owes much to the project’s multi-scalar, multi-stakeholder nature. It also illustrates the importance of strategic planning frameworks that allow designers, users and project developers to collaborate and move quickly when existing conditions combine with temporal forces to create opportunities for major change.

Like its slightly older cousin, the Quartier International de Montréal, the city-building work of the Quartier des Spectacles has not been without controversy, nor should it be exempted from critical scrutiny. Questions arise about the loss of “authenticity”’ due to aggressive acts of “branding” city precincts. Of particular concern to certain observers is the dis22 canadian architect 02/13

appearance of the disorder, uncertainty and effervescence of the city through state-sanctioned undertakings that amount, for some, to a sanitized urbanism catering primarily to bourgeois suburban visitors. Other concerns that have been tenuously linked to the Quartier des Spectacles include gentrification and the locking-down of public space for profitoriented corporate-run cultural and entertainment enterprises.

Grumbles aside, the Quartier des Spectacles undertaking illustrates the difficult balance that architects and designers must establish between responding to the immediate needs of clients—in this case, a mix of public and private stakeholders—and the imperative to encourage excellence, justice, and the collective work of making the “good city.” This includes advocacy for users who may not have a voice in the formal process of planning and design. Montreal, like other cities, continues to struggle with reconciling the need to engage diverse publics in city-building while seizing opportunities for quick strategic projects.

Nevertheless, two exciting things have emerged from the first 10 years of this endeavour: an array of excellent works of architecture and urban design by Canadian firms, and a raising of the bar of public debate on how we should rebuild our cities and metropolitan spaces in the 21st century.

For that we can only be thankful. CA Nik Luka is an Associate Professor in the Schools of Architecture and Urban Planning at McGill University. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre.

Client Ville de Montréal Architect Team Réal Lestage, Renée Daoust, Caroline Beaulieu, Nathalie Trudel, Lucie Bibeau, François Ménard, Catherine St-Marseille, Marie-Pier Marchand, Marie-Josée Gagnon, Stéphane Savoie, Eveline Simard Engineers Consortium S.M./Genivar Consultant Éclairage Public General contractor Terramex Inc., Groupe Dubé et Associés Inc. Fountain contractor Soucy Aquatik, division of Piscines Soucy Inc. Lighting contractor Lampadaires Feralux Area 6 hectares Budget $95 M (estimated) Completion Phases 1-3 completed 2012; Phase 4 in progress

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More than meets the PHI

A multimedia arts centre adds new creative spaces to Old Montreal.

PHI Centre, Montreal, Quebec Atelier in Situ in joint venture with Shapiro Wolfe Text Elsa Lam Photos James Brittain, unless otherwise noted Project

Architects

Montreal is host to some 31 arts centres, including several that consistently attract high-calibre talent to small-scaled spaces. Part performance hall, part art gallery, part party venue, these places assume a wide mandate that allows them to host, say, a cultural history conference in the morning, a pastry-making workshop in the afternoon, and a dance party at night.

Usine C, a jam factory converted by Saucier + Perrotte in 1995, and Darling Foundry, repurposed by Atelier in situ in 2002, were among the first examples of this building type to emerge in the downtown core. In both cases, the designers preserved a raw aesthetic and let the morphology of the existing buildings define their new use: an old pump room becomes a sunken café at the heart of Usine C, while a manufacturing workshop serves as a soaring multi-functional hall at Darling Foundry.

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In contrast to these projects, which were designed in a single go, the phased Société des arts technologiques was renovated from a former market by Corriveau, Dionne et Girard in 2005. In its initial incarnation as an electronic arts centre, the building was simply cleaned up and brought to code for holding large-scale events. Subsequent additions have included an immersive theatre dome called Satosphère designed by Luc Laporte in 2010, and the barely one-year-old penthouse FoodLab, which has quickly earned a place at the top of local culinary destination lists.

Newly opened PHI Centre is arguably the most ambitious of the genre, combining aspects of both the purpose-built and evolving project approaches. Like its predecessors, it’s situated in a former industrial structure—in this case, a handsome pair of stone-clad buildings in Old Mon­treal, the larger of which was constructed as a store and dry goods warehouse by merchant John Ogilvy in 1861, and the smaller built a year later to manufacture and sell leather boots. The four-storey structures were subsequently used as a fur factory, refitted to manufacture raincoats and then crystal vases, and abandoned for several years before being purchased by Minto property group heiress Phoebe Greenberg.

Greenberg debuted as an art patron in Montreal with the repurposing of another pair of buildings two blocks away. Known as DHC/ART, the notfor-profit galleries opened in 2007 and feature solo shows by high-calibre

Courtesy of PHI Films

George Fok, PHI Centre

Courtesy of PHI Films

Opposite An elegantly minimalist lobby uses a palette of polished concrete, stainless steel and glass. Above With the help of window blinds and curtains, Studio B transforms from a sunlit performance space to a darkened screening venue. Top RIGHT The exterior of John Ogilvy’s stone-clad warehouse, constructed in 1861, was meticulously cleaned and restored to house the new arts centre. RIGHT Denis Villeneuve’s critically acclaimed Next Floor was filmed at PHI Centre before renovation.

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Above An elegant system of two-sided wall panels and sliding shutters allow Studio A to accommodate a range of acoustic and lighting needs.

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Ab ottom panel rotates individually B pale side of the panel: oak veneer for acoustic reflection C dark side of the panel: black anodized perforated metal with acoustic insulation

artists rarely seen in Montreal, such as Christian Marclay, Sophie Calle, and at present, Thomas Demand.

One of Greenberg’s ambitions is to use her properties not only for hosting art but for stag­ ing it too. For instance, Carlos and Jason Sanchez’s mock-explosion photo The Everyday was created by planting smoke bombs inside DHC/ART. The interior demolition for PHI Centre was an even more dramatic undertaking.

Denis Villeneuve’s 2008 short film Next Floor, depicting an opulent banquet whose guests sit at a table so loaded that it continuously breaks through the floorboards, was filmed at Greenberg’s newly purchased building. The film’s critical acclaim led Greenberg to sharpen the definition for the multi-functional PHI Centre, equipping its two theatres to double as projection rooms.

Architects George Shapiro and Carolle Fleury from Shapiro Wolfe restored and upgraded the historic envelope, while Stéphane Pratte and Annie Lebel of Atelier in situ were tasked with maximizing versatility within the heritage

building. The various spaces are united by the restoration of windows complete with wooden mullions, and the retention of interior brick walls and columns made variously from cast iron, wood and steel. To this is added a restrained palette of polished concrete, stainless steel, and glass dividing elements.

Achieving flexibility is more complex, and Pratte and Lebel’s skill in detailing, developed through the firm’s experience in exhibition and interior design, is evident in their elegantly intuitive systems for changing the use of the two theatres that form the core of the centre.

In the ground-floor Espace A, louvre-like panels lining the side walls smoothly flip from reflective wood to absorptive perforated metal with slight hand pressure. Heftier acoustic panels at the back of the space slide to black out the grand storefront windows during screenings. Perhaps the most impressive transformation occurs at the entry to Espace A: when not in use, a series of pivoting doors are camouflaged as perforated metal panels that close flush to the lobby walls. The doors open into a darkroom-like vestibule lit in red, while further acoustic isolation was achieved by casting the room’s entire interior shell in structural concrete.

The original wood floors were employed as formwork and some floorboards were recuperated for repairs on upper levels.

The second-floor Espace B is configured primarily as a small cinema, with seating for up to 85 visitors on removable risers. Around the perimeter, thick and velvety grey floor-to-ceiling curtains block sound and light. When not in use, they slide along a single rail that follows a snaillike curve into a wall cavity, allowing daylight to flood into the southfacing corner room.

A strong connection between the first two floors is established by a skylit central stair, equipped with polished concrete steps and a sharply sculpted stainless steel handrail. However, an even more important link between Espace A and Espace B resides behind the walls: both spaces are fully wired to serve as professional sound stages, controlled from a production suite on the third floor. The needs of artists were front and centre in the layout of what development director Myriam Achard affectionately refers to as “the brain” of the building. Activities from Espace A and Espace B are captured in a generously sized projection and control room, linked to editing suites with broadcast capabilities. A recording studio and percussion-ready sound isolation room allow for supplemental inputs. The artists’ green room adjoins private suites worthy of a boutique hotel, complete with showers for makeup removal and relief after postproduction all-nighters.

Topping the building, a white oak terrace offers stunning views of Old Montreal, overlooking the St. Lawrence River. Mechanical systems are concealed behind the stairwell, including a transformer since PHI’s needs exceed the capacity of existing infrastructure in the area. Fleury and Shapiro divided the remainder of the surface between a sedum roof and a reflective white roofing membrane. A rainwater collection system provides rooftop irrigation and supplies the toilets with greywater. The architects anticipate that these features, along with their reuse of some 75 percent of the existing building’s walls, floors and roofs, will give the project a chance at achieving LEED Platinum certification when it is evaluated in the coming months.

While the core of lobby, theatres and rooftop are planned like a smartly tailored suit, the areas that occupy the remainder of the 8,000-squarefoot floor plates feel slightly more haphazard. This is partly due to the preservation of floor levels and party walls from the existing twinned buildings, complete with structural quirks such as irregular column grids and materials. It also, perhaps, has to do with the many-faceted ambitions of PHI. On the ground floor, a front room adorned with the chandelier and rhinoceros head from Next Floor serves as meeting room, lobby extension or lounge. In an interconnecting space next door, plans are underway

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The second-floor gallery doubles as a foyer to Studio B; A sculptural stair leads to the rooftop terrace; A wood-wrapped corridor leads to offices. Right Crafted details such as red rebar holes add texture to the building fabric.

Clockwise from top left

for a licensed restaurant. Adjacent to the second-floor cinema, a sound-isolated gallery will soon begin to host multimedia exhibitions created by resident artists. Offices are tucked down corridors on the second and third floors.

Up one more level, accessed by elevator, a long, open-plan gallery was recently used for a corporate press conference. An adjacent room was planned as an overflow gallery space, but is now slated for more offices. This interchangeability in use points to a somewhat generic design approach, in contrast to the specificity of the theatres.

This is not to say that these ancillary spaces are not handsome: out­fitted with original wood and iron columns, polished concrete floors and abundant natural light, they offer a combination of character and cleanliness that will make them highly desirable for the event rentals which contribute to PHI’s long-term viability.

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While PHI has yet to have an official opening, the arts crowd in Mon­treal is gradually learning of it through free public programming such as screenings of top TIFF films and artists’ talks co-hosted by DHC. The February lineup includes a roundtable with young Spanish designers that asks, “does place play a role in creativity?” One might discover answers by watching the evolution of PHI Centre itself. CA Client Phoebe Greenberg Architect Team Atelier in Situ—Stéphane Pratte, Annie Lebel, Hugo Tremblay, Kim Pariseau. Shapiro Wolfe—Carolle Fleury, Mark Shapiro.

Structural SDK Mechanical Seymour Levine Electrical Dupras Ledoux Lighting CS Design Multimedia GO Multimédia Acoustical MJM Acoustical Consultants Recording Studio Résonance TJL LEED Minto Group Contractor Module II Construction Project Manager Artifacts Consulting Area 4,000 m2 Budget withheld Completion August 2012

REPORT

Jyhling Lee

Tile One On

The strength and resilience of the Italian ceramic tile industry inspires at Cersaie 2012 in Bologna, Italy.

TEXT

Jyhling Lee

There was a determined resilience and maintained confidence in the Italian ceramic tile and bathroom fixtures manufacturing industry evident this past September at the 30th edition of CERSAIE, an annual event held each fall in Bologna, Italy. Much of this industry, drawing from the rich clay soil of the Emilia-Romagna region, rebounded within weeks of the two damaging earthquakes earlier in May 2012.

CERSAIE 2012 brought thousands of regional visitors and a record

ABOVE A kaleidoscopic assortment of textures, colours, patterns and finishes is evident in the ever expanding offerings of tile at CERSAIE, captured in these photographs taken by the author.

number of international attendees to the beautiful arcade-lined streets of Bologna and the vast exhibition complex of the Fiera di Bologna. A seemingly endless visual and tactile feast of ceramic tile products in bold, colourful, rearrangeable and geometric patterns and textures vied for attention alongside tessellated, oversized and wide plank shapes. The 15+ halls of the 176,000-square-metre exhibition complex were filled with showrooms dominated by over 600 Italian companies along with nearly 02/13足 canadian architect

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300 foreign exhibitors showcasing the latest design and technical innovations. Although there were some dedicated halls for sanitary, bathroom and fireplace showrooms, ceramic tile clearly dominated the experience.

Many companies presented mix-and-match tiles in a variety of bold colours, textures, sizes and shapes. Several were inspired by textile patchwork, allowing for endless possibilities in the compositional arrangement and expression of tiles. The standout Tex collection by Raw Edges for Mutina is comprised of a set of multi-coloured and embossed rhombus-shaped glazed porcelain tiles, and have bas-relief/textured imprints sampled from readily found fabrics such as dishtowels and plastic mesh. They can be assembled in hexagonal, starburst and herringbone patterns in a range of playful graduated shades.

The contemporary exploration of intricate patterns recalling traditional majolica and encaustic tiles was also evident throughout the show. One of the more impressive collections is Azulej, once again from Mutina, designed by creative director Patricia Urquiola. The 8”x 8” collection of majolica-inspired tiles, composed of nine patterns, can be used to create 27 possible combinations, resulting in a random patchwork field. Vintage encaustic tile and majolica patterns were also applied to floors create ceramic “rugs.” These applications appeared in collections such as Docks

by ABK and Base by FAP Ceramiche.

Other designer-commissioned collections included Minoo by Marcel Wanders for Bardelli. Again based on a patchwork arrangement, these 8”x 8” tiles are available in five silkscreen Persian rug-inspired patterns, in four neutral and four bold colours. Pico is a textured tile series design­ ed by Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec for Mutina, and Philippe Starck introduced his first-ever tile collection called Flexible Architecture for Ceramica Sant’Agostino. Focusing on the detail of the joint, Starck creates a tile joint relief, which becomes the defining decorative and space-defining feature. By specifying the joint reliefs on one to four sides—or no sides—of a tile, varying combinations of compositions can be created.

Although not widely used in Canada, the demand and popularity of wood looks and textures in ceramic tile planks continue to grow in European and other international markets. Using high-definition printers and molds, wood-styled tiles are manufactured in ever increasing simulacrum. But there are hints of playful design with brightly coloured mixand-match stains and shapes. This style trend is followed by more familiar concrete and stone looks in plank-sized ceramic tiles of up to six feet.

Technological innovation in the Italian ceramic tile industry has continued to evolve the slimline range of tiles; a 3mm-thick, 1m x 3m large panel such as Cotto D’Este’s Kerlite series Exedra is offered in six types of marble looks and three finishes. Due to the durable, light and easy-to-cut properties of Kerlite, it was showcased as a finish on bathroom countertops, doors and surfaces, which could include other applications in the kitchen as well as in living room and dining room furnishings.

While ceramic tile is naturally hygienic and contains no VOCs, manufacturers continue to innovate by partnering with biotech companies to develop self-cleaning, antibacterial and antipollution products and finishes. Many such products were present at the show. Refin’s Cromie collection incorporates the anti-polluting and self-cleaning properties of Ecosan24, a finish treatment using titanium dioxide and other active metal elements. In an industry first, Casalgrande Padana launched the Bios Self-Cleaning Ceramics using Hydrotect coating technology from TOTO. This self-cleaning, anti-bacterial and pollution-reducing coating for tiles also makes use of the photo-catalytic self-cleaning properties of titanium dioxide in conjunction with a selection of metals that provide the anti­bacterial/antiviral properties.

Another poignant highlight of CERSAIE 2012 was keynote speaker and renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who was invited in the wake of the recent earthquakes to present and discuss his innovative building projects—many focused on disaster relief shelters and the resourceful and dignified community rebuilding process. It was an inspirational presentation addressing specifically the industry leaders of the affected EmiliaRomagna communities.

It is clear that the ceramic products and collections showcased at CERSAIE play a key role in setting the top industry trends and standards every year. Even as global competition grows, the Italian ceramic tile industry remains the top generator of international import sales, due to its unsurpassed leadership in design and technological innovation and the establishment of high standards in sustainable manufacturing practices, all while building upon its long tradition of ceramic craft, artistry and expertise. CA Jyhling Lee is an architect and public artist at Figureground Studio and a curator of the space called East of Keele. For more information, please visit www.figuregroundstudio.ca.

BELOW, LEFT TO RIGHT Intricately patterned tiles recall traditional majolica techniques and can be used to create a ceramic “rug”—seen here in the Base series by FAP Ceramiche; designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the Casalgrande Ceramic Cloud is an installation measuring 7 x 40 metres that incorporates unglazed porcelain stoneware slabs by Italian tile manufacturer Casalgrande Padana.

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For more information on Kerapoxy CQ, visit www.mapei.com. nora launches Revit plug-in design tool nora systems, Inc. is proud to introduce its new Revit design tool for trade professionals. The customized Revit plug-in offers over 300 variations of nora rubber flooring in different col­ours, styles and textures. Using these virtual materials, architects and de­sigers can better realize their creative vision with de­tail­ ed digital models. This tool is available for download directly from the nora web­site www.nora.com/us/revit2.

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31

Product Showcase

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Deep Freeze

January 25-June 9, 2013 This exhi­bi­ tion at Harbourfront Centre’s Architecture Gallery in Toronto features the work of Kobayashi + Zedda Architects, Lateral Office and mayer sattler-smith, revealing current creative research that re­ sponds to dilemmas faced by Arctic development. www.harbourfrontcentre.com Will Alsop

January 26-February 23, 2013 This exhibition at the Olga Korper Gal­ lery in Toronto features paintings by architect/artist Will Alsop. www.olgakorpergallery.com Vive la Ville! Hommage à Melvin Charney par ses élèves

January 30-March 17, 2013 This ex­ hibition at the Centre d’exposition de l’Université de Montréal is a tribute to the late architect and artist Melvin Charney, presenting recent work by his former students. www.expo.umontreal.ca

Mid-Century Icons: Architec­ tural Photography from the Panda Collection

February 1-28, 2013 Taking place at the Taylor Family Digital Library at the University of Calgary, this col­ lection of 50 iconic photographs from 1946 to 1992 includes the work of prominent 20th-century architects Arthur Erickson, Ray­ mond Mori­yama, John B. Parkin Associates, I.M. Pei, Mies van der Rohe and Viljo Revell. http://caa.ucalgary.ca Bernadette Blanchon lecture

February 13, 2013 Versailles-based architect and professor Bernadette Blanchon lectures at 6:30pm at the Orpheum Annex in Vancouver.

Room for Tourists

February 15-March 9, 2013 This exhi­ bi­tion by photographer Heather Saitz at the Untitled Art Society’s Satellite Gallery in Calgary is an ex­ ploration of the architecture, land­ scape and changing social meaning

Professional Directory

32 canadian architect 02/13

Calendar of the Canadian mid-century motel. www.uascalgary.org Large Wood Structures Symposium: Bigger, Better, Faster

February 20, 2013 Organized by Wood WORKS! BC/Canadian Wood Council, this event at the Vancou­ ver Convention Centre West en­ light­ens attendees about heavy timber panels—including architec­ tural and structural design, seis­ mic resistance, connections, fire safety, durability and environ­ mental performance. www.wood-works.ca

in Toronto presents pairings of films that have opposing themes related to issues of design and cul­ tural development. Directors, practitioners and academics will be present for a post-discussion. http://bloorcinema.com/oppositionsarchitecture-on-film/ Peter Cardew lecture

February 25, 2013 Peter Cardew of Peter Cardew Architects in Van­ couver delivers the RAIC Gold Medallist Lecture at 6:30pm at Robson Square in Vancouver.

Martin Rein-Cano lecture

Alvin Huang lecture

February 20, 2013 Alvin Huang, founder and principal of emerging contemporary design practice SYNTHESIS, speaks at 6:00pm at the Faculty of Environmental De­ sign at the University of Calgary.

February 26, 2013 Martin Rein-Cano of TOPOTEK 1 in Berlin delivers a Bulthaup lecture at 6:30pm in Room 103 at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and De­ sign at the University of Toronto.

Trevor Boddy lecture

Oppositions: Architecture on Film

February 21, 2013 This monthly ser­ ies at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

February 26, 2013 Architecture critic and curator Trevor Boddy lectures at 6:00pm in the John A. Russell

Building at the University of Mani­ toba Faculty of Architecture.

Nader Tehrani: Building Pedagogies

February 28, 2013 Taking place at 7:30pm at the Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon, this lecture by preeminent international architect and Head of MIT’s Department of Architecture Nader Tehrani brings invaluable insight into the oppor­ tunity of a new school of architec­ ture proposed for the University of Saskatchewan.

Neuro Logics: The Brain and the Experience of Architecture

March 1-2, 2013 Featuring Sanford Kwinter and Warren Neidich, this symposium takes place at the Daniels Faculty of Architec­ ture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto. www.daniels.utoronto.ca Nuit Blanche in Montreal

March 2, 2013 Part of the Montreal

High Lights Festival, this all-night public art extravaganza invites locals and tourists to enjoy some 170 mostly free activities, all of them linked by a complimentary shuttle service. www.montrealenlumiere.com/nuitblanche-en/default.aspx Carol Mayer-Reed lecture

March 4, 2013 Carol Mayer-Reed of Mayer/Reed in Portland, Oregon, delivers the Harry J. Webb Lecture at 6:30pm at Robson Square in Vancouver.

Russell Acton lecture

March 11, 2013 Russell Acton of Acton Ostry Architects in Van­ couver lectures at 6:00pm at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

For more information about these, and additional listings of Canadian and international events, please visit www.canadianarchitect.com

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Backpage

Sound Design

The English-language winner of the Maison de l’architecture du Québec’s writing competition applauds Montreal’s new symphony hall.

Text

Yuan Yi Zhu Don Toromanoff

Photo

There were high expectations for the Maison symphonique de Montréal, the city’s new concert hall. For decades, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s home was the nearby Salle WilfridPelletier, a cavernous 2,990-seat auditorium notorious for its harsh acoustics. Sharing space with rock bands and comedy acts curtailed the Orchestra’s practice schedule. Plans for a new venue were discussed for decades, and an international design competition for the project was held in 2002. Finally, financing for the undertaking was secured in 2006 under a publicprivate partnership scheme. Ground was broken in 2009 and the building was inaugurated in late 2011, with completion of the interior ex­ tend­ing into the present year.

From the exterior, nobody could accuse lead designer Jack Diamond, of Diamond Schmitt Architects, of undue exuberance. The building, situated on a narrow strip of land at the north corner of the Place des Arts complex, is discreet almost to a fault. Half of it is clad in grey limestone; the other half is a conventional curtain wall façade. The overall effect is sober but 34 canadian architect 02/13

dignified, and it blends well with its surroundings. Instead of a ground-level main entrance, audiences access the building by the underground lobby shared by all venues of the Place des Arts complex, an unsatisfactory arrangement stipulated in the design mandate, which means that many audience members will not see the building from the outside.

The exterior is secondary compared to the inside of the hall, upon whose merits the success of the project should be more rightly judged.

Visitors can have no doubts as to its quality: it is a first-class auditorium, which befits the firstclass orchestra it hosts. With 2,100 seats ar­ rang­ed in shoebox style, it is a considerable departure from its horseshoe-shaped predecessor.

A resolutely minimalist space, it uses overall materials and form to convey a sense of warmth and intimacy.

The interior, from the walls to the seats, is clad with Canadian beech, giving the whole a striking yet consistent appearance. The design affords the novel vantage point of seats behind the orchestra. Private boxes are conspicuously absent, and loges are lined with cosy armchairs, further adding to the hall’s appeal.

The lavish use of wood contributes to the hall’s acoustic quality, warmly reflecting sound while retaining aural fidelity. Acoustical engineer Tateo Nakajima also contributed sail-shaped

Above Beech-clad seats arc across the orchestra floor, contributing to warm acoustics and a cozy atmosphere.

adjustable acoustic canopies. In order to ensure that all audience members enjoy the same quality of sound, there has been a conscious effort to maxi­m ize the number of reflective surfaces, notably by building the walls in an undulating shape. Sound-absorbing curtains on both sides can be deployed to further fine-tune the acoustics.

Montreal’s music lovers have cause to rejoice: the city’s new Maison symphonique is a fine concert venue, which withstands comparison to any of the world’s great halls, and should be one of the city’s cultural beacons for years to come. CA Yuan Yi Zhu is currently studying history at McGill University.

The Maison de l’architecture du Québec (MAQ)’s annual Young Architectural Critic competition supports emerging voices in architectural journalism. Each year, it invites aspiring writers to submit critical analyses of a project selected by the MAQ. In the second edition this year, entrants attended a building tour and received tickets to a concert at the new hall. The winning French-language text, by Josianne Poirier, is published in Le Devoir.

by

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