Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

OrganMontreal responds to context and sound, achieving a new perceptual interchange between the density of activity vs density of built form.   

This “urban pipe organ” is powered by the city rather than by an individual. The physical form of the gallery installation reflects a typical map of Montreal in three dimensions. The artist parametrically recreates the exact topological condition of the city via CAD/CAM technology, however rather than show streets, buildings, infrastructures and open spaces, the map will be covered in a layer of small, clear glass tubes that begin to mimic the form of a city covered in organ pipes It becomes at once a recognizable abstraction of Montreal and a sound generation device.

 The Inspiration-

Unknown by many, the city of Montreal is a world leader in the design and construction of hand crafted pipe organs. Historically the organs built in Montreal have been among the largest and widely regarded instruments in the world. Moving further, the worlds greatest and most ambitious theaters, opera houses and religious spaces have pipe organs that were designed and built by hand in Montreal.

 This project looks at the interchange between the urban form of the city, both built and interstitial, by using the installation as a reference to the current condition of Montreal as built/un-built, solid/void, & people/nature. The installation offers a re-interpretation of the multi-layered fabric of Montreal – it’s culture, it’s people, it’s landscape, it’s infrastructure & current offerings to people experiencing Montreal from all walks of life.

 The Perceptual -

OrganMontreal illuminates the culture of Montreal by isolating the audible form of its spatial activity. More specifically, locations of audible interchange are located across a common cross section of spatial territories on the typical city map.

The audible recordings when compared with the urban locales are sometimes unpredictable and surprising. The noises that are most beautiful are sometimes found in places that typically go completely unnoticed, unpopulated, or unnamed. Conversely, the spaces that we frequent as an urban culture are widely reinterpreted when listened to in an isolated setting, away from our usual visual clues. The project as a whole, offers a poetic re-interpretation of the current condition.

 The Physical –

The physical form of this project draws inspiration from Montreal’s role in the creation of handcrafted pipe organs. The pipe organs created in Montreal have a very specific physical form and act to translate human input into audible noise. This installation acts in the same way.

The typical urban map of Montreal is abstracted into densities and then revealed in the form of a mapping constructed of small diameter, clear, glass tubes that emulate the form of a pipe organ.

 The Interchange -

This project looks at the interchange between inside spaces that compose our urban fabric. In its ultimate form, it becomes a device for shifting perceptions and enlightenment of the existing city. This way of “seeing” the city through noise will be in constant comparison of what we normally consider to be common. However when experienced in isolation from “place”, it becomes a dramatic opportunity for reflection and critique of our built environment and what constitutes pleasure in the city.

An ongoing log of human interaction with the installation will be recorded and evaluated at the closing of the exhibit. The most popular and highly ranked noises will be compared to the spaces of typical human interaction.