Musee National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec in Battlefields Park, Canada by OMA Architect

Article source: OMA Architect

The new building for the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec – the museum’s fourth building in an increasingly complicated site, interconnected yet disparate – is a subtly ambitious, even stealthy, addition to the city. Rather than creating an iconic imposition, it forms new links between the park and the city, and brings new coherence to the MNBAQ.

Night Exterior View (Image Courtesy Luxigon)

• Architects: OMA Architect
• Project: Musee National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec
• Location: Parc des Champs-de-Bataille, Québec City, Canada
• Client: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
• Status: Competition 2010, 1st place.
• Completion: fall 2013

Aerial View (Image Courtesy Luxigon)

• Local advisor: Luc Lévesque
• Associate architect: Provencher Roy + associés Architectes (Montreal): Michel Roy, Hélène Gauthier Roy, Claude Bourbeau
• Engineers: Buro Happold Consulting (New York): Mark Malekshahi, Gijs Libourel, Ana Serra, Gabe Guilliams
• Partners in charge: Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas
• Associate in charge: Jason Long
• Photography: Luxigon, Philippe Ruault
• Team: Rami Abou-Khalil, Mathieu Lemieux Blanchard, Tsuyoshi Nakamoto, Richard Sharam, Luke Willis, with Christy Cheng, Patrick Hobgood, Sandy Yum

Atrium (Image Courtesy Luxigon)

The intricate and sensitive context of the new building generated the central questions underpinning the design: How to extend Parc des Champs-de-Bataille while inviting the city in? How to respect and preserve St-.Dominique church while creating a persuasive presence on Grande-allée? How to clarify the museum’s organization while simultaneously adding to its scale? Our solution was to stack the required new galleries in three volumes of decreasing size – temporary exhibitions (50m x 50m), the permanent modern and contemporary collections (45m x 35m) and design / Inuit exhibits (42.5m x 25m) – to create a cascade ascending from the park towards the city. The building aims to weave together the city, the park and the museum; it is simultaneously an extension of all three.

Reception (Image Courtesy Philippe Ruault)

While they step down in section, the gallery boxes step out in plan, framing the existing courtyard of the church cloister and orienting the building towards the park. The park spills into the museum (through skylights and carefully curated windows) and the museum into the park (though the extension of exhibitions to the terraces).

The stacking creates a 14m-high Grand Hall, sheltered under a dramatic 20m cantilever. The Grand Hall serves as an interface to the Grande-allée, an urban plaza for the museum’s public functions, and a series of gateways into the galleries, courtyard and auditorium.

Lobby (Image Courtesy Philippe Ruault)

Complementing the quiet reflection of the gallery spaces, a chain of programs—foyers, lounges, shops, bridges, gardens—along the museum’s edge offers a hybrid of activities, art and public promenades. Along the way, orchestrated views outside reconnect the visitor with the park, the city, and the rest of the museum. Within the boxes, mezzanines and overlooks link the temporary and permanent exhibition spaces. On top of each of the gallery boxes, roof terraces provide space for outdoor displays and activities.

The new building connects with the museum’s existing buildings by a passageway rising 8.2m over its 55m length. Through its sheer length and changes in elevation, the passage creates a surprising mixture of gallery spaces that lead the visitor, as if by chance, to the rest of the museum complex.

Tags: Canada, Québec

Category: Museum

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