Archinect - News

Montrealers ask: What to do with the Olympic Stadium?

2024-03-28T13:45:00-04:00

But nostalgia rarely makes for good decision making. Keep the tower and repurpose it as a tourist destination. With the money saved, we can erect a better stadium serving the city’s current and future needs. Not all landmarks are sacred. When fire consumed the Notre-Dame cathedral, they raced to replace the roof; Montreal’s Olympic Stadium is not Notre-Dame.

Quebecers face a vexing choice: Keep the stadium or pursue an even costlier demolition that would erase the landmark, which late architect Roger Taillibert called a “poem in concrete,” owing to its location over two underground metro stations. The new, $870 million replacement roof that is being made transparent to let in natural light for the first time won't be completed by 2028. (The original Kevlar roof partially collapsed in 1999 and has suffered several smaller tears since being constructed in the late-1980s.)

Montreal has been floated as a potential location for a new MLB expansion franchise for the past few years. Our preview of the new BIG and HNTB-designed home of the relocating Oakland A's franchise in Las Vegas (another city that was on the league's expansion list) can be found here.

‘Intimacy, minimalism, and immersion’ define Atelier L’Abri’s rural Canadian camping shelters

2024-02-19T14:24:00-05:00

Montreal-based Atelier L’Abri has completed an experimental camping concept project in the Canadian wilderness. Named Territoire Charlevoix, and located in a forest between La Malbaie and Baie-Saint-Paul, the scheme is described as “a series of structures that are simple, yet varied; familiar, yet unusual.”

Image credit: Raphaël Thibodeau

The various modules comprising the project include camping shelters, viewing platforms with communal kitchens, and a visitor center. The five shelters function as small, autonomous buildings offering “an intimate encounter with nature in complete comfort, both in summer and in winter.” Sitting on slender legs, the cabins were designed to fuse rusticity and modernity, with a single-slope roof to suit the natural topography of the site.

Image credit: Raphaël Thibodeau

“This bold form is reminiscent of the shape of large dormers, or old cameras,” the designers say about the shelters. “Like th...

Montreal home becomes a ‘playhouse for kids and adults’ by Indee Design

2024-02-14T11:47:00-05:00

Montreal-based interior designers Indee Design have completed what the studio describes as “a playhouse for kids (and adults!)” in the city. Named Atelier Chabot, the scheme saw the transformation of an existing duplex into a single-family home featuring curated furnishings themed around play.

Image credit: Caroline Thibault

“On a mission looking to change the lives of their family, the owners were trying to decide whether to take a trip around the world by sea or to purchase a home,” the team explains. “This project combines both of those dreams, which seemed to oppose one another. For these great travelers, the notion of travel became the common thread of this project, which inspired the idea of creating a space where the inner child can awaken within.”

Image credit: Caroline Thibault

While the beams and brick walls of the original duplex were preserved, the unit was otherwise overhauled to remove overly-confining partiti...

Toyo Ito donates early-career archive to the Canadian Centre for Architecture

2023-12-06T17:21:00-05:00

The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) has just announced its acquisition of architect Toyo Ito’s early-career archive.

The trove entails drawings, models, and sketches related to his practice Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects (founded as Urban Robot) from 1971 until 1989. The CCA says the donation will help researchers establish a better through line from the 2013 Pritzker Prize winner's early-career work in dialogue with its other archival holdings. The decision was made in September after 82-year-old Ito apparently determined he could not find an “appropriate place” in his home country in which to store the collection, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun.

In a press announcement, Ito said: “The CCA is an architectural museum and research center I have the utmost trust in. Upon this donation, I received requests from many Japanese architects and researchers, asking if it is possible to keep those archives in Japan. However, I have the confidence that CCA offers unparalleled ac...

Diamond Schmitt/LemayMichaud to design 'generational' campus expansion at McGill University

2023-11-30T13:25:00-05:00

Diamond Schmitt Architects has designed a new campus expansion plan for McGill University in unison with LemayMichaud that will help advance the study of earth systems and environmental health while restoring several historic buildings and the university’s connection to Mount Royal Park.

One of Canada’s premiere research institutions is about to undergo a transformation of “generational importance,” according to the firms. Their New Vic plan calls for the reuse of three extant Scottish baronial structures at the Royal Victoria Hospital complex and construction of a new 350,000-square-foot facility for teaching and research.

A forecourt to Frederick Law Olmsted's 1893 park design will also be re-established through the design. Costs for the project are stated at $870 million CAD ($640 million USD).

Rendering by Diamond Schmitt

“We are inspired with urgency to design a center devoted to the most critical issue of our time: healing the planet,” Donald Schmitt, Principal at the new join...

Glazed extensions flank Montreal’s historic Maisonneuve Library following major EVOQ renovation

2023-11-24T16:15:00-05:00

Montreal’s Maisonneuve Library has reopened to the public following a major restoration and expansion of the historic building. Dating from 1912, and once serving as a city hall, the building’s transformation was led by Montreal-based EVOQ Architecture and Dan Hanganu Architects, now part of EVOQ, following a 2017 competition win.

Image credit: Adrien Williams

At the center of the project is the original 1912 building, which was rehabilitated to restore its “original splendor.” The building’s stone facades and oversized doors were restored, as were original plaster moldings, wood paneling, and mosaic floors. Meanwhile, anchoring elements of the interior such as the piano nobile’s marble staircase and its two imposing stained-glass features were repaired.

Image credit: Adrien Williams

The existing building is flanked by two contemporary extension wings. The alignment of the extension’s curtain walls, as well as the rhythm of its...

Provencher_Roy uses recycled glass material to complete Darwin Bridges reconstruction in Montreal

2023-11-02T13:45:00-04:00

Provencher_Roy has shared photos following the firm’s completion of a bridge reconstruction project in Nuns’ Island, Montreal.

The new Darwin Bridges makeover represents the first instance of Ground Glass Pozzolan (GGP), a recycled glass product developed with researchers from the Université de Sherbrooke and the City of Montreal, being used in an architectural design worldwide.

The project succeeded in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 44 tons, while using over 88,000 pounds of locally sourced recycled glass (the equivalent of 70,000 wine bottles). A green space was enacted in a void created by removing the existing central median strip, and safety lighting has been installed to prevent tunnel sensation.

Image © Stephane Brugger

“The concept was always there, but the design and construction standards of the time favored the automobile. For this project, we were therefore working in a paradoxical 1960s context, on an innovative urban project to improve the user experience, while a...

Acclaimed Canadian landscape architect Claude Cormier has died aged 63

2023-09-18T20:10:00-04:00

Canadian landscape architect Claude Cormier, a deeply admired figure within the country’s design community, passed away on September 15th at the age of 63 following a battle with cancer, the CBC and other outlets reported over the weekend.

The founder of CCxA was behind many of the country’s most beloved public spaces, parks, and memorial designs, including Toronto’s Berczy Park, downtown Montreal’s new The Ring installation, and the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. A statement from the firm credited him as being a “great visionary who influenced us in surprising and powerful ways, thanks to the creative force and joie de vivre he brought to all our lives.”

The RIng, Montreal. Photo: David Boyer Photographe Inc.

Born and raised in Quebec, Cormier studied at the University of Toronto and Harvard GSD before entering practice in Montreal in 1993. Over the years, Cormier’s work received more than 100 separate awards and honors, including being named to the prestigious Ordre Natio...

Lemay completes major redesign of Montreal’s 1950s Théâtre de Verdure

2023-08-29T13:55:00-04:00

Montreal-baed Lemay has completed a redesign of the city’s Théâtre de Verdure. The original 1956 development has been enhanced with what the firm calls a “4-season concept that redefines the relationship between theatre and park, architecture and landscape, and the built and the natural.”

Image credit: Adrien Williams

The redesign sought to make the outdoor theater’s presence felt throughout the adjacent La Fontaine Park, maximizing views of both the stage and surrounding greenspace. Designed to address both visitors and passers-by, the form “invites discovery, both inside and outside the site” with a “new green, modern, and lively public space that offers a vibrant place for lovers of arts and culture to witness unforgettable moments.”

Image credit: Adrien Williams

"Throughout the project, we were keen to reaffirm the theatre's heritage identity, and we took care to develop new interventions compatible with the memory of the site," explained Marie-Ève Parent, Associate and Discipline...

A look inside Montreal’s award-winning Insectarium

2023-06-09T11:47:00-04:00

An architectural team composed of Kuehn Malvezzi, Pelletier de Fontenay, and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architects has been awarded the Grand Prix d’excellence en architecture from the Ordre des architectes du Québec for their Metamorphosis of the Montreal Insectarium.

Main façade and Pollinator. Photo credit: James Brittain — Kuehn Malvezzi / Pelletier de Fontenay / Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes in consortium

The project underwent a seven-year design and construction period before opening on April 13th, 2022. Featuring hundreds of insect species and detailed displays, the center also holds an immersive sensory labyrinth experience, a pollinator garden, creative workshops, and production areas.

Entrance Hall. Photo credit: James Brittain — Kuehn Malvezzi / Pelletier de Fontenay / Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes in consortium

The insectarium is part of ...

Habitat 67’s original vision recreated in Unreal Engine by Safdie Architects, Epic Games, and Neoscape

2023-05-17T07:00:00-04:00

Safdie Architects, Epic Games, and the creative agency Neoscape have recreated the original vision for Habitat 67 in virtual reality. Using Epic Games’ powerful game engine Unreal Engine 5, the entire original master plan for the radical early 1960s scheme has been constructed, marking a significant expansion on the realized segment situated in Montreal, Canada.

Video courtesy: Epic Games

The genesis of Habitat 67 stretches back to Moshe Safdie’s master’s thesis at McGill University. At 23 years old, Safdie submitted the idea to the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair, with the goal of creating a pilot for a new type of housing that would not contribute to urban sprawl.

Image credit: Epic Games

“It began with a journey through North America to study housing,” Safdie recalled. “I came to the conclusion that suburbs weren’t feasible in the long term. They consumed too much land, energy, and transportation. If we could reinvent the apartment building to offer the quality...

Renewed modernist Esplanade Place Ville Marie opens in Montreal

2023-04-18T14:46:00-04:00

A comprehensive overhaul of Montreal’s Esplanade Place Ville Marie by Sid Lee Architecture and Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes (MSDL) is now complete, marking the end of a $200 million revitalization project that’s brought much-needed civic life back to a busy section of the city’s downtown commercial core.

Originally constructed in 1958 and designed by I.M. Pei and Henry Cobb, who had opened their practice in New York just three years before, the site had become shopworn since its last redevelopment was completed in the 1980s.

Image: David Boyer

The new Esplanade PVM comes with improved pedestrian access, a modernized shopping mall, and reconfigured underground entrance to public transit. MSDL worked to enact new monumental staircases and a horizontal floating glass structure it says is the longest in North America. The perimeter of the plaza area is also reopened to attract circulation between the street and raised public level, and the original parking lot entrance ...

Provencher_Roy completes transformation of historic downtown Montreal district into pedestrian mall

2022-10-19T15:59:00-04:00

Provencher_Roy has released photos of their recently completed pedestrian redevelopment along a six-block stretch of Montreal’s heavily-trafficked Sainte-Catherine St. West commercial district just north of Ville-Marie.

The project entailed the reimagining of a busy former four-lane street into a singular pedestrian and bicycle route between De Bleury and Mansfield Streets with the help of engineering consultants CIMA +.

Image by Adrien Williams, courtesy of Provencher_Roy

The plan increased greenery in the area by a total of 46% while eliminating street parking and drastically widening the sidewalk to create a linear plaza that connects a disjointed network of squares and public monuments into one “cohesive urban landscape.”

Image by Adrien Williams, courtesy of Provencher_Roy

Modular paving was used to achieve a visual distinction between vehicular lanes and the protected pedestr...

Moshe Safdie donates entire archive to McGill University

2022-08-23T14:42:00-04:00

The professional archive of renowned Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie will now be housed at his alma mater McGill University, the school announced today.

The Habitat 67 designer will also donate his restored private apartment in the famed modular housing complex, along with the undergraduate thesis titled “A Case for City Living” that led to its inception as part of the Expo 67 exhibition in Montreal 55 years ago.

The apartment (which was not previously managed by the university) and thesis are just two of the more than 100,000 total pieces included in the donation. McGill says the archive “represents one of the most extensive and thorough individual collections of architectural documentation in Canada” and that it expects the gift to provide “an abundance of opportunity for exploration” to the university and design-minded community writ large.

Special announcement ceremony of Moshe Safdie's archive donation at McGill University. Video via McGill University on YouTube.

At th...

Benighted Quebecois architect Claude Provencher passes away at 72

2022-05-26T09:00:00-04:00

The Canadian architecture landscape is in mourning following the announcement that Provencher_Roy’s co-founder Claude Provencher passed away in Montreal on May 6th.

Provencher founded the firm along with Michel Roy in 1983 and went on to become a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and was honored as a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec in 2021 for his commitment to his métier and dedication to bettering life in the great city.

Provencher_Roy's design for the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was a 2014 Canadian National Urban Design Award winner. Photo: Marc Cramer.

Known for his quintessential pursuit of projects that came to define the avant-garde of new urban architecture in his native country, Provencher created a number of award-winning designs, including Montreal’s World Trade Centre complex, the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the recent headquarters for th...

Montreal's cultural district expands with a distinct mixed-use tower by Provencher_Roy

2022-04-07T15:44:00-04:00

Canadian firm Provencher_Roy has produced a stunning addition to the Montreal skyline with Îlot Balmoral, a 13-story, mixed-use office building slotted in the city’s downtown.

Commissioned by Société d’Habitation de Montréal (SHDM), the structure is the final major development in Montreal’s cultural district Quartier des Spectacles. It sits adjacent to Place des Festivals and is the new home of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and UQAC’s École des arts numériques, de l'animation et du design (NAD School).

“We proposed four visions of what an office building specifically designed for a cultural economy could look like, and Îlot Balmoral was selected to echo the very vibrant, dynamic nature of the district,” explains architect Claude Provencher, founding partner at Provencher_Roy. “The Quartier des Spectacles is a cultural center of activity that is now almost complete in its revitalization and transformation of the urban fabric surrounding Place des Arts.”

The distinct buildin...

TBA's cozy Montreal home offers a private space for an art-collecting family

2022-02-07T14:55:00-05:00

Montreal’s Thomas Balaban Architecte (TBA) has returned to a core area of its practice with a new private residence for an art-collecting Quebecois family called the Berri House.

Challenged to “squeeze as much home as possible” out of a 112-year-old 130-square-meter (1,400-square-foot) carriage house located in the city’s Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood, the small multidisciplinary studio responded with a well-anchored design that effectively balances limited space with the mandated local architectural character.

Photo: Adrien Williams

The solution involved a back-to-basics reset that left only the outline of the existing structure intact. TBA thus created a compact structure connected from top to bottom by a transparent sculptural wireframe staircase meant to allow maximal space and increase circulation at the ground level. A floating extension occupies the second floor, with a third and final story containing everything from a kitchen to coffee station and o...

Zoning and craft in Montreal's 'Plexes'

2021-08-10T09:00:00-04:00

Anyone who has visited or lived in Montreal has seen an impressive variety of external staircases that decorate the homes of the Canadian city’s historic neighborhoods. Beyond the range of architectural styles that adorn the facades and interiors of this local type, the Plex is mostly defined by these acrobatic outdoor stairs, which contort themselves to link the two, three, and even four levels of separate apartments to the street. Built in the 19th and early 20th century for multiple income levels, the plexes ranged from simple to ornate, though many housed large working-class families.

“Once known for affordability, Montreal has now joined Canada’s real-estate frenzy,” writes Sandrine Rastello of Bloomberg. Today, plexes are increasingly sought after as wealthy urbanites renovate and update, and architects and developers build contemporary interpretations of the form with up to six levels.

Outdoor spiral staircase in Montreal. Image: Cobra Libre (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Similar to New Engl...

Pavilion inspired by Philip Johnson's Glass House rises in Montréal

2020-05-28T13:08:00-04:00

Inspired by Philip Johnson's Glass House and the Ben Rose House from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a glass-clad pavilion recently completed by Maurice Martel Architecte sits as a tribute to modern architecture in Montréal.

Photos by Adrien Williams.

Complete with a four-season, indoor swimming pool and planted within an expansive, grassy site, this glass pavilion offers refuge for reflection, recreation, and rejuvenation.

Photos by Adrien Williams.

The perimeter glazing gives the flat roof a floating effect and the accompanying skylights offer an ample washing of natural light through the space.

Photos by Raphael Thibodeau.

Inside the pavilion, a core feature is the cylindrical bathroom, clad in red cedar panels, creating a contrast to the white mosaic of the interior.

Photos by Raphael Thibodeau.

Photo by Adrien Williams.

Curator Giovanna Borasi picked to lead the Canadian Centre for Architecture

2019-09-11T20:15:00-04:00

A change in leadership is taking place at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal, where the current chief curator, Giovanna Borasi, has been tapped to take over the institution as long-time director Mirko Zardini steps aside.

Zardini has led CCA for over 14 years and is responsible for the organization's enhanced international reputation, as well as its evolving approach to conveying architectural concepts and issues. Borsai, speaking with The Globe and Mail, said, "Our specialty is to take a broad societal issue, and bring it into a dialogue with architecture.”

After nearly 15 years of disruptive provocation, Mirko Zardini will step down as our Director this December. Today, we are thrilled to announce that Giovanna Borasi, Chief Curator since 2014, will take over the role in January 2020. pic.twitter.com/anJMjUo397
— CCA (@ccawire) September 11, 2019

CCA was founded in 1979 by influential architect and curator Phyllis Lambert and has rocked the boat ever since, pro...

Montreal's CCA to study postcolonial perspectives on the architecture of the African continent

2019-07-29T13:12:00-04:00

The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) is embarking on a new initiative aimed at understanding "architecture's historical role in decolonization, neocolonialism, globalization, and their manifestations" across the African continent, according to a recent announcement.

The focus on Africa's architecture represents a desire on the part of CCA to expand scholarly research efforts by reconsidering its archives in order to "challenge the reliance on Western sources by looking beyond institutional archives to others constructed around single buildings, international organizations, urban spaces, new policies, statistics, laws, photography, financial programs, and philosophical, intellectual, or cultural propositions."

Starting in October 2019, CCA will host an 18-month research effort in collaboration with 10 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation researchers to undertake this challenge. The scholars will develop projects that "seek to analyze and historicize the ways in which architecture manif...

Quebec and Montreal come into agreement for new transit infastructure

2019-07-08T16:37:00-04:00

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, right, has struck a deal with Quebec Transport Minister Chantal Rouleau, center, and Treasury Board President Christian Dubé to help fund Quebec City's tramway project in exchange for a commitment from Quebec to support part of Plante's proposed Pink line from downtown Montreal to Lachine.

Discussion over Montreal's proposed Pink Line is well underway thanks to a deal negotiated by Plante and Quebec Transport Minister Chantal Rouleau and Treasury Board President Christian Dubé. When Plante was first running for mayor, her pro-transit platform was designed to ignite an additional form of transportation connecting some of the poorer working-class communities to better public transit. With steps for the promised Pink Line, an article from the CBC states Plante had to secure support to Quebec by providing "$800 million to Quebec City, to help pay for the provincial capital's proposed $3.3-billion tramway network."

"The Pink line — which, when completed, is to run from Lachine through downtown to Montréal Nord in the eastern end of the island — was a key plank in the Projet Montréal platform in the 2017 municipal election. The western portion of the Pink line will now be added to the government's ten-year Quebec Infrastructure Plan (QIP)."

...

Moshe Safdie's personal Habitat 67 unit completes major renovation

2018-11-26T19:26:00-05:00

Overlooking the Saint Lawrence River toward downtown Montreal, Moshe Safdie's personal duplex unit of his iconic Habitat 67 was recently renovated, in light of the monument's 50th anniversary. Perhaps what's most exciting is that the unit was donated to the public realm and is now open for scholarly research and tours.

Perched atop the residential complex on the 10th floor, the unit originally belonged to the Commissioner of Expo ’67. The two-year renovation began with researching the building's original 1967 conditions, Safdie Architects says. Addressing decades of water damage began with stripping the exterior concrete walls to allow proper repair, insulation, and waterproofing of the envelope.

Photo: Marc Cramer + Thomas Miau.

The renovation project involved a thorough refurbishing of the interior to its original condition, including the wood parquet flooring, sliding patio doors, new energy-efficient windows, kitchen cabinets and appliances (new ...

Saucier + Perrotte Architects design for the Complexe Sportif Saint-Laurent wins the American Architecture Prize for Recreational Architecture

2017-10-10T17:24:00-04:00

The Complexe Sportif Saint-Laurent in Montreal, designed by Saucier + Perrotte Architects, opened earlier this year and has recently been announced the winner of the American Architecture Prize for Recreational Architecture.

Picture Olivier Blouin courtesy of Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

Situated in the Marcel Laurin Park in the Saint Laurent borough, north of the Montreal Island, the building stands between a high school and an arena and hosts various sport and leisure facilities.

Picture Olivier Blouin courtesy of Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

Elevation, courtesy of Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

Longitudinal section, courtesy of Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

The sculptural and dynamic aspect of the dark grey and the see-through white parallelograms make Saucier + Perrotte’s design stand out among the horizontal adjacent building.

Picture Olivier Blouin courtesy of Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

The luminous white portion of the building hosts the pool and the palestra and is ...

Peter Fu donates $12 million to McGill School of Architecture

2017-09-27T14:43:00-04:00

Shanghai’s spectacular skyline is studded with buildings shaped by architect Peter Guo-hua Fu. Now the McGill alumnus is setting his sights on a new project: taking McGill’s long history of world-class architecture education to the next level.

Peter Fu, architect and president of K. F. Stone Design says ‘McGill gave me a chance to change my life. Now that I have the chance, I really want to pay it back’. To honor the gift, McGill School of Architecture will be renamed the Peter Guo Hua Fu School of Architecture .

RAIC distinguishes Montreal's Bibliothèque du Boisé with 2017 Green Building Award

2017-04-11T20:20:00-04:00

Built to serve Saint-Laurent's diverse community in Montreal, the Bibliothèque du Boisé has collected another honorable accolade. Today, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada awarded the public library with its 2017 Green Building Award. The award will be presented during the RAIC/OAA Festival of Architecture in Ottawa on May 24 to 27.

After winning the City of Montreal's design competition, the Cardinal Hardy + Labonté Marcil + Eric Pelletier architecte consortium designed the 6,000 square-meter LEED-Platinum library, which was inaugurated in 2013. (Eric Pelletier architecte and Cardinal Hardy merged with Lemay in 2013 and 2014, respectively.)

With ample natural lighting and warm touches of wood, the building comprises various cultural and community spaces: the library, administration, exhibit space, museum archives, meeting rooms, youth areas, and a cafe.

As for sustainability strategies, the bu...

At age 90, Phyllis Lambert looks back on her career in CCA exhibition

2017-02-01T18:30:00-05:00

Phyllis Lambert is 90 years strong, and the impact she has made in architecture in the last six decades still resonates to this day. While her influence in architecture is well known, what is Lambert's perspective on her own career? In celebration of her 90th birthday that was on January 24, the CCA in Montreal is currently exhibiting “Phyllis Lambert: 75 Years at Work”.

Curated by the CCA Founding Director Emeritus herself, the exhibition highlights milestones like the early days in her career, her iconic role as Director of Planning of the Seagram Building, to her conservation and restoration projects in her native Montreal and abroad.

Find out more on Bustler.

Dror envisions second geodesic dome in Montreal's Expo 67 site

2016-04-26T14:24:00-04:00

Originally built as the U.S. Pavilion in the memorable World Expo of 1967, the steel structural frame of Buckminster Fuller's Biosphere remains standing to this day as a sole landmark in Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau. In planning for the 50th anniversary of Expo 67 as well as Montreal's 375th anniversary next April, designer Dror Benshetrit of the New York-based practice Dror came up with the idea for adding, what do you know, a second geodesic dome near the Biosphere.

After touring Montreal's Île Sainte-Hélène with the Buckminster Fuller Institute, Benshetrit thought of a second dome as a way to help reinvigorate the seasonally used Expo 67 site grounds and evidently pay tribute to Fuller's landmark. Compared to the Biosphere, which is 76 meters in diameter and 62 meters high, Dror's proposed dome is a 150-meter-wide aluminum latticed sphere with a planted canopy.

The studio describes that its vegetated cover would act as a natural sound buffer and provide an enchanting public enviro...

2015 Phyllis Lambert grantees Pelletier de Fontenay to expand on winning Insectarium Montreal proposal

2015-12-15T18:34:00-05:00

The annual Phyllis Lambert Grant puts the Montreal design scene in the spotlight. Established in 2007 by the City and named in tribute to Montreal native architect Phyllis Lambert, the grant recognizes a locally based designer or firm — who has no more than 10 years of practice — for producing outstanding designs and research that show potential for longterm benefits for the city. For 2015, Pelletier de Fontenay won the $10,000 grant for their project "Architectures de la nature captive". Hubert Pelletier and Yves de Fontenay received the prize during a recent ceremony at City Hall, with Phyllis Lambert in attendance.

"Architectures de la nature captive" is a spin-off from their winning proposal with Kuehn Malvezzi for the upcoming Insectarium Montreal, and reflects the practice's ongoing investigation of the relationship between the built and natural environments. They'll use the grant for a trip to Germany to study topics related to the architecture of nature museums.

Pelletier de ...

Gorgeous long-exposure shots of the Montreal Metro

2015-11-03T13:16:00-05:00

This is the work of Canadian architectural photographer Chris Forsyth who has been sharing his pictures on Instagram, looking to show how beautiful design is all around us. [...] "What draws me to the architecture in the metro system is its variety from station to station. I love the colours, the architectural styles and influences, and above all its very bold graphic appearance." [...] Forsyth uses long exposures to blur the motion and to remove traces of people passing through the shot.

For more work by the architectural photographer, you can follow Chris Forsyth on Instagram @chrismforsyth, with more shots of the Montreal Metro through #mtlmetroproject. View a selection of photos below: