" On the site of the old hippodrome at 250-B du Boulevard Wilfrid-Hamel in Quebec City, stands the majestic new Videotron Centre. A veritable monument, this multi-functional arena will serve, among other things, as the home ice for a local hockey team, and was designed as a work of art to pay homage to the province’s capital city.

Seen from the outside, the white, ovoid-shaped building echoes the surrounding winter landscape, sculpted by light, ice and snowdrifts. Its platforms, concourses and entry hall invite patrons to both move around and mill about.

The futuristic curves inside have a certain sci-? quality to them. Another tribute to Quebec winters, “The Great Blue North,” an interactive artwork by Montreal artist Jonathan Villeneuve, greets visitors as they enter the arena. This luminous wall of blue lights displays abstract renderings of winter landscapes with more or less intensity depending on how crowded the hall becomes.

With its deftly handled architectural treatments of glass, wood and steel, and its plays of light and luminous intensity, this monumental arena combines tradition, modernity, luxury and function in a tribute to the beauty of the Quebec winter."

 

Links :

Magazine Intérieurs 68, p. 127-128.