“Impulse” Installation Turns Montreal into a Musical Playground

“Impulse” Installation Turns Montreal into a Musical Playground

The product of Toronto-based Lateral Office and Montreal-based CS Design, in collaboration with EGP Group, Mitchell Akiyama, Maotik and Iregular, “Impulse” is a winter installation in the city of Montreal. Thirty giant seesaws and a series of video-projections on surrounding building facades, all with accompanying music, transform the Place des Festivals into an “illuminated playground.” The project was selected as the winner of an open competition this past summer, for the sixth annual Luminothérapie event. Read more about this interactive installation after the break.

Musical Seesaws at the Place Des Festivals. Image © Ulysse Lemerise

A collection of giant seesaws in the Place des Festivals allows each user to become “the player of a novel instrument.” Though they are ridden like any other seesaw, their motion activates built in lights and speakers, with the 30 seesaws working in concert to produce a constantly evolving ephemeral composition.

Architectural Video Projections Throughout Montreal. Image © Martine Doyon

Simultaneously, nine architectural video projections are displayed across various building facades at the Place des Festivals. Each video uses a unique soundtrack, with the auditory and visual experience illustrating notions of balance, symmetry and harmony, as well as their inversions of unbalance, asymmetry and tension.

Architectural Video Projections Throughout Montreal. Image © Martine Doyon

“Every year, we are eager to give Montrealers a new creative winter experience in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles. Luminothérapie’s public installations transform our relationship with the city, beautify it, and give it a wonderful friendly touch. Luminothérapie also keeps Montreal shining bright around the world as a hub of interactive art,” said Chantal Rossi, Ville de Montréal Associate Councillor Culture, Heritage and Design.

The installation will be on display from December 10, 2015 to January 31, 2016. 

Learn more here.

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Cite: Eric Oh. "“Impulse” Installation Turns Montreal into a Musical Playground" 14 Dec 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/778680/impulse-installation-turns-montreal-into-a-musical-playground> ISSN 0719-8884

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