Espace Culturel Georges-Émile Lapalme, Place Des Arts | Menkès Shooner Dagenais Letourneux Architectes

The Espace Culturel Georges-Émile Lapalme, Place Des Arts- located in Montreal, Quebec and designed by Menkès Shooner Dagenais Letourneux Architects, is an arts center that embodies much of what art is in general. It is a home to a multitude of different media and instances. I’ll define instances as architectural media or media made architecture. Instances are those things that you look at and can’t decide- don’t want to decide- if it’s intentional art or architecture, or architecture intentionally made as art.

Photography by © Stéphane Groleau

The re-imagining and re-defining of the Place Des Arts are set into a hill which it itself creates. Stairs step up one side ‘geographically’ like a laser-cut top model, and up the back as normal stairs, creating a vantage point for city-goers to observe from. Within, spaces have been created and/or redistributed. Throughout the interior spaces, a lighting and audiovisual system are employed on floors, walls, and ceiling in order to fully, sensually envelope visitors.

Photography by © Stéphane Groleau

Project Info:
Architects: MSDL Architectes
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Area: 7,840 m2
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: Stéphane Groleau
Project Name: Espace Culturel Georges-Émile Lapalme, Place Des Arts