The Prix de Rome in Architecture: A Retrospective receives its Montreal launch on Thursday, February 1, at MONOPOLI, Galerie d’Archictecture. The launch follows the book’s successful Toronto launch at Ballenford Books and heralds the beginning of a month-long exhibition of work from Prix de Rome laureates at the MONOPOLI artists’ centre, featuring models, maquettes, drawings and other items representing the architects’ experiences in Rome.

Edited by former Canadian Architect editor Marco Polo, The Prix de Rome in Architecture is an overview of the work of the Prix de Rome laureates, reproduced in full colour with text by the winners themselves, and in-depth essays by respected architecture writers Gary Michael Dault, Daniel Millette and Marco Polo.

Thirty or so years ago, architecture changed. A strong desire to explore the artistic and humanistic side of the practice pushed it onto paper and into installations; ‘paper architecture’ became the locus for the avant-garde. In recognition of this, the Canada Council for the Arts established the Prix de Rome in Architecture.

During the years the Prix de Rome was in place, from 1987 to 2003, some of Canada’s most promising emerging architects were given the opportunity to explore a more theoretical and experimental practice. Their projects, however, were not well disseminated and remain unknown to most of the architectural community.

Each of the laureate’s Prix de Rome projects is fully documented. To contextualize the work and its influence on a generation of architects, each of the documented projects also includes an explanatory text by the laureate who created it and traces the trajectory of that laureate’s career since. Critical essays by Gary Michael Dault, Daniel Millette and Marco Polo consider the interface between art and architecture that the Prix de Rome has encouraged and explore the issues, ideas and methods from contemporary art that influence speculative architectural practice.

John Shnier, Jacques Rousseau, Sophie Charlebois, Hal Ingberg, Dereck Revington, John McMinn, Hal Ingberg, Anthony Robins, Philip Beesley, Philippe Lupien, Pierre Thibault, Atelier Big City, Peter Yeadon, Jason King and George Yu, Atelier In Situ, Marc Boutin and Andrew King. Each project is fully documented with extensive colour photographs and illustrations, and the accompanying text appears in both English and French.

Marco Polo is a registered architect and an Assistant Professor in Ryerson’s Department of Architectural Science, where his teaching focus is in architecture theory, architectural writing and the design studio. He has written extensively on architecture and has served as the editor of Canadian Architect. His last publication was an exhibition catalogue, co-authored with John McMinn, 41° to 66°: Regional Responses to Sustainable Architecture in Canada.

Book Launch for The Prix de Rome in Architecture: A Retrospective
Thursday, February 1, 6:00 p.m.
MONOPOLI, Galerie d’Architecture, 181 rue Saint-Antoine W.
With an exhibition of work from Prix de Rome laureates
Refreshments served