Currently on display at the Galerie d’architecture in Paris until May 27, 2023, the Territories and Landscapes exhibition by Atelier Pierre Thibault is an open reflection on the relationship between architecture and its environment. Drawings, models, books, sketchbooks, and objects are freely displayed in the space, creating an architectural constellation questioning the different relationships existing between architectural projects, landscapes, and cultural and natural contexts.
Photo credit: Pierre-Ulric Gagné
“River, forest, lakes, fields, and cities: these are territories confronted with impressive climatic differences that already force us to be creative. Nature is, for me, a source of renewed inspiration and a great teacher,” says Pierre Thibault.
Organized in several tables, reminiscent of an open and creative workshop, the exhibition invites the public to literally and figuratively wander through the Quebec territory, discovering the architectural figures and landscapes that comprise it. To that end, some twenty projects designed by Atelier Pierre Thibault, from its founding in 1988 until today, are presented, ranging from ephemeral installations to ambitious institutional projects and residential projects. Visitors will have the chance to experience the silence that cradles the Cistercian monks in their abbey in Saint-Jean-de-Matha; to imagine the impressive roar of the waterfalls that envelops Belvédère Val-Jalbert; to discover the fragile yet powerful beauty of the banks of the St. Lawrence River and the ephemeral installations that inhabit it; and to plunge into the vibrant greens of Quebec’s forests, among others.
Photo credit: Pierre-Ulric Gagné
“I have always loved exploring territories. Since my first architectural and landscape installation at the Jardin des Tuileries, I have continued to design minimalist projects that I place like an acupuncturist in singular landscapes to help us see them differently and to imagine their future,” says Pierre Thibault.
A conference by Pierre Thibault will be held at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal in Paris on May 9, 2023 at 7 PM as an echo to the exhibition.
This film presents excerpts from the film “An Eye for Beauty” by world-renowned Quebec filmmaker Denys Arcand. These excerpts emphasize the architectural creative process as advocated by Atelier Pierre Thibault. (Video credit: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Denys Arcand).
Some of the projects from 2003 to 2022 presented as part of the Territories and Landscapes exhibition include:
Architectural and landscape installations
- The Veranda (2021), Reford Gardens, Bas-Saint-Laurent
- Atelier en mouvement (2015), several regions
- White Rooms (2015), several regions
Residential projects
- Residence Les Abouts (2005), Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham, Centre-du-Québec
- Residence du Lac Brome (2020), Eastern Townships
- Residence Maison du Cap (2021), Beaupré, Charlevoix
- Residence La Grande Percée (2017), New Brunswick
- Residence Le Grand Plateau (2014), Laurentians
- Residence Mont Orford (2020), Eastern Townships
- Residence Le Lupin (2014), Bas-Saint-Laurent
- Residence des Stagiaires (2017), Reford Gardens, Grand-Métis, Bas-Saint-Laurent
Institutional, tourist and cultural projects
- Val Notre-Dame Abbey (2009), Lanaudière
- Belvedere of the Val-Jalbert hydroelectric plant (2015), Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
- Grantham Foundation for Art and the Environment (2019), Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham, Centre-du-Québec
- Saint-Laurent Pavilion (2022), Baie-Saint-Paul, Charlevoix
- Great Hall of the Reford Gardens (2022), Grand-Métis, Bas-Saint-Laurent
School architecture
- Collège Sainte-Anne (2022), Montréal
- New pavilion for Collège Durocher (2022), Saint-Lambert, Montérégie
