Concordia Fine Arts

Lucien L'Allier Metro Station

The program for this exploration developed as a result of two considerations. Firstly, Concordia Fine Arts department lacked sufficient space and facilities for certain concentrations and secondly, there were unused air rights on the site of Lucien l'Allier metro station which is in close proximatey to the present Concordia Fine Arts building on Rene Levesque.

The concept was to integrate the facilities required for film studies, visual arts, and performance arts into one succinct program. Subtleties in the organization and aspects of quality of the space were intended to create opportunities for cross polination of the three concentrations.

The inherent qualities of the metro station and the untapped potential of the site at large feed the design development. The site is essentially a vortex of forces of movement; the West Island trains arriving at and departing from the Molson Centre above the station; the metro trains zipping through the tunnels parrallel to the tracks above; and of course the travelers funneling into and out of the depths of the station. The new program was concieved of as a response to these circumstances. The flows of momement set a tone for the circulation and series of spaces that bind together the three concentrations.

concealing/revealing - process - production - meditation/concentration