Lipstick Forest Awarded First Prize
from the
Institute
of Design Montréal
for the Palais des congrès de Montréal
(Choose “English,” “Press Room” [top right corner], then June 20, 2003)
By integrating
works of art at the forefront of their design for the Palais
des congrès de Montréal, its architects wanted to
showcase the high calibre of creativity among Québec
artists. Their efforts did not go unrewarded: The Institute of Design Montréal
has awarded Lipstick Forest first prize ex aequo
for 2003 in the category ”Landscaping.”
Mario
Saia,
the architect in charge of designing the Palais’s
expansion project, summarizes the essence of the work: “Claude Cormier transposes
the familiar row of trees from the slopes of Mount Royal to the very interior
of the Palais des congrès.
As well, his work intensifies the impact of a key element of the site’s
architecture: the space between the Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle
entrance and Viger Hall. It gives a rhythm to this
place of passage, marks the trail, as it were, making it a fun ‘walk through
the park,’ in keeping with the spirit of the building. The pink colour of the trees, and the material of which they’re made
– concrete – pokes fun at the artificial way nature is imitated as well as
the theme of interior gardens.”
“This prize
from the Institute of Design Montréal is a tribute to the huge collaboration
among architects, artists and the entire Palais des congrès team,” says Claude Cormier, the work’s
creator. “It confers the stamp of recognition of which I am very proud,
because it proves beyond a doubt that the Palais
administration did the right thing when it entrusted us with such a daring
piece.”
Michel
Languedoc, of the TDS architectural consortium and director of the project,
wholeheartedly agrees: “It is always highly satisfying when an
installation as cutting edge as Lipstick Forest is acknowledged by one’s
peers.”
For Claude
Cormier, the challenge was staggering: Create a winter garden within a space
seven hundred metres square framed by two huge
concrete slabs and suspended over a highway. Lipstick Forest’s 52 trees,
which reflect Montrealers’ joie de vivre, are a reference
to the trees along Montréal’s Avenue du Parc. As in nature, no two are alike, even though they grow
in a futuristic space where they may neither take root nor sprout leaves. They
are at once very real and very abstract, thanks to their fantasy and playfulness.
The trees were manufactured by sculptors from the Aquanov
Group, known for their natural creations within man-made artificial
environments, such as the Biodôme de Montréal. They
are made of pulverized concrete over wire mesh and coated with several layers
of pink, glossy epoxy paint. No moulds were used. Fixed to the floor using an
anchoring plate and a central pivot, they appear to be floating above the
ground.
According to Mr. Paul Saint-Jacques,
President and CEO of the Palais des congrès de Montréal, “Thanks to its architecture, its
works of art and its landscaping, le Palais des congrès de Montréal has shown it is not afraid to embrace
the daring, the fantastic and the art of today. This image, both innovative and
dynamic, will go far beyond our borders to make the Palais
an even more attractive place for people to work in, one that stimulates the
imagination and creativity.”
The
Canadian Association of Landscape Architects recently awarded second prize to
Claude Cormier for Lipstick Forest from among 60 projects from across
Canada. The jury was entranced by the pink trees in the Palais
because, contrary to the traditional approach, Lipstick Forest creates
an interior landscape where the visitor becomes a participant. Provocative,
surprising and playful, this work touches all who pass by. By creating a bridge
between art and design and by doing so with creativity and originality within
the constraints of a building, Lipstick Forest has proven itself to be a
strong concept that has been created with integrity, perspective and clarity,
in the image of the Palais, within which it resides.