A 30-metre-wide stainless-steel circle suspended over a stairway in the downtown Ville-Marie arrondissement, The Ring by Claude Cormier + Associés lends itself to multiple readings. Is it an inverted arch, adorning the stairs the way a proscenium adorns a stage? Or is it a study in juxtaposition, its circular form counterpoising the rectilinearity of the adjacent modernist buildings? It’s both, of course. But also, it’s a framing devise — a portal to the city. Look through it and, in the distance, you’ll see layers of Montreal history, from the copper cupola atop McGill University to the turrets of the former Royal Victoria Hospital.
Team Claude Cormier and Sophie Beaudoin with Damien Dupuis and Yannick Roberge (CCxA); Annik Desmarteau and Karen Simmonds (Ivanhoé Cambridge); Franz Knoll (NCK); Claude Bernard (Formaviva); Gilles Arpin (Ombrages / EP Éclairage Public); Anthonny Belanger (Stantec); Daniel Bates (COHÉSIO Architecture); Eric Bellemare (Marmen); Michel Prevost (JCB Construction Canada)
A stainless-steel circle suspended over a stairway in a downtown Montreal district, The Ring lends itself to multiple readings.