Ivanhoé Cambridge, a global real estate leader, is proud to announce the unveiling next June of The Ring, an art installation in the heart of downtown Montreal. The steel structure, measuring 30 metres in diameter, will be suspended at the main entrance to Esplanade PVM at Place Ville Marie, a flagship property for the organization. The installation, which is intended as a gateway to the city centre, was designed by Claude Cormier + Associés, a landscape architecture firm whose projects have helped redefine the city’s urban spaces. The imposing structure will beautify the face of Montreal while giving new vibrancy, vitality and appeal to the heart of the city.
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 work 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.