The fourth building of the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (MNBAQ) was opened to the public on June 24, coinciding with the celebration of the National Day of Quebec. The project, directed by Shohei Shigematsu, is OMA's first building in Canada and also their first museum in North America.

The last June 24th, the new building designed by OMA was opened to the public for the first time as part of the museum complex that comprise the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec [MNBAQ]. Its mission is to renew the institution, which was founded 83 years ago, not only in the architectural level. It was named the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion, after the philanthropist committed to the art, education and community world, who directs the Board of MNBAQ since 2005.

Description of the project by OMA

The Pierre Lassonde Pavilion will transform the 83-year-old institution, whose mission is to promote and preserve Quebec art from the 17th Century to today, and to showcase international art in Quebec City. The new 160,000 sq foot (14,900 sq meter) building doubles MNBAQ’s exhibition space while providing a gateway from the Grand Allée into the museum complex and to the scenic National Battefields Park.

Line Ouellet, executive director and chief curator of MNBAQ: “The world heritage site of Quebec City now has a new landmark. Refined and ingenious, the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion succeeds not only in standing out on the architectural level, but especially in becoming a part of its surroundings by making the most of its urban location with a logic that is both implacable and unexpected. Thanks to its spacious exhibition galleries, auditorium, restaurant, bookstore-gift shop and other facilities, it will enable the MNBAQ to fully realize its potential.”

Shohei Shigematsu, OMA partner and director of OMA New York: “Our design stacked three gallery volumes in a cascade that continues the topography of the park. The activity of the city extends below, providing a new point of interface between the city and the park. Art becomes a catalyst that allows the visitor to experience all three core assets – park, city, and museum – at the same time.”

Pierre Lassonde, chair of MNBAQ’s board of directors: “We are delighted to be able to welcome the public in this immense space, brilliantly designed by OMA, which will contribute greatly to giving visibility to Quebec art and artists. Thanks to this magnificently functional addition, one that is also significant on a symbolic level, our Musée has now reached an unrivalled level of service for the citizens of Quebec and is a major attraction for visitors from around the world.”

The project was led by Shigematsu, with Jason Long and Ceren Bingol. Realized in collaboration with Provencher_Roy architectes of Montreal, the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion is OMA’s first building in Canada, and the firm’s first museum in North America. The museum will open to the public on June 24 in celebration of Quebec’s Fete national with three days of festivities and public activities.    

 

 

Read more
Read less

More information

Label
Architects
Text
OMA. Shohei Shigematsu. Associate.- Jason Long
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Team
Text
Rami Abou-Khalil. Jackie Woon Bae. Ceren Bingol. Mathieu Lemieux Blanchard. Carly Dean. Markus von Dellingshausen. Patrick Hobgood. Michael Jefferson. Demar Jones. Sue Lettieri. Ted Lin. Tsuyoshi Nakamoto. Cass Nakashima. Martin Raub. Rachel Robinson. Sara Ines Ruas. Richard Sharam. Andy Westner. Luke Willis. Sandy Yum.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Collaborators
Text
Associate Architect.- Provencher Roy + Associés. Engineer.- Buro Happold Consulting. Structure.- SNC Lavalin. MEP.-Bouthillette Parizeau / Teknika HBA
Code.- Technorm. Acoustics.- Legault & Davidson. Vertical Transport.- Exim. Cost Control.- CHP Inc. Lighting.- Buro Happold. Façade design.- FRONT.
Façade engineering.- Patenaude Trempe, Inc., Albert Eskenazi, CPA structural Glass. Auditorium.- Trizart Alliance. Local Advisor.- Luc Lévesque.
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Client
Text
Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Contractor
Text
EBC
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.
Label
Dates
Text
2010-2016
+ + copy Created with Sketch.
- + copy Created with Sketch.

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international practice operating within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism. AMO, a research and design studio, applies architectural thinking to domains beyond. OMA is led by eight partners – Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, Chris van Duijn, Jason Long, and Managing Partner-Architect David Gianotten – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. OMA-designed buildings currently under construction are the renovation of Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in Berlin, The Factory in Manchester, Hangzhou Prism, the CMG Times Center in Shenzhen and the Simone Veil Bridge in Bordeaux.

OMA’s completed projects include Taipei Performing Arts Centre (2022), Audrey Irmas Pavilion in Los Angeles (2020), Norra Tornen in Stockholm (2020), Axel Springer Campus in Berlin (2020), MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre (2020), Galleria in Gwanggyo (2020), WA Museum Boola Bardip (2020), nhow RAI Hotel in Amsterdam (2020), a new building for Brighton College (2020), and Potato Head Studios in Bali (2020). Earlier buildings include Fondazione Prada in Milan (2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), De Rotterdam (2013), CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012), Casa da Música in Porto (2005), and the Seattle Central Library (2004).

AMO often works in parallel with OMA's clients to fertilize architecture with intelligence from this array of disciplines. This is the case with Prada: AMO's research into identity, in-store technology, and new possibilities of content-production in fashion helped generate OMA's architectural designs for new Prada epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles. In 2004, AMO was commissioned by the European Union to study its visual communication, and designed a colored "barcode" flag, combining the flags of all member states, which was used during the Austrian presidency of the EU. AMO has worked with Universal Studios, Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, Heineken, Ikea, Condé Nast, Harvard University and the Hermitage. It has produced Countryside: The Future, a research exhibited at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale, including Public Works (2012), Cronocaos (2010), and The Gulf (2006); and for Fondazione Prada, including When Attitudes Become Form (2012) and Serial and Portable Classics (2015). AMO, with Harvard University, was responsible for the research and curation of the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale and its publication Elements. Other notable projects are Roadmap 2050, a plan for a Europe-wide renewable energy grid; Project Japan, a 720-page book on the Metabolism architecture movement (Taschen, 2010); and the educational program of Strelka Institute in Moscow.

Read more

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is a leading international partnership practicing architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis. OMA's buildings and masterplans around the world insist on intelligent forms while inventing new possibilities for content and everyday use. OMA is led by ten partners – Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, David Gianotten, Chris van Duijn, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Jason Long and Michael Kokora – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, Doha and Dubai.

Responsible for OMA’s operations in America, OMA New York was established in 2001 and has since overseen the successful completion of several buildings across the country including Milstein Hall at Cornell University (2011); the Wyly Theater in Dallas (2009); the Seattle Central Library (2004); the IIT Campus Center in Chicago (2003); and Prada’s Epicenter in New York (2001). The office is currently overseeing the construction of three cultural projects, including the Musée National des Beaux-arts du Québec and the Faena Arts District in Miami Beach – both scheduled for completion in 2016 – as well as a studio expansion for artist Cai Guo Qiang in New York. The New York office has most recently been commissioned to design a number of residential towers in San Francisco, New York, and Miami, as well as two projects in Los Angeles; the Plaza at Santa Monica, a mixed use complex in Los Angeles, and the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.

OMA New York’s ongoing engagements with urban conditions around the world include a new civic center in Bogota, Colombia; a post-Hurricane Sandy, urban water strategy for New Jersey; the 11th Street Bridge Park and RFK Stadium-Armory Campus Masterplan in Washington, DC; and a food hub in West Louisville, Kentucky.

Read more
Shohei Shigematsu born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1973. In 1996 graduated from the Department of Architecture at Kyushu University. Studying at the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam. He became an associate since 2004.joined OMA in 1998 and became a partner in 2008.

He has led the office in New York since 2006. Sho's designs for cultural venues include the Quebec National Beaux Arts Museum and the Faena Arts Center in Miami Beach, as well as direct collaborations with artists, including Cai Guo Qiang, Marina Abramovic and Kanye West.

Sho is currently designing a number of luxury, high rise towers in San Francisco, New York, and Miami, as well as a mixed-use complex in Santa Monica. His engagement with urban conditions around the world include a new civic center in Bogota, Colombia; a post-Hurricane Sandy, urban water strategy for New Jersey; and a food hub in Louisville, Kentucky.

He is a design critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he is conducting a research studio entitled Alimentary Design, investigating the intersection of food, architecture and urbanism.
Read more
Jason Long (OMA partner / OMA NY co-director) Jason Long is a Partner at OMA. He joined the firm in 2003 and has been leading OMA New York since 2014. Jason brings a research-driven, interdisciplinary approach to a wide range of projects internationally—from concept to completion, he served as the project manager for the Quebec National Museum in Quebec City and the Faena Forum in Miami.

A number of projects under his direction take a creative approach on the much-needed adaptive reuse and restoration of existing buildings, including POST Houston, the transformation of a former post office warehouse in downtown Houston into a mixed-use cultural platform, incorporating a new venue for Live Nation; the conversion of an Art Deco parking garage in New York City into a synagogue; the renovation of the Fitzgerald Building at University of Toronto into a new campus administration center; the adaptive reuse of Jersey City’s Pathside Building into museum for Centre Pompidou; and LANTERN, the conversion of a former commercial bakery into a community arts hub in Detroit.

Jason’s projects in urbanism and the public realm, particularly in Washington, D.C., public health, and equitable development at varying scales: a streetscape design for D.C. Convention Center, the 11th Street Bridge Park connecting disparate communities on either side of the Anacostia River, and a sports and recreation masterplan for the RFK Stadium Armory Campus.

His diverse portfolio extends to residential developments across housing types and regions in North America. Jason led the recently completed Eagle + West, OMA’s first high-rise towers in New York. In California, he oversaw the design and completion of The Avery in San Francisco and is currently leading 730 Stanyan, a 120-unit, 100% affordable housing building in historic Haight Ashbury. Currently in progress is The Perigon, a beachfront high-rise in Miami’s mid-beach neighborhood.

Jason previously served as a key member of AMO and was the Associate Editor of Content (Taschen, 2004).

Jason has lectured at SPUR, Urban Land Institute (ULI), AIA Conventions, and various museums and universities across the globe. He has been a visiting professor at Cornell University School of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP).

Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Vassar College and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD).
Read more
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...