Gateway of Light: OMA’s New Pavilion at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec Is Complete

On June 24, The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) will open the doors to its newest building, the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion. Designed by Rem Koolhaas’s storied firm, OMA, the 48,900-square-foot (14,900-square-meter) Pierre Lassonde Pavilion nearly doubles the 83-year-old museum’s available exhibition space.

OMA describes the structure as a “gateway”: an inviting, contemporary space that both draws together the existing structures of the complex and connects the museum more directly to the life of Québec City.

“It was a very strategic move for the museum, because it used to be a museum in the park, but they acquired a site facing the Grand Allée — which is the main boulevard of the city,” explained OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu. “The park and the city and the museum can all extend at the same time at this strategic point. So it’s not just a museum extension, but also an extension of the art and the city. Art becomes the catalyst between the park and the city.”

This will be the fourth of the museum’s pavilions. Each of the other three are housed in separate buildings in the historic Parc des Champs-des-Bataille. The new pavilion faces the Grand Allée and is connected to the others via a subterranean passage that stretches for 430 feet (130 meters).

View from the park: the rear of the building seen from the Parc des Champs-des-Bataille, which serves as the campus for the museum’s other three pavilions

Connecting the contemporary addition to the existing buildings, some of which date to the 19th century, posed stylistic challenges for the architects, who were happy to meet them. “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,” said Shigematsu.

“The façade is a triple-glazed, for which we have used three panes of different glass. The first one is textured, the last one is fritted, and one is regular glass, which creates this kind of depth. This also creates a ghost of the structure as a pattern. This is a textured glass so it captures different lights. It changes from very crisp — almost like ice or metal — to a typical green glass that has some resonance with the church’s copper roof.”

Inside the museum, a tremendous, sculptural spiral staircase guides visitors through the stacked volumes and offers views of both the street and the park. Mezzanines connect temporary and permanent exhibition spaces, both of which are spacious and unencumbered by columns. The scheme also includes outdoor exhibition space on the roof, a gift shop, a café and an auditorium.

Looking up at the spiral staircase, which will provide visitors with views of both the park and the city, orienting them to the layout of the complex as a whole

The accessible rooftop provides opportunities for outdoor exhibitions.

The MNABQ is devoted to preserving and celebrating Québécois art. Its collection includes over 25,000 works, some of which date to the 18th century, the earliest period of European settlement in Québec. The museum also holds international exhibitions, bringing relevant works from around the world to the Québécois public.

The Pierre Lassonde Pavilion’s grand opening will coincide with La fête nationale du Québec — a national holiday — and will include six new exhibitions and three days of free public programs.

All images courtesy of OMA