RAIC gold medal 2018
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Second, the firm produces good architects. In the lore of Montreal architecture, the role as the go-to office for young ambitious talented designers to learn the ropes has passed from ARCOP to Peter Rose to Saia Barbarèse to S+P. A stint with André and Gilles has marked the trajectories of Quebec’s best new practices, including Chevalier Morales, acdf*, TBA and Pelletier de Fontenay. Producing good architecture means producing good architects. olivier blouin
David Theodore is Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Health, and Computation, Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture, McGill University.
Essy Baniassad, FRAIC
TRIBUTES Larry Wayne Richards, FRAIC Throughout the world, our epoch is characterized architecturally by utter confusion. Collectively, the vast range of ideologies represented, technologies engaged, volumes sculpted, surfaces tortured, and zooty affectations employed in new buildings can be seen as either fascinating or revolting. I suppose it depends on whether one thrives on or loathes chaos. I’m not a fan of chaos, in architecture or elsewhere. So it pleases me when moments of architectural and urban harmony—places of beauty— appear within the global landscape of constructed confusion. Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte bravely resist the architectural status quo, creating magnificent islands of clarity and inspiration. For nearly three decades, I have watched their projects unfold, such as the spare yet elegant Communication, Culture and Technology (CCT) Building (2004) at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and their distinctive, black and white River City project (2013-2017) in Toronto’s West Don Lands. These are sophisticated, calming places. Indeed, the work of Saucier + Perrotte represents to me the kind of high point that architecture in Canada can achieve, and it makes me happy to add my congratulations on the occasion of their receiving the RAIC’s 2018 Gold Medal. Larry Wayne Richards is Professor and Dean Emeritus, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto
David Theodore, MRAIC Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte have made two contributions to architecture in Canada that merit special recognition. First, they promote good architecture. In my experience as a critic, Gilles is as persuasive as famous proselytizers such as Jacques Herzog and Bruce Mau. He is prepared, speaks honestly, and gives good quotes. Saucier and Perrotte know that if Montreal, Quebec, and Canada become known for good architecture, their reputation will also rise, and they aspire to be the best among the best.
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Gilles and André have explored a consistent and clear technical and aesthetic approach to architecture as a medium of civic function and public art. In its bold ideas yet subtle and understated expression, it is an outstanding Canadian contribution to architecture—in sharp contrast to a trend of boisterous forms in the fashion of architecture as consumer product. I first became aware of this as a defining quality of Gilles’ architecture in 1988 Canadian Berlin Embassy design competition. Though their jury-selected scheme would remain unbuilt, its restless and research-intensive design concept embodied the bold reaches and explorations that would unfold in their subsequent work. It projected the compositional qualities that capture the subtle yet real aspects that distinguish the French-Canadian culture as reflected in architecture as art. Any work in architecture or indeed any field at its highest level rises above its immediate medium and reaches the level of a work of art. In Canadian architecture few works lead to this realization as much as their First Nations Pavilion at the Montreal Botanical Garden, or the Saint-Laurent Sports Complex. I congratulate Gilles and Andre on this well-merited recognition. Essy Baniassad is currently Adjunct Professor at the School of Architecture, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University.
Michael Cox, FRAIC The work of Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte demonstrates that, in addition to meeting functional requirements, architecture can make an essential contribution to public life. The fact that they have won, among many other awards, ten Governor General’s Medals in Architecture over a 30-year career is evidence of the quality of design they bring to each project, whether an academic building, a research facility or a private house. Through their presence in the culture of architecture in Canada, as manifested by their built work, their assistance in organizing exhibitions, and their thought-provoking competition entries, Saucier and Perrotte have contributed much to the public recognition of architecture’s value to society—why architecture matters! We are proud to recognize their many achievements with the 2018 RAIC Gold Medal. Michael Cox is Principal of Michael J. Cox Architect and the President of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
2018-04-23 2:46 PM