Migration | Montréal Biôdome

For this large-scale project, La bande à Paul partnered with Kanva Architecture to design all the interpretation spaces for Migration, the Montréal Biôdome’s newly revamped experience.

Interventions of varying nature and scale are built into Kanva's grand architectural concept and displayed throughout the whole exhibit, including a tribute to Roger Taillibert's velodrome in the lobby, a new mural in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ecosystem, an exhibition of citizens' initiatives in the peripheral ring road and a spatialized sound installation at the exit gateway. Finally, our team designed a showpiece for the project to explain the setting's backdrop to the public: the Biomachine.

The Biodôme recreates something almost inconceivable inside a former Olympic velodrome: four distinctive ecosystems with optimal living conditions for their respective fauna and flora. The Biodôme recreates conditions that liken those of a natural environment using an impressive set of water, air, temperature and light management systems. The Biodôme's employees are the key component of this marvellous machine since they take care of the animals as well as keeping the facilities operational.

To showcase the Biôdome’s multiple life-supporting facets, we created the Biomachine, a monumental installation located on the belvedere that features 24 stations on various themes. The Biomachine offers interactive digital and mechanical activities to learn a host of amazing things about ecosystem maintenance, feeding and caring for animals and birth management.

The installation is a metaphor for nature with a complexity that reminds us that life depends on a set of interrelated and interdependent factors.