The Ring
The Ring, an art installation with a timeless character symbolizing the strong connexion between Montreal, PVM, Montrealers, and visitors from around the world.
Designed by the internationally renowned Quebec creator Claude Cormier and his landscape architecture and urban design firm CCxA The Ring highlights the dynamism of the downtown core and is a testatement to its cultural vibrancy.
The 30-metre diameter art installation is suspended at the main entrance of the recently revitalized Esplanade PVM, establishing it as a preferred gathering place.
A permanent leg for downtown Montreal
In an effort to exceed tomorrow’s expectations, Ivanhoé Cambridge continuously redefines its office buildings into projects that redefine the urban fabric of cities around the world.
Possessing all the attributes of an emblematic installation, Ivanhoé Cambridge gifted The Ring to the city of Montreal for PVM’s 60th anniversary. After two years of pandemic, Ivanhoé Cambridge committed to art to gather citizens and visitors so they can reconnect with the heart of the city.
The Ring illumination
The diffused lighting of The Ring establishes a strong connection 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.
Designed and manufactured by local artisans
We have given priority to local partners for the design and manufacturing of The Ring. This project is the result of several local companies combining ingenuity, creativity and expertise to complete a unifying project.
In addition to creating the large-scale artistic installation, CCxA collaborated closely with the Trois-Rivières-based firm Marmen to manufacture The Ring. Marmen has world-class expertise in high-precision machining, manufacturing and mechanical assembly.
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.
CCxA’s artistic approach
CCxA is a Montreal landscape architecture firm, and 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. In order to create unique objects and experiences, their conceptual approach embraces its natural conditions, its cultural history, its sociology, its politics.
When CCxA approach a project, their greatest desire is to define a master idea capable of playing a catalytic role in all aspects of its development. It is a matter of launching a clear "call" into the landscape, albeit with a semantic complexity, in order to infuse the city with flavor and dynamism. Therefore, the firm sees its creations as an uninterrupted hymn to the joy of living. By shaking up the established order and provoking, even destabilizing the gaze, it wishes to contribute to the reinvention of urban and everyday landscapes. By arousing emotions and producing meaning, she wishes to rehabilitate the public square and the landscape at the heart of citizens rituals. Bold landscapes stimulate, seduce and attract attention, because their existence represents an identity marker that reveals the personality of the site, but also of the city.
Awards and Recognitions
These recognitions underscore Ivanhoé Cambridge's commitment to enhancing the vitality of the downtown core by using public art to bring Montrealers and visitors together in the heart of the metropolis. We are proud to be recipients of the following awards alongside CCxA.
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.
