Philippe Allard et Justin Duchesneau
Le Joyau royal et le Mile doré
2017
Presentation of the artwork
Placed on either side of the street to create a gateway leading to Mount Royal, Le Joyau royal et le Mile doré is situated at the corner of McTavish Street and Sherbrooke Street West. Composed of fifteen columns each of which is made of granite, brass, or translucent concrete, the work is part of the Promenade Fleuve-Montagne. It was a gift of La Brigade Arts Affaires de Montréal to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the foundation of Montréal; the names of the 100 patrons are integrated into one of the brass columns. The path of the Promenade is sprinkled with pixels embedded into the pavement. In Le Joyau royal et le Mile doré, these signage elements emerge from the ground and are transformed into the material of the work. The pixel squares become cubes, and then are piled up to evolve into columns. The tallest tower is made of translucent concrete cubes rising in a rotating movement. When night falls, diffuse light emanates from this component.
The materials used, as well as the work’s title, refer to Montréal’s “Golden Square Mile”; the monoliths evoke the mountain and the skyscrapers on its edge, as well as the heritage buildings in this prestigious historic neighbourhood.
Associated events
La Promenade Fleuve-Montagne is a legacy project for the 375th anniversary of the foundation of Montréal. The promenade traces a pedestrian link between two of the city’s natural icons: the St. Lawrence River, to the south, and Mount Royal, to the north. Serving as both a guide and a unique opportunity for a stroll, this 3.8 kilometre pathway is discovered through distinct experiences that reveal to walkers the emblematic sites in the heart of Montréal.
List of donors who contributed to the acquisition of the artwork: Alexandre Abecassis, Sylvain Aird, Anna Antonopoulos, Benoit Archambault, Charles Assaf, Sébastien Aumais, Sébastien Barangé, Livia Beauchemin, Marc Beauchemin, Elise Beauregard, Laurent Binda, Gen Blouin, Christine Boivin, Mathieu Bouchard, Eric Boyko, Gabriel Bran Lopez, Gabrielle Brochu, David Brulotte, Chrystelle Chevalier-Gagnon, Benoît Clairoux, Olivier Coche, Maxime Codère, Philippe Côté, Mylany David, Eleonore Derome, Jean Pierre Desrosiers, Marie-France Doyer-Rochefort, Youssef Fichtali, Gérald Fillion, Anik Fontaine, Alexandre Forest, Isabelle Nadeau, Mylène Forget, Sierra Foster, Famille Frumosu Watson, Alessandro Gasparini, Stéphanie Gaudette, Frédéric Gilbert, Marie-Ève Gingras, Chantal Godbout, David Guay, Nicolas Hainault, Caroline Healey, Émilie Hervieux, Rodolphe J. Husny, Fondation C. Jodoin-K. Kear, Isabelle Jomphe, Sarah-Anaïs Julien-Matte, Ismail Khachani, Grégory Kunz, Karine Lachapelle, Anthony Lacopo, Sophia Lamghabbar, Annie Langlois, Famille Lapierre Pleszczynski, Stéphanie Lavallée, Vincent Lebègue, Carolynn Leclair, François Leclair, Katherine Leftakis, Patricia Lemaire, Maxime Lemieux, Julie Lessard, Jacob Lilly, Loann Marais, Claude Marchand, Marc-André Monette, Jonathan Moyal, Kathryn Muller, Brad Muncs, Natalie Nadaira, Marie-Josée Neveu, Pascale Nini, Robert A. Notkin, Jean-Yves Ouellet, Amilie Parent, Olivier J. Pellerin, Pierre Pelletier, Eric Prud’Homme, Chantal Quiniou, Lise Rochette, Sébastien Roy, Marc-Antoine Saumier, Sébastien Savage, Gabriel Silès, Kathleen St-Pierre, Alexandre Taillefer, Daphnée Taillefer, Thomas Taillefer (in memoriam), Debbie Zakaib, Joannie Tanguay, Famille Tichoux Monsaingeon, Renaud Tilquin, Kitanha Toure, Eric Van Hoenacker, An-Lap Vo-Dignard, Jennifer Nguyen, 2Fik, anonymous donors. 
Crédit photo: Guy L'Heureux, 2017
Philippe Allard et Justin Duchesneau
Philippe Allard and Justin Duchesneau have been working together since 2009. Allard holds a bachelor's degree in graphic design from the Université du Québec à Montréal (1995), and Justin Duchesneau holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Université de Montréal (1999). Their works, based on the creation of ephemeral installations, have appeared in various public sites in Quebec, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island. Produced through an accumulation and repetition of industrial objects shifted into a new environment, these works redefine the nature of the objects that they contain and transform the pubic space.
Awards and honours
- Prix Art public, Gala des arts visuels, 2014
Presentation of the artwork
Placed on either side of the street to create a gateway leading to Mount Royal, Le Joyau royal et le Mile doré is situated at the corner of McTavish Street and Sherbrooke Street West. Composed of fifteen columns each of which is made of granite, brass, or translucent concrete, the work is part of the Promenade Fleuve-Montagne. It was a gift of La Brigade Arts Affaires de Montréal to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the foundation of Montréal; the names of the 100 patrons are integrated into one of the brass columns. The path of the Promenade is sprinkled with pixels embedded into the pavement. In Le Joyau royal et le Mile doré, these signage elements emerge from the ground and are transformed into the material of the work. The pixel squares become cubes, and then are piled up to evolve into columns. The tallest tower is made of translucent concrete cubes rising in a rotating movement. When night falls, diffuse light emanates from this component.
The materials used, as well as the work’s title, refer to Montréal’s “Golden Square Mile”; the monoliths evoke the mountain and the skyscrapers on its edge, as well as the heritage buildings in this prestigious historic neighbourhood.
Associated events
La Promenade Fleuve-Montagne is a legacy project for the 375th anniversary of the foundation of Montréal. The promenade traces a pedestrian link between two of the city’s natural icons: the St. Lawrence River, to the south, and Mount Royal, to the north. Serving as both a guide and a unique opportunity for a stroll, this 3.8 kilometre pathway is discovered through distinct experiences that reveal to walkers the emblematic sites in the heart of Montréal.
List of donors who contributed to the acquisition of the artwork: Alexandre Abecassis, Sylvain Aird, Anna Antonopoulos, Benoit Archambault, Charles Assaf, Sébastien Aumais, Sébastien Barangé, Livia Beauchemin, Marc Beauchemin, Elise Beauregard, Laurent Binda, Gen Blouin, Christine Boivin, Mathieu Bouchard, Eric Boyko, Gabriel Bran Lopez, Gabrielle Brochu, David Brulotte, Chrystelle Chevalier-Gagnon, Benoît Clairoux, Olivier Coche, Maxime Codère, Philippe Côté, Mylany David, Eleonore Derome, Jean Pierre Desrosiers, Marie-France Doyer-Rochefort, Youssef Fichtali, Gérald Fillion, Anik Fontaine, Alexandre Forest, Isabelle Nadeau, Mylène Forget, Sierra Foster, Famille Frumosu Watson, Alessandro Gasparini, Stéphanie Gaudette, Frédéric Gilbert, Marie-Ève Gingras, Chantal Godbout, David Guay, Nicolas Hainault, Caroline Healey, Émilie Hervieux, Rodolphe J. Husny, Fondation C. Jodoin-K. Kear, Isabelle Jomphe, Sarah-Anaïs Julien-Matte, Ismail Khachani, Grégory Kunz, Karine Lachapelle, Anthony Lacopo, Sophia Lamghabbar, Annie Langlois, Famille Lapierre Pleszczynski, Stéphanie Lavallée, Vincent Lebègue, Carolynn Leclair, François Leclair, Katherine Leftakis, Patricia Lemaire, Maxime Lemieux, Julie Lessard, Jacob Lilly, Loann Marais, Claude Marchand, Marc-André Monette, Jonathan Moyal, Kathryn Muller, Brad Muncs, Natalie Nadaira, Marie-Josée Neveu, Pascale Nini, Robert A. Notkin, Jean-Yves Ouellet, Amilie Parent, Olivier J. Pellerin, Pierre Pelletier, Eric Prud’Homme, Chantal Quiniou, Lise Rochette, Sébastien Roy, Marc-Antoine Saumier, Sébastien Savage, Gabriel Silès, Kathleen St-Pierre, Alexandre Taillefer, Daphnée Taillefer, Thomas Taillefer (in memoriam), Debbie Zakaib, Joannie Tanguay, Famille Tichoux Monsaingeon, Renaud Tilquin, Kitanha Toure, Eric Van Hoenacker, An-Lap Vo-Dignard, Jennifer Nguyen, 2Fik, anonymous donors.
Philippe Allard et Justin Duchesneau
Philippe Allard and Justin Duchesneau have been working together since 2009. Allard holds a bachelor's degree in graphic design from the Université du Québec à Montréal (1995), and Justin Duchesneau holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Université de Montréal (1999). Their works, based on the creation of ephemeral installations, have appeared in various public sites in Quebec, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island. Produced through an accumulation and repetition of industrial objects shifted into a new environment, these works redefine the nature of the objects that they contain and transform the pubic space.
Awards and honours
- Prix Art public, Gala des arts visuels, 2014
