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Mishomis – Educational Third-Place
By : Joana Béry et Gaëlle Picard
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Student
Categories : Students work / Student - Interior Design : Platinum Winner
Taking place in the Écomusée du Fier Monde, this project aims to transform it into a third-place museum centered on the individual, their experience and relationship with the work of art. Works by Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau are on display, imbuing the site with their identity.
The museum is located in a Montreal neighborhood with a high rate of residential mobility and school dropouts. The project is therefore intended to provide a place of anchorage and stability for local high school students, as well as an educational third-place to encourage motivation at school. Finding inspiration in the identity of Norval Morrisseau, nicknamed the Mishomis (grandfather) of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada, this third-place museum is based on the concept of intergenerational sharing of the experience and knowledge of neighborhood residents with young people.
Through a diversity of spaces including a creative workshop, a homework help area and informal gathering spaces, Mishomis: educative third-place becomes a place of exchange; of knowledge and emotional bonds. An exhibition space for young people’s works created during creative workshops enables them to make this museum their own by leaving their mark on it, and bears witness to their evolution over time.
The works by Norval Morrisseau were selected to harmonize with the vocation of each space and are arranged throughout the museum to integrate the relationship to the artwork into the user’s complete experience. In addition, the various design elements echo the visual identity of the artist’s works, notably through the bright colors, free, organic shapes and black contours represented by the lighting fixtures. The modular furniture allows young people to use it freely according to their needs and to make the space their own. Moreover, as the museum is located in the historic building of the former Bain Généreux, the design was conceived with a view to preserving the building’s architectural identity throughout the interventions.
Thus, this third-place museum brings together education, art, culture and entertainment to create a space for sharing between generations, where the neighborhood’s youth can flourish.
Collaboration
