petite vie

Quebec City, Canada

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petite vie

Quebec City, Canada

Firm

Fontaine/Fortin/Labelle

Type

Cultural › Pavilion

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2015

BUDGET

$0 - 10K

In the vacuum rhythmed by the sound of the streets, a wall exhibits its personality. Its facade invites passersby to question their role in the city’s architectural landscape.

The wall pretends to be the city. How can we distinguish reality from fiction? Why so many ornamentations? Do we consume human relationships as we consume architecture? Judging on the surface?

Yet there are perceptible clues. The passage between the openings is a reminder of the relationship between the inside and the outside. A different space. The awareness that beyond the surface hides a story.

The edge of the wall is a space of its own, a passage that recalls the thickness of the walls around. Is such thickness necessary or are we being played? The inside of the installation laughs at its surroundings. A place of its own contained between two walls, an ode to the unusual. A game, a theater set… inside a theater set?

At Place-Royale, facades are talking and telling stories. Life stories.

Petite vie was built as part of Les passages insolites, a public art circuit curated by EXMURO arts publics. Without any imposed theme, we were asked to invest a place in the Quartier Création to create an unusual situation.

The design intent was meant to create a strong form fitting in a passage. Without directly taking over the surrounding elements, formal gestures are intended as a reinterpretation of some typical forms of the Old Québec with a postmodern detachment.

Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle are a creative group of individuals from distinct universes who have punctually worked together since their first encounter at the École d’architecture de l’Université Laval. Combining their backgrounds in art, engineering, and architecture, their experiences and studies North America and Europe, their singular approach leans towards architecture and design.