Architects: Atelier Pierre Thibault
Location: Québec City, QC, Canada
Architects in Charge: Pierre Thibault, Bertrand Rougier, Francis Gaignard, Sandrine Gaulin
Area: 3500.0 ft2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Maxime Brouillet
For a summer, Le Banc de Neige recreates the magical snowbanks leftover from Quebec’s winter storms. At once a platform and a open bench, the ephemeral installation modifies the user’s relation to the public space by allowing a multitude of appropriations. As it drapes around the tree trunks and street lamps of the Place de Bordeaux with a luminous white, it magnifies these elements of every day while providing seating platforms for the pétanque court. These multiple bases are generated by a series of topographical contours alluding to architectural representation. Passers-by are invited to settle in and take a break by contemplating the urban landscape of St-Paul Street, while the most adventurous will climb the snowbank to hide in the dense foliage of trees, sheltered from the street.
The project was built commissioned by Quebec City street art festival Passages Insolites. It was one of a dozen art installations in the heart of the historic center. Moreover, it was conceived to be a public infrastructure to display the potential of inviting urban design. Le Banc de Neige is made from thin painted plywood curved to obtain the wavering extrusions. It was built to last for the summer of 2016.
Reference: "Le Banc de Neige / Atelier Pierre Thibault" 02 Feb 2017. ArchDaily. <https://www.archdaily.com/804476/le-banc-de-neige-atelier-pierre-thibault> ISSN 0719-8884