Rainville-Sangaré wins 2017 Phyllis Lambert Grant

In researching Helsinki's architectural identity, Rainville-Sangaré wants to emphasize the importance of maintaining a human connection to the built environment in the design process.

Their itinerary includes visiting numerous iconic buildings in Helsinki, including several buildings by Alvar Aalto (Finlandia Hall, Aalto’s studio and home in Helsinki, Experimental House in Jyväskylä) and other destinations like the Design Museum Arabia. Rainville-Sangaré also hopes they can exhibit their project during Helsinki Design Week and at a local exhibition in their native Montreal.

The jury praised the winning proposal for its strong multidisciplinary focus, “based on an examination of many facets of [Helsinki], including its identity, heritage, architecture, production, and creativity” as well as its great potential to boost the recipients' careers.

“We believe that architectural details reveal much about local cultural identity, especially when it comes to creativity in manufacturing and to the artisan-designer relationship that is so vital to building things,” Lambert Rainville and Nicholas Sangaré said in a statement. “We feel that Helsinki, which like Montreal is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in Design, will be the ideal destination to nourish our thought process and methods for designing the architectural elements found on building facades.”