Stage 1
A reading of the past turned towards the future
Along the busy boulevard, a commemorative wall calls out, embraces and guides the curious towards the heart of an urban block, with an interior garden, a space reserved for meditation and a water mirror. Rooted in this calm, the museum unfolds up and around, allowing today's eyes to discover a treasure trove of objects and stories, to draw meaning from difficult pasts, to envision the path to the future, combining generation, identity and community in the plural.
Memory, education and community, the three pillars that structure any Holocaust museum, have always been guided by the motto: "Never again. Yet the power of this message is waning as death approaches the last witnesses and we witness the resurgence of populism, revisionism, anti-Semitism, and devastating wars.
Designing and building this Holocaust museum in a context where doubt about the future prevails raises new questions. Our museum will not seek to represent the Shoah in a monumental form. It will remain close to the Jewish tradition, avoiding dogma, choosing instead the always unfinished commentary, the open conversation.
Reweaving the urban fabric
Since the beginning of the 20th century, Saint-Laurent Boulevard has been at the heart of Jewish community life. Nicknamed "The Main", the street has been home to many immigrant identities over the years, reinforcing a vibrant culture of diversity and tolerance located between East and West, French and English-speaking areas, continually remaking itself, inventing new narratives of survival and resistance. Our museum wants to participate fully in this narrative of the Main.
The urban morphology of the neighborhood inspires the volumes and geometric plan of our architectural concept, defined by the rhythmic repetition of lines of natural light echoing the site's party walls, as well as by the presence of a natural landscape formalized by the presence of birch trees in the heart of the block in continuity with the adjacent interior courtyards. By respecting the rhythm of the traditional lots, by reproducing the scale and cadence of the buildings along Saint-Laurent Boulevard, our museum will be integrated into the urban fabric.
Stage 2
The Beginnings
Memory, education and community, the three pillars that structure any Holocaust museum, have always been guided by the motto: "Never again". Yet as so many survivors have affirmed, the reality of the Holocaust cannot be captured in a total and definitive way. Prose, images and objects, spatial representation can only offer a partial view - we are not attempting the impossible, i.e. the representation of the Shoah in a monumental architectural form. Clearly this ambition is not appropriate for the present moment, which forces us to raise new questions about the relevance of the past for the present and the future. It is this concern that has inspired the design of our building. We aspire to honor the Jewish tradition, avoiding dogma, embracing diversity, choosing dialogue and questioning, open conversation, always unfinished commentary.
In conversation with the city
Since the beginning of the 20th century, Saint-Laurent Boulevard has been at the heart of Jewish community life. Nicknamed "the Main," the street has welcomed many immigrant identities over the years, reinforcing a culture of diversity and tolerance situated between East and West, continually remaking itself, inventing new narratives of survival and resistance. Our museum wants to participate fully in this narrative of the Main.
The urban morphology of the neighborhood inspires the volumes and geometric plan of our architectural concept, defined by the rhythmic repetition of lines of natural light echoing the site's party walls. By respecting the rhythm of the traditional lots, reproducing the scale and cadence of the buildings along St. Laurent Boulevard, our museum will integrate into the surrounding fabric.
In response to their distinct urban character, the front and rear facades are different but linked by the same morphological grid. Along Saint-Laurent, at street level, the interface is bold, transparent and welcoming. At the level of the showrooms, the stone is opaque. On St. Dominic's, the entry level has a solid appearance. In contrast, the upper levels are more transparent, with a set of vertical clerestories rebalancing the scale and composition to ensure a careful integration with the residential context. The essence of the concept lies in the continuity of the two facades linked by the commemorative wall that crosses the entire site from the boulevard to the street.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
Stage 1
In addition to echoing the geometry of the traditional subdivision, the strategy proposed by this project offers very large museum spaces, with the exhibits on a single level, which seems effective. The jury notes the simplicity and effectiveness of the approach, as well as the personality it gives to the St. Laurent Boulevard façade. The visual continuity offered by the gardens from the agora is appreciated by the jury. The jury has reservations about the gaps between the volumes, in terms of their usefulness and constructability.
Stage 2
The jury is of the opinion that this team has grasped the theme of the Holocaust Museum and has approached the issue with great sensitivity.
Despite a certain sobriety of the façade, the jury appreciates this very recognizable image and the way in which its pattern echoes that of the traditional subdivision on Saint-Laurent Boulevard. This choice anchors the building in its context. The use of Montreal grey stone is a sensitive reference to the material culture of many Montreal institutional buildings. On the Saint-Dominique Street side, however, the building is higher than the prescribed limit, which creates a less harmonious relationship with its context.
The jury greatly appreciates the integration of the gardens into the museum experience. From St. Laurent Boulevard, the sequence of forecourt-agora-memorial garden is very attractive.
Although the commemorative garden is small, the jury is of the opinion that it is on the scale of the Museum and that its dimensions will be pleasant for visitors.
The jury notes the clear organization of the spaces. The separation of the temporary and permanent exhibitions, which are located on different floors, contributes to this clarity. The jury appreciates the location of the temporary exhibition on the upper floor, in relation to the terrace. However, the surface areas need to be rationalized to ensure that they are in line with the PFT and the project budget.
The exhibition spaces are functional and offer flexibility to the museography. Means of varying pathways within these spaces should be provided.
The jury notes a lack of fluidity in the public pathway, characterized in particular by a lack of visibility of the stairways and elevators and the lack of generosity in the circulation spaces, despite the significant overrun of the project area.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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