Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec / National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec
2009
Québec City, Quebec, Canada- Architecture for culture, research, sport or leisure
- Building
- Museum
The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec opened its doors in 1933. Its most recent expansion dates back to 1988-91. The primary goal of that expansion was to integrate a heritage building, the former Quebec City prison, built in 1861 and neglected since the 1970s. The 1988-91 expansion also made possible a temporary improvement in the level of service with the addition of new spaces. The placing of an entrance lobby between the 1933 structure and the 1861 prison created an impression of a museum closed in upon itself in the midst of the Plains of Abraham and imparted a vision of an institution that had, in a sense, ceased growing. In fact, together the buildings in the complex inaugurated in 1991 occupied practically all the space owned by the institution upon which it might build.
In this context, the project of a new pavilion for the Museum is a decisive architectural gesture by virtue of both its intrinsic novelty and opening onto the urban space of the Grande Allée and its underground connection with the initial complex, in a desire to respect the Museum's natural environment.
The present project thus marks a change of course, because it is part of an entirely new perspective of openness. It is a major step, but it is important to understand what it is and is not in order to avoid any ambiguity. It is thus not a question of opening the door to a broader or more ambitious gesture than that of building a new pavilion. Thirty or forty years from now new expansion projects may be contemplated, whether by annexing the present-day Saint Dominique church (which would be re-designated) or by building a major addition between the Museum's present Gérard Morisset and Charles Baillairgé pavilions, where the present-day entrance pavilion is located.
Beyond this long-term vision, for the moment the Museum is planning a significant architectural gesture adapted to its priorities and in keeping with its budgetary resources. This building will be located on an open site on the Grande Allée, which the Museum already owns. Incidentally, this is the only site upon which a new pavilion can be built, given that the National Battlefields Commission (NBC) is refractory to any cession, no matter how small, on the Plains of Abraham. It is open, however, to the creation of underground spaces linking the new pavilion to the present-day Museum which do not alter the existing green spaces.
The project of a new pavilion for the MNBAQ raises particular challenges, because of both its complexity and its modest scale. From the outset, the Museum is seeking an unhesitatingly contemporary gesture beyond the “heritage” nature of its surroundings.
When the exercise is complete, the Museum's architecture will stand out for the way it belongs to the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, reflecting the make-up of its collections, which, we should recall, are both historical and contemporary. The same is true of Quebec City: a living reality with its own historical strata but also wishing to be anchored in the present with a vision of the future. We should add to this description the marked urban aspect of the new pavilion, with its opening onto the Grande Allée corresponding to our quest for a new institutional image.
It will thus be understood that the architectural project sought will be closer to creating a new work than to mimicking our existing buildings. The Museum is in search of a strong conception, a true architectural project, and not simply a construction project whose result is the availability of new spaces. There is real complexity, and an even greater challenge, in the need for the project to reconcile a creative act with an imperative respect for a budget that is, for all that, modest.
Finally, the institution seeks to create an exemplary project by means of a transparent exercise with a pedagogical aspect capable of reaching the general public while promoting full use of the new MNBAQ by the population as a whole.
This new pavilion should project the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec into the future by providing cutting-edge technical performance within a sustainable development approach. LEED Canada certification is sought.
(From competition documentation)
In this context, the project of a new pavilion for the Museum is a decisive architectural gesture by virtue of both its intrinsic novelty and opening onto the urban space of the Grande Allée and its underground connection with the initial complex, in a desire to respect the Museum's natural environment.
The present project thus marks a change of course, because it is part of an entirely new perspective of openness. It is a major step, but it is important to understand what it is and is not in order to avoid any ambiguity. It is thus not a question of opening the door to a broader or more ambitious gesture than that of building a new pavilion. Thirty or forty years from now new expansion projects may be contemplated, whether by annexing the present-day Saint Dominique church (which would be re-designated) or by building a major addition between the Museum's present Gérard Morisset and Charles Baillairgé pavilions, where the present-day entrance pavilion is located.
Beyond this long-term vision, for the moment the Museum is planning a significant architectural gesture adapted to its priorities and in keeping with its budgetary resources. This building will be located on an open site on the Grande Allée, which the Museum already owns. Incidentally, this is the only site upon which a new pavilion can be built, given that the National Battlefields Commission (NBC) is refractory to any cession, no matter how small, on the Plains of Abraham. It is open, however, to the creation of underground spaces linking the new pavilion to the present-day Museum which do not alter the existing green spaces.
The project of a new pavilion for the MNBAQ raises particular challenges, because of both its complexity and its modest scale. From the outset, the Museum is seeking an unhesitatingly contemporary gesture beyond the “heritage” nature of its surroundings.
When the exercise is complete, the Museum's architecture will stand out for the way it belongs to the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, reflecting the make-up of its collections, which, we should recall, are both historical and contemporary. The same is true of Quebec City: a living reality with its own historical strata but also wishing to be anchored in the present with a vision of the future. We should add to this description the marked urban aspect of the new pavilion, with its opening onto the Grande Allée corresponding to our quest for a new institutional image.
It will thus be understood that the architectural project sought will be closer to creating a new work than to mimicking our existing buildings. The Museum is in search of a strong conception, a true architectural project, and not simply a construction project whose result is the availability of new spaces. There is real complexity, and an even greater challenge, in the need for the project to reconcile a creative act with an imperative respect for a budget that is, for all that, modest.
Finally, the institution seeks to create an exemplary project by means of a transparent exercise with a pedagogical aspect capable of reaching the general public while promoting full use of the new MNBAQ by the population as a whole.
This new pavilion should project the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec into the future by providing cutting-edge technical performance within a sustainable development approach. LEED Canada certification is sought.
(From competition documentation)