Image courtesy of OMA

The Pierre Lassonde Pavilion by OMA opens its doors

OMA’s designed the Pierre Lassonde pavilion, the fourth building of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ), opens its doors in Québec, Canada, the design led by OMA New York Partner, Sho Shigematsu. The largest cultural project in Québec, the Pierre Lassonde pavilion is opening its doors on the Grande Allée in Québec City. 

Image courtesy of OMA

The gallery boxes step out in plan, framing the existing courtyard of the church cloister and orienting the building towards the park. The park spills into the museum (through skylights and carefully curated windows) and the museum into the park (though the extension of exhibitions to the terraces and the outdoor pop-out staircase). In coming up with the glazed structure’s design, Shigematsu found inspiration in the surrounding National Battlefields Park, which holds the museum’s three older buildings.

Image courtesy of OMA

“The concept places three volumes on top of one another in such a way that they form a cascade that extends the topography of the park,” he said in a statement. (The tiered pavilion connects to the rest of the compound via a subterranean passageway, which contains three galleries.) In the 41-foot-tall lobby, a showstopping spiral staircase composed of four steel sections ascends to a third-floor terrace, which offers sweeping views of the St. Lawrence River.

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