Award-winning architect Claude Provencher dies at 72

(Montreal) The new Samuel-De Champlain Bridge was one of the last works of Claude Provencher, architect emeritus and co-founder of the practice in Quebec. He died at the age of 72 on Friday, leaving to mourn his wife and children, announced his firm Provencher_Roy.

Lila Dussault
The Press

Claude Provencher worked for decades in Quebec to have the professional status of architect recognized in the province. We owe him a large number of emblematic constructions, the very last being the Îlot Balmoral, in the Quartier des spectacles of Montreal. The same year, in 2019, the renowned architect saw the new Samuel-De Champlain bridge erected.

Originally from Plessisville, Claude Provencher was rocked by music from his early childhood, his mother at the piano, his father at the violin. “It is also the music that accompanied his youth, him on drums in his band, playing in bars and in dance halls”, is it described in a price tribute to his honor, on the site of Provencher_Roy . “Fascinated by music, he did not want to be a businessman in the classic sense of the term, but in a field more related to the arts. »

It is ultimately his love of drawing that pushes him towards architecture. A graduate of the University of Montreal in 1974, he quickly took to the island of Montreal as his playground. “The four distinct seasons, the ever-changing river… What an exciting challenge to create a building that will will keep interior spaces alive. »

In 1983, he founded Provencher_Roy alongside Michel Roy. He conducted his practice there as a senior designer for four decades.

Towards the end of the 1980s his first major work was born, resulting from a reflection on the fate of a neglected block occupying a strategic location in the Old Montreal district. The place would become the World Trade Center, which opened in 1992 and established its trademark.

Since then, the Quebec metropolis owes him a number of large-scale constructions, such as the J.-A.-DeSève Pavilion at the University of Quebec in Montreal, the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the expansion of the Ritz-Carlton, the Technopôle Angus development plan, the expansion of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre, the repair of the Tour de Montréal, the modernization of the Casino de Montréal, to name a few .

“Passionate, enthusiastic, intuitive, constructive, emotional, Claude Provencher made an important contribution, through his aesthetics, his openness and his unwavering commitment, to our architectural heritage,” describes Provencher_Roy. Far from a signature approach, he favored a nuanced and lively language. »

In 2019, Claude Provencher is also entrusted with the new reception pavilion of the National Assembly of Quebec.

The creation of a life

Claude Provencher has “transformed society to create living environments that respect citizens and the built environment through inclusive, meaningful and sustainable architecture so that the human experience always takes precedence,” explains Provencher_Roy.

One of the founders of the Conseil du patrimoine culturel du Québec, Claude Provencher also sat on the advisory committee on urban planning, design and real estate of the National Capital Commission in Ottawa, in addition to being a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts and of the Héritage Montréal society.

In 2000, he was received fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, for his exemplary contribution to the profession. In 2014, he became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts for his role as a leader in the community, then a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 2021 for his deep sense of commitment and the ambitious passion that he brought to his trade.

His firm, Provencher_Roy, has won several titles, including Best Architecture Firm of the Year in Canada, awarded by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2015. Awards of excellence – from the Governor General, the Canadian Architect or the Ordre des architectes du Québec – were also awarded to him.

Claude Provencher is survived by his wife Lucie Bouthillette, his children and his many loved ones, to whom Provencher_Roy offers his “thoughts and support”.