OMA’s first building in Canada, the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion in Quebec
'It’s every architect’s dream to design a building connected to both a prison and a church,' said OMA's Shohei Shigematsu as he surveyed the newly completed Pierre Lassonde Pavilion at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (MNBAQ). Rising vertically as a stack of three steel and cement boxes enveloped by a mix of opaque, transparent, and translucent glass, the 14,900 sq m expansion, which opens to the public today, is an invigorating and impressive connector of past and present, global and local, city and park. 'In the end,' added Shigematsu, 'art becomes a catalyst.'
Nestled beside the Saint-Dominique church and its presbytery on Québec City’s leafy Grande Allée, the building is a glistening gateway to the museum and surrounding National Battlefields Park. A dramatically cantilevered roof beckons visitors inside the glass lobby and beyond, whether up the monumental, three-storey staircase to new exhibition spaces (including the museum’s first permanent exhibition galleries for its collections of contemporary art and decorative arts and design) or down to a passageway that leads to the three other buildings: the neoclassical original structure, the former Québec City jail, and the transparent central pavilion. En route is Jean-Paul Riopelle’s jazzy Tribute to Rosa Luxemburg (1992), a monumental fresco that the museum has not until now had the opportunity to exhibit in full.
Lassonde, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees and a mining magnate whose precious metals business is alluded to in the new building’s massive golden elevator, does not shy away from alluding to Bilbao-scaled ambitions for his namesake pavilion. He envisioned the structure as one that would evoke an instant reaction—'Wow!'—and is particularly enthusiastic about its extraordinary relationship with nature. 'We wanted a bijou,' he said, 'and I think we have achieved that.'
A collaboration between OMA and Montréal-based Provencher_Roy, the Canadian $103.4 million project almost doubles the museum’s existing floor space while adding a 256-seat auditorium, café, terrace, and library-like gift shop. Especially notable are the interstitial spaces that offer opportunities for contemplation and for savoring the abundant views. 'It’s a new port of entry to the city,' said Line Ouellet, director of the MNBAQ. 'OMA provided a clear direction, and the result is a truly global aesthetic experience.'
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the OMA website
Photography: Bruce Damonte
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Stephanie Murg is a writer and editor based in New York who has contributed to Wallpaper* since 2011. She is the co-author of Pradasphere (Abrams Books), and her writing about art, architecture, and other forms of material culture has also appeared in publications such as Flash Art, ARTnews, Vogue Italia, Smithsonian, Metropolis, and The Architect’s Newspaper. A graduate of Harvard, Stephanie has lectured on the history of art and design at institutions including New York’s School of Visual Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.
-
‘Type Archived’: a must-have manual for hot metal enthusiasts and linotype lovers
A new book provides a stunning visual tour of traditional typefounding and offers a definitive account of London's legendary Type Archive
By Anne Soward Published
-
Pierre Jeanneret and Edward Armitage: tracing design inspiration in Chandigarh
British designer Joe Armitage set off for Chandigarh, India, to trace his grandfather Edward’s footsteps and recreate a photograph of the latter’s ‘Armitage’ lamp. A trail of intrigue around its inspiration lay in wait, as he reveals
By Joe Armitage Published
-
Los Angeles’ best fine-dining restaurants
LA boasts a creative food scene driven by some of the world’s most innovative chefs. Browse the Wallpaper* guide to the city’s best fine-dining restaurants
By Kevin EG Perry Published
-
Turin’s Museo Egizio gets an OMA makeover for its bicentenary
The Gallery of the Kings at Turin’s Museo Egizio has been inaugurated after being remodelled by OMA, in collaboration with Andrea Tabocchini Architecture
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
This sustainable family home is an Ontario retreat in tune with its setting
Ridge House by Superkül is a private Canadian retreat that nods to its context and embraces nature and landscape
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Bunkie on The Hill is a cosy Canadian cottage full of charm
Bunkie on The Hill, a design by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, is tucked into the trees, slotting neatly into Ontario's nature
By Shawn Adams Published
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practices
In the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Svima looked to Japanese architecture, 'nature and ecology' for Passageway House in Serbia
The Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024 includes Svima, a young Canadian practice joining our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Gulbenkian Foundation's new art centre by Kengo Kuma is light and inviting
Lisbon's Gulbenkian Foundation reveals its redesign and new contemporary art museum, Centro de Arte Moderna (CAM), by Kengo Kuma with landscape architects VDLA
By Amah-Rose Mcknight Abrams Published
-
Arthur Erickson's Museum of Anthropology at UBC has been given a new lease of life in Vancouver
After an extensive renovation, The Museum of Anthropology is part Shinto shrine, part cathedral, part longhouse – and a temple to learning
By Hadani Ditmars Published
-
A dramatic new lakeside cabin in the Canadian wilderness rises above the trees
Kariouk Architects' lakeside cabin ‘m.o.r.e. CLT’ explores new material approaches while making a minimal impact on a precious landscape
By Jonathan Bell Published