In 1958, three young architects – Louis-Joseph Papineau, Guy Gérin-Lajoie and Michel Le Blanc – joined forces to found Papineau, Gérin-Lajoie, Le Blanc, architectes (PGL). This firm designed some of the most technically innovative, visually memorable and symbolically charged buildings of modern architecture in Quebec.
A new exhibition by UQAM’s Centre de design in Montreal explores how the firm helped to create a new and original architecture by careful examination of nine exemplary projects conceived between 1958 and 1974.
Initiated by the Centre’s current director, Professor Börkur Bergmann, and put together by co-curators Réjean Legault, Carlo Carbone and Louis Martin and their students, the show is aptly titled Une architecture du Québec moderne, 1958-1974 (An Architecture for Modern Quebec, 1958-1974). On view until February 18, 2017 at the Centre d’exposition de l’Université de Montréal, the exhibition explores an optimistic period during which Montreal leapt into the future, catching up after decades of domination by the Catholic Church and a Conservative government, deeply entrenched in tradition.
To read Odile Hénault’s review of the exhibition, please click here.