Montreal: The Latest Architecture and News

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Conceived as a natural extension of the existing pathways at Montreal’s Botanical Garden, Saucier + Perrotte architectes’ proposal for the “Espace Pour la Vie Glass Pavilion” competition was envisioned as an immersive glass shelter “eroded” within a lush landscape. The architects, who were also responsible for designing the garden’s 2001 First Nation Garden Pavilion, were among the competition finalists. You can learn more about their proposal, after the break.

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Kuehn Malvezzi, Pelletier De Fontenay, Jodoin Lamarre Pratte, Dupras Ledoux, and Nicholet Chartrand Knoll (NCK) have won one of three first place positions in Montréal’s Space for Life International Architectural Competition, which seeks to reinvent mankind’s relationship with the natural world for the city’s 375th birthday, with their proposal for the redesign of the Montréal Insectarium. Titled Insectarium Metamorphosis, the project provides new spaces for visitors to get up close and personal with the multitude of insects housed in the museum.

The Space for Life International Architectural Competition of Montréal has recently announced its three winners. The competition prompted designers to rekindle an interest in the natural world through an architectural intervention at a pre-appointed venue. Located in the city’s Botanical Gardens, this winning proposal by Lacaton & Vassal, Frédéric Druot, FABG, and SNC Lavalin does so in a simple, elegant way, with a glass pavilion for the Gardens that serves a variety of purposes. Learn more, after the break.

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Montréal’s Space for Life competition has recently announced its winners, with design firms AZPML and KANVA named as one of three first winners with their joint design. The competition demanded that entrants reinvigorate the relationship between humanity and the natural world through an intervention at Montréal’s Biodome. The two firms’ winning proposal, Migration du Biodome, does that with the installation of a series of undulating walls.

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Today marks Canadian Thanksgiving, and to celebrate the occasion we've rounded up some of Canada's best architecture. Our five selections represent five Canadian cities, each with a unique architectural sensibility. We begin in Toronto with the Royal Ontario Museum addition by Studio Daniel Libeskind, a striking intervention using prisms of glass and steel fused to a 102-year-old museum structure; next we go to Montréal for Habitat 67 by Moshe Safdie, an interlocking modular housing project designed for the World Exposition of 1967; to Calgary for Santiago Calatrava's understated Peace Bridge, a stunning glass-encased red lightning bolt spanning the city's widest waterway; then to Winnipeg's Old Market Square Stage by emerging firm 5468796 Architecture, a chameleonic performance space wrapped by a mesh curtain of steel cubes; and finally to the outskirts of Vancouver for the Richmond Olympic Oval, a masterpiece of engineering and the centre of attention during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Enjoy, eh.

One thousand nine hundred and ninety: the percentage by which the $3 billion Montreal Olympic Stadium - a project designated only $148 million in 1973 - exceeded its original budget. Ten: the number of years that the Sydney Opera House was over its deadline. Twenty-four: the number of projects included in Monumental Budget Busters, an interactive infographic ranking an array of works - ranging from the International Space Station to the Sochi Olympics - from smallest to largest in cost and time overruns. The list includes infrastructure, architecture, and governmental projects with budget overruns ranging from $210 million to $68 billion. These costs beg the question - does the end justify the means? Find out with the interactive infographic after the break.

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Imagine yourself standing at a glowing threshold between reality and make believe, watching as mythical creatures dash across trees and into other dimensions. Imagine a world where the glimmer of fairies is reflected on a forest floor illuminated by trees of all colours; a world where a sea of stars transforms into an imaginary wolf, standing sentinel over its fairy tale universe. This enchanted world exists, thanks to the creatives at Moment Factory. In their Foresta Lumina video mapping project, they create a narrative installation set in the mysterious backwoods of Quebec, Canada. Find out how they add a little fantasy to ordinary reality after the break.

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