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Parc Calixa-Lavallée
By : Épigraphe Architectes
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN 19th edition
Distinctions
Discipline : Landscape & Territories
Categories : Concept / Concept (Project not realized) : Silver certification
We collaborated on highlighting the heritage site and historical remains of the birthplace of composer Calixa Lavallée, who was born in 1842 on the site that has become Calixa-Lavallée municipal park at the heart of the village of the same name.
On the site today, only the ruins of the original house's foundations remain. Around them, year after year, residents spontaneously gather around a community meal to mark the arrival of spring, the end of a work week, or to celebrate village festivals. Our proposal aims to preserve the ruins of the original house's foundations while unifying the different functions of the park and making it a unifying, sustainable place anchored in local history. Conceived as a meeting place for the community and visitors, the park is integrated into the Montérégie landscape and the surrounding cyclotourism network, offering a moment of pause and contemplation at the heart of a natural and heritage environment.
The intervention is based on a sober and respectful approach: restoring the rubble stone foundations at the center of the site, protecting the remains, and enhancing their readability. A large artisanal metal roof on a massive wooden structure highlights and shelters the ruins within which we propose creating a renewed commemorative space to acknowledge the contribution of the Lavallée family in the region, the importance of its most illustrious member to the history of Canadian music, and the craft trades of blacksmiths who occupied the site, as revealed by community-assisted archaeological digs.
From an architectural perspective, the project establishes a respectful balance between heritage preservation and contemporary intervention. The veil seeks to shelter it and invite residents and visitors, without directly intervening on the remains. On the western perimeter of the old residence's enclosure, a service area for cyclotourists serves as a rallying point of the Beauce circuit, where one can admire the landscape and some of the oldest houses in the Verchères region. Finally, on the east side of the remains, a flower meadow adapts to the community's gathering needs, along with a covered picnic area. Everything is organized around a community bread oven where residents bake their weekly pizzas.
The project transforms Calixa-Lavallée park into a place where memory and contemporary uses coexist. From the existing remains, the intervention reveals the symbolic and community value of the site while opening it to new, more regional collective uses. The goal is to evolve an underutilized commemorative place into a living, accessible, and appropriable space.
This project demonstrates that a successful heritage intervention does not freeze the past, but propels it into the future. By making memory and contemporary uses coexist, Calixa-Lavallée park transforms from a static commemorative site into a living, resilient public space deeply rooted in its landscape.
Collaboration
Architect : Épigraphe Architectes
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