Artist Linda Covit was commisioned to create a large public art installation at the entrance to the new McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada.
The installation, named Havre, is made from aluminum and LED projectors.
The project description
The MUHC (McGill University Health Centre), opening in April 2015 at the Glen site, is a redevelopment project that will create leading-edge facilities in three sites.
Havre was completed in November 2014, the largest of eleven public art commissions spread throughout the new MUHC hospital complex and the largest commission of the Quebec government’s Integration of art to architecture 1% policy realized to date.
Sited on the entranceway grounds the objectives included being highly visible to road traffic and to commuters in the nearby trains, drawing people into the landscaped site with its many public gardens, and becoming an iconic symbol for the hospital.
Monumental at 13 m high and 16 m in diameter, this curving structure brings the immensity of the site to human scale. Rectangular tubes overlap and weave rhythmically, positioned to create three openings. The structure evokes the image of two clasped hands and a sense of support.
The interlaced “fingers” suggest the members of the hospital staff; they join together as do the medical teams dedicated to the health of each of their patients. While scaled to the immensity of the site Havre also retains a more intimate experience. Conveyed as a “sculptural embrace” it welcomes patients, visitors, staff and passers-by into the artwork through three “doors”, offering a personal experience.
During the day natural light projects patterns of shadows through the artwork, transforming with the hours, days and seasons. During evening hours three sequences each thirty minutes long bathe the artwork in subtle shades of blue / blue-green, colours that evoke both air (sky) and water, elements essential to life.
Artist: Linda Covit
Fabrication: Michel Bernier
Structural engineering: Nicolet, Chartrand, Knoll Ltée
Technical drawings and renderings : Plan HB
Installation: Formaviva
Lighting: Blue Hour Design
Photography by Marc Cramer