The Phi Foundation, reputed to be daring, has continued with recklessness by opening to the public the presentation of the penultimate stage of the international architectural competition of its creation and exhibition center in Old Montreal. The Webcast of the presentations of the five finalists, Monday noon, made it possible to discover the proposals, but also the answers of the firms to the questions of the jury.
The quadrilateral that will be occupied by the 100 million dollar project, called Phi Contemporain, is spread over 1,600 square meters near the Bonsecours Market. The site includes heritage homes and a vacant lot. The program imposes constraints to create defined spaces (café, auditorium, studio, exhibition halls, etc.) while protecting historic buildings.
The competition was launched in August 2021 to create 6,900 square meters dedicated to contemporary art. A total of 65 firms from 14 countries participated in the first stage, which resulted in the selection of 11, then 5 finalists. The jury will soon select two (another originality of this contest), and the big winner will be known on July 15th.
Phi Contemporain is expected to open in 2027 for the 20and anniversary of the Phi Foundation, supported by patron Phœbe Greenberg. The construction is partly financed by Quebec and Ottawa.
The organizers have specifically requested that the images of the following presentations not be broadcast in the media:
Bruther, from Paris, compares to “a Swiss army knife” his versatile scalable project on load-bearing beams without fixed partitions. The different spaces all have independent exterior access. Existing buildings are treated as separate entities in “a game and not a struggle between old and new”. “Phi Contemporain cannot be summed up as yet another temple museum,” summarizes Stéphanie Bru, co-founder of Bruther with Alexandre Theriot. It is a hive as much as an agora or a forum. The unveiled plans show a temporary exhibition space in the basement; on the ground floor, another open with a 5% slope; and, on the roof, a huge public space.
Adjaye Associates, from London, allowed himself to be guided by a basic question: “How to grow up in a city without making a clean sweep of the past and without simply looking to the future? The solution introduces a non-hierarchical duality between new and old, contemporary and heritage, but also in the horizontal and vertical fluidity between interior spaces. David Adjaye also wants to use the roof as a public space and was also questioned about this controversial idea, which could be refused by the town planning services. “We want to have this conversation about heritage, and we are open to solutions,” replied the British architect.
Dorte Mandrup, from Copenhagen, defends a concept called “organic” and “on a human scale”. The Danish architect visited Montreal six weeks ago and realized the importance of the St. Lawrence River for the city. “The new elements will be distinctly contemporary,” Ms.me Mandrup. She also spoke of fluidity and flexibility, with more modest volumes in the old parts and large volumes in the new ones. An example: the grand café of the future Phi Contemporain could become a creative workshop or a congress hall. The project includes an interior courtyard and, again, a roof garden.
Kuehn Malvezzi + Pelletier de Fontenay, from Berlin and Montreal, imagines a large outdoor platform located halfway up the historic buildings that connects the different spaces. The old buildings retain their volumetry and their independent entrances, while the addition of a large greenhouse accentuates the eclectic effect. The result plays on the contrasts between spaces and materials, including by introducing perspective breakthroughs crossing the entire site.
Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen, from Belgium, summarizes his idea around the image of an “effective toolbox”. The firm was the finest in its presentation in situ by explaining his reading of Old Montreal and the neighboring buildings of the site to be developed. The strategy envisaged consists in respecting the most interesting historic buildings on the site, while introducing a resolutely contemporary architectural gesture inspired by the warehouses of the district. The model opens up a tree-lined passageway between the two most significant historic houses that have been preserved, those on rue Saint-Paul. The added contemporary building relies on pure volumetry, with glass and concrete dominating. It is imagined as a series of stacked rectangular boxes. There is no roof terrace in this concept. “We want a project that finds its correct scale in the context of Old Montreal,” explains Kersten Geers. Historic buildings are important. They have their personality. We had to find a way to talk to them. »