This major addition will visually link the recently revitalized Esplanade PVM to the rest of the city while restoring its original event-related and cultural role and making it a preferred gathering place in the city centre. The installation will symbolize the strong connection between Montreal, its citizens and its visitors. It will create an atmosphere both contemporary and timeless, as workers gradually return to the city centre and local and international tourists once again enjoy everything the metropolis has to offer. With its diffuse lighting, it will establish a strong connection extending from the illuminated cross on Mount Royal to PVM and the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel via McGill College Avenue, which will be completely revitalized in the coming years.
The art installation was made possible by financial support from Tourisme Montréal's Fonds de maintien des actifs stratégiques en tourisme (FMAST) as well as from the Government of Quebec's financial contribution to the "I love working downtown" initiative, of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal for the relaunch of downtown Montreal.
Montrealers will be invited to a celebration on Esplanade PVM when The Ring is illuminated for the first time later this year.
"With this superb art installation, we're anchoring our presence in Quebec and making a strong contribution to the vitality of downtown Montreal while positioning Esplanade PVM as an urban meeting place worthy of the world's great metropolises. Ivanhoé Cambridge shapes living spaces in order to create value for its communities and The Ring is the very demonstration of this."
- Nathalie Palladitcheff, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ivanhoé Cambridge
"As a bold and lasting gesture for downtown Montreal, The Ring is part of the iconic axis of McGill College Avenue, where Place Ville Marie, McGill University, the former Royal Victoria Hospital and Mount Royal Park line up, revealing more than 200 years of our city's history."
- Claude Cormier, landscape architect and founder of Claude Cormier + Associés
"Montreal and its downtown are catalysts for the Quebec economy. The business, cultural and tourism communities have acted quickly to bring life back to the heart of our metropolis. A monumental installation like The Ring will have the power to attract visitors and will crown all the efforts made over the past two years. I would like to thank the partners for their hard work to revitalize downtown Montreal and help it regain its appeal and vitality. »
- Chantal Rouleau, Minister for Transport and Minister Responsible for the Metropolis and the Montréal Region
"At the end of the health crisis, Montreal needed some love! And Claude Cormier put The Ring on its finger! True to form, the renowned landscape architect has once again shown his talent and love of our city, this time in collaboration with Ivanhoé Cambridge, which is constantly reinventing urban landscapes for Montrealers and tourists. This new suspended symbol of Montreal will have a special place in our hearts and in photos that will be seen around the world."
- Yves Lalumière, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourisme Montréal
"We're pleased to continue the rollout of the ré·CRÉATIONMTL program with Ivanhoé Cambridge's monumental art installation, which we selected as part of our call for creative projects. The Ring is an ambitious project, in the spirit of our city, and it alone is worth a trip downtown. I invite everyone to discover this work of art in the emblematic gathering place that is the Esplanade PVM."
- Michel Leblanc, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.
The
Ring
at a glance
:
- More than 23,000 kilograms (50,000 pounds) of stainless steel;
- A curved tube measuring 80 centimetres (31.5 inches) in diameter and forming a ring 30 metres in diameter (90 feet);
- The product of almost two years of collaboration by a multidisciplinary team;
- Manufactured by Marmen, a Trois-Rivières company with international expertise in high-precision machining, manufacturing and mechanical assembly.
An art installation designed by visionary Montreal creators
The Montreal landscape architecture firm Claude Cormier + Associés is a leading force in Quebec's architectural and artistic community. Its approach blurs the boundaries between design and art, nature and artifice, the real and the surreal. Its achievements include the famous 18 Shades of Gay installation, an uninterrupted one-kilometre-long ribbon of rainbow-coloured balls that long floated above Sainte-Catherine Street East.
With 25 years of experience, Claude Cormier + Associés has won nearly 100 awards, and Claude Cormier was made a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec in 2009. The firm occupies a unique place in the world of landscape architecture in Quebec, Canada and the international arena.
The Ring
: The culmination of Place Ville Marie's revitalization
The arrival of The Ring is the last component of the major work carried out at PVM, with $200 million having been invested since 2017 to improve its energy efficiency, transform its retail gallery, revitalize its Esplanade and connect it to the city centre with a monumental staircase. This major revitalization project to give new vitality to the heart of the city was carried out by the Montreal firms Sid Lee Architecture and Menkès Shooner Dagenais Létourneux Architects.
Architectural renderings of The Ring are available here.
About Ivanhoé Cambridge
Ivanhoé Cambridge develops and invests in high-quality real estate properties, projects and companies that are shaping the urban fabric in dynamic cities around the world. It does so responsibly, with a view to generate long-term performance. Ivanhoé Cambridge is committed to creating living spaces that foster the well-being of people and communities, while reducing its environmental footprint.
Ivanhoé Cambridge invests internationally alongside strategic partners and major real estate funds that are leaders in their markets. Through subsidiaries and partnerships, the Company holds interests in more than 1,200 buildings, primarily in the industrial and logistics, office, residential and retail sectors. Ivanhoé Cambridge held C$69 billion in real estate assets as of December 31, 2021 and is a real estate subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (cdpq.com), a global investment group. For more information: ivanhoecambridge.com.
SOURCE Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc.
Ivanhoé Cambridge, Media Line: +1 866-456-3342, [email protected]; Exponentiel Conseil, 514 885-5376, [email protected]
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