The Pierre Lassonde Pavilion?the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec’s fourth building is interconnected yet disparate?is a subtly ambitious, even stealthy, addition to the city. Rather than creating an iconic imposition, it forms new links between the park and the city and brings coherence to the MNBAQ.

The intricate and sensitive context of the new building generated the central questions underpinning the design: How to extend Parc des Champs-de-Bataille while inviting the city in" How to respect and preserve the Saint Dominique church while creating a persuasive presence on Grande Allée" How to clarify the museum’s organization while simultaneously adding to its scale"OMA?s solution was to stack the required new galleries in three volumes of decreasing size to house temporary exhibitions, permanent modern and contemporary collections, and Decorative Arts and design, as well as Inuit artworks, creating a cascade ascending from the park towards the city. The building aims to weave together the city, the park and the museum as an extension of all three simultaneously.
While they step down in the section, the gallery boxes step out in the plan, framing the existing courtyard of the church cloister and orienting the building towards the park. The park spills into the museum (through skylights and carefully curated windows) and the museum into the park (though the extension of exhibitions to the terraces and the outdoor pop-out staircase).

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