Downtown Montreal Is Getting A Massive Ring Sculpture The Width Of A City Block
Will this be Montreal's answer to Chicago's Bean?
Rendering of 'The Ring' at Esplanade PVM in downtown Montreal. Right: View from Esplanade PVM up avenue McGill College toward Mount Royal.
A giant ring will soon tower over avenue McGill College in downtown Montreal. The Ring, a stainless steel tube measuring 30 metres in diameter, will hang above the Esplanade PVM at Place Ville Marie, representing "a gateway to the city centre," according to Place Ville-Marie owner Ivanhoé Cambridge.
At the foot of the visual corridor up McGill College, it could frame the view of the eastern slope of Mount Royal and the Mount Royal cross. The Ring will also feature soft lighting that Ivanhoé Cambridge says will further link it with the illuminated cross and glowing Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
The art installation is designed by architecture firm Claude Cormier + Associés and will be installed in June.
Its erection comes at a turning point for downtown Montreal.
After two years of remote work and pandemic-related closures, officials are trying to once again make the downtown area a destination and entice workers to return to its office towers. Financial support for The Ring comes in part from Tourisme Montréal and the Government of Quebec's "I love working downtown" campaign.
Avenue McGill College is also set to undergo a transformation. The multi-lane car thoroughfare will become a public square and green space named after local jazz legend Oscar Peterson. The addition of a REM station will also make the area more of a transit node.
"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," Minister Responsible for the Metropolis Chantal Rouleau said in a press release.
