Call for Entries: International Architectural Competition for the new Montreal Holocaust Museum

Founded in 1979 by Holocaust survivors and young leaders of the Jewish community, the Montreal Holocaust Museum is recognized for its exceptional collections of artifacts and recorded survivor testimonies, the excellence of its educational programs and exhibitions, and its innovative outreach. The mission of the Montreal Holocaust Museum is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the Holocaust while sensitizing the public to the universal perils of antisemitism, racism, hate, and indifference as well as the importance of respect for diversity and the sanctity of human life.
The Museum aims to achieve the highest level of architectural excellence, to make a lasting impression on the landscape of Saint-Laurent Boulevard, to connect with new audiences, and to create a significant impact on present and future generations.

The new MHM will open its doors in 2025, allowing a new generation of visitors from around the world to discover the history of the Holocaust, the resilient stories of survivors who rebuilt their lives in Montreal, and the importance of respecting human rights. The Museum will be a space to cultivate historical awareness and encourage citizen action to contribute to a more just and socially responsible world. The public campaign for the new Museum will be launched in the winter of 2022 to raise funds and awareness for this important cause.

COMPETITION
The architectural competition will take place in two principal stages and is intended to create a dialogue between the teams and the Museum.

Stage 1

Stage 1.1 aims to qualify teams that can successfully undertake the project through a qualification dossier presenting the composition of the team and relevant completed projects.

Stage 1.2 is designed to encourage ideas, interpretations, and approaches for the new Museum. Based on the concepts and spatial strategies submitted anonymously, four proposals will be selected as finalists by the jury.

Stage 2

Stage 2.1 will see the introduction of the structural and electromechanical engineers as well as landscape architects who will join the finalists to form a multidisciplinary team for the next stage.

Stage 2.2 is paid and will allow the four finalist teams to further develop the concepts presented in stage 1.2. Guided by the jury’s comments, they will create architectural solutions and develop the project in an interdisciplinary manner.

JURY
The jury is composed of MHM representatives as well as experts in Holocaust history, museums, architecture, and landscape architecture.

Daniel Amar
Executive Director, Montreal Holocaust Museum

Izabel Amaral
Architect, Director of the School of Architecture, Professor, Université de Montréal

Vedanta Balbahadur
Architect, Studio Vedanta Balbahadur, Lecturer, McGill University

Giovanna Borasi
Director, Canadian Centre for Architecture

Frank Chalk
Founding Co-director, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS), Professor – Department of History, Concordia University

Isabel Hérault
Architect, Hérault Arnod Architectures, Paris

Eva Kuper
Educator and Holocaust survivor, Member of the Museum’s Board of Directors

Philippe Lupien
Architect and Landscape Architect, Lupien+Matteau, Professor – School of Design, UQAM

Sophie Robitaille
Landscape architect and urban designer, RobitailleCurtis

COMPETITION INFORMATIONS

Competition of the Ordre des architectes du Québec.

Estimated construction cost : $27,880,000 (CAD), before taxes.

For additional information on the competition, candidates are invited to visit the Montreal Holocaust Museum website and to consult the official competition documents available on the SEAO website (https://seao.ca/).

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS

Marie-Claude G.Leclair, Architect

Anne Saint-Laurent, Architect