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Espace Riopelle
By : Agence Spatiale + BGLA architectes
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Other categories in architecture / Concept & Unbuilt : Gold Certification
CONTEXT
Last spring, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec organized a multidisciplinary competition to design the future Espace Riopelle, a pavilion dedicated to the work of Jean Paul Riopelle, integrated into the existing architectural complex. The creation of the new building was intended to propel the MNBAQ into the future, by creating a true crossroads, a place of convergence within its museum campus. It was to completely renew the museum experience, magnify the premises by placing the human being at the center of this new adventure, in a space that would encourage encounters, and increase accessibility to the national collection.
LIFE-SIZE
« Je ne tire pas de la nature, je vais vers la nature. » – « I don’t take from nature, I go towards nature. »
Riopelle was a man of movement who constantly invented and reinvented his formal language. The Riopelle pavilion must, in our opinion, be in tune with the energy and audacity of this immense artist. Bézier curves are parametric polynomial curves developed to design car body parts at the turn of the 1960s for Citroën and Renault. Knowing Riopelle’s love for beautiful cars, this detail becomes inspiring. These curves are present in certain paintings, as signs and codes that tell, in symbolic form, episodes in the artist’s life. The Bézier curves represent a source of inspiration for the volumetry of the building to be constructed. They create a dialogue in contrast with the existing pavilions, which are organized according to classical architectural patterns. The form participates in the heterogeneous character of the whole and guarantees a strong architectural signature, distinctive and identitary.
SHORELINE – LANDSCAPED PROMENADE
The project proposes a landscaped ascent that invites, from the central square, to climb on the roofs to reach a unique viewpoint that allows one to grasp, in any season, the immensity and the power of the site. A linear path that recalls the language of the shoreline, a place of stranding on the river’s edge made of sand, gravel, driftwood and grassy fields. The accessibility of this roof terrace ensures the renewal of the public and allows the building to engage generously with the community.
THE SCREEN
« Il achète de Matisse, Le Serica. Matisse lui transmet l’amour de la voile, et des voitures de luxe, qui deviennent une sorte de refuge pour Riopelle. » – « He buys from Matisse, The Serica. Matisse passes on his love of sailing, and luxury cars, which become a kind of refuge for Riopelle. »
Like a large boat sail undulating on the river, the project takes on a light, diffuse and mysterious envelope. Serving as a filter, solar protection and energy control, the cladding is a metaphor for the artist’s long canvases, evocative of Riopelle’s multi-layered work. It consists of a performing wall, made in part of insulated steel panels and curtain walls, the whole being clad with a PTFE (high resistance Teflon) membrane veil stretched over an aluminum structure. The result is a double skin whose energy performance will allow heat recovery and contribute to the achievement of the desired LEED level. The gap between the two walls of the double skin is sized to allow the passage of a worker. This gap allows for easy maintenance of the wall components and structures, cleaning of the glazing and maintenance of the integrated lighting fixtures used to illuminate the architectural object at night. This architecture-textile is not without evoking the aboriginal nomadic architecture in times of hunting and fishing. The suggested lightness brings a notion of movement and migration, expressed in a contemporary way. The play of cables that hold the stretched canvas in place also echoes the Inuit « Jeux de ficelles », Ajaraq, dear to Riopelle.
THE SIGNAL
A form that embraces and echoes the traffic circle of the avenue. A volume that welcomes and establishes relationships with the curved paths of the Battlefields Park. A building-signal that dialogues with the Wolfe monument. A materiality that suggests an unfolding canvas, a sail that calls for travel and adventure.
WOLFE-MONTCALM AVENUE
The new basilar offers a large fenestration that favors the greeting as well as a transparency towards the river from the axis of Wolfe-Montcalm Avenue. The volume floats above the old pavilion and destabilizes the visitor. The circular geometry suggests the gathering and the meeting as a comforting embrace.
THE PARKING AREA
The esplanade is partially covered to protect visitors from bad weather and to allow activities to be held. The wooden underside is reminiscent of the hull of a sailing ship in a dry dock. A grassy bleacher provides a place for group gatherings while offering contact with the inviting nature.
MUSEUM JOURNEY AND EXPERIENCE
The discovery of the artist’s works takes place in a series of curved museum spaces, intimately arranged in relation to the river and the park. This route starts from the main hall and draws a large circular movement that invests the entire architectural project to make a loop. It brings the visitor back to his point of departure by making him discover the artist’s works. The main hall, repositioned to include the end of the tunnels of the Baillairgé and Lassonde buildings, becomes the new crossroads of all the circulations. It brings together the front and back entrances to the museum, redefining the beginning of the museum’s itinerary, and in particular the new Riopelle experience. As soon as the visitor exits the tunnels that emerge from the other pavilions, he or she is drawn into a common space in the main hall. This space initiates the journey towards the Carrefour Riopelle, an ascent towards an artistic universe intimately combining architecture, encounters and immersion in the landscape. This space, marked by gathering tiers in connection with the café, favours the cohabitation of the clientele. Arranged on different levels, it establishes a sense of recognition and education on the artist’s career. Through the ascent, the landscape is revealed and establishes a progressive dialogue, amplifying the direct link between nature and the river. The tour ends with the masterly staircase that brings the visitor back to the main hall while offering alternative visits to the other pavilions.
REFERENCE EXHIBITION AND ROSA LUXEMBURG ROOM
The Riopelle Crossroads connects the Revendiquer room to the upper level. This room provides a continuous link in the itinerary by giving access to the reference exhibition room. The immense room is the culmination of the artist’s main body of work, with its flexibility and straight walls that allow for an efficient museological display. Equipped with an architectural envelope that ensures effective management of light and control of museum conditions, the reference room allows visual contact with the outside world on almost 360°. At the climax of the visit to the reference room, the visitor arrives at the artist’s major work, L’Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg. Arranged in two hemicycles, the immense painting unfolds on curved surfaces sized according to the work and offers views of the landscape and the river. The reading and discovery of the work can then be done according to the original conception of the artist, the first two paintings of the triptych being read from left to right and the third from right to left.
ATMOSPHERE AND NORDICITY
The northernness of the project is expressed by a warm interior in response to the cold climate. A shared imaginary ideal of memories of fishing and hunting in search of that autochthony, a summer cabin by the water or a winter refuge in the forest. Typologies have resonances and inevitably inhabit the northern imagination. The work on the interiors recreates new atmospheres through unusual forms and clear circulations that innovate the museum experience. Characterized by the whiteness and the warmth of wood, the atmospheres are inspired by themes dear to Riopelle: the river ice, the river, and nature.
LE LIEN – CARREFOUR RIOPELLE
A cultural third place that creates and animates the life of Espace Riopelle. The crossroads democratizes the artist’s work and acts as a link between the actors of culture, the community and the territory. Composed of large levels, the space is flexible according to the desired rotation of the paintings and ceramics.
THE PELLAN TERRACE GARDEN
An elevation that gives way to a surprising, vegetal and sculptural terrace. Partly covered, the in-between area allows natural light to enter the interconnected spaces of the foyer and the multifunctional room. This new Jardin Pellan, generously given back to the public, is located in the heart of the activities and offers an imposing view.
THE LIGHT
The project proposes a lighting of the main exhibition hall. The illumination of the wooden underside generates a floating effect and evokes the artist’s play of layers and strata. The double skin is illuminated through its thickness to highlight its undulating form and textures. The system offers a control to modulate the intensity and colour of the lighting to make it a means of expression that allows one to animate the large canvases and make it a place in the movement.
THE REVENDIQUER/RIOPELLE PASSAGE
A generous in-between space links the spaces and allows for the display of Riopelle’s immense painting, Le Bestiaire. The use of the double height (8m) allows the work to be included in the Riopelle itinerary, which otherwise would not have been able to display it considering the 5m height for the reference exhibition room.
CONTEMPLATIVE APPROACH – REFERENCE EXHIBITION
Moments to establish meaningful contact with the works and to access a universe that requires attention, a slower pace and reflection. A connection between art and nature that allows us to pause. Openings on the outside and presenting the landscape, like framed works.
AEROSOL » LIGHTING
The aerial lighting paradoxically evokes the absence of matter. Surrounded by a blurred zone of light, the silhouette of the Espace Riopelle becomes an imprint on the ground. A visual effect leaving a negative trace, almost muffled, in the image of the artist’s aerosol work.
Collaboration
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