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Biodome
KANVA, a Montreal-based firm renowned for meaningful projects extending beyond the boundaries of architectural shapes and forms, is proud to unveil the delicate grandeur of the newly redesigned Biodome, a Montreal science museum that immerses visitors in the authentic environs of multiple ecosystems.
Housed in the former Velodrome, constructed for the Montréal 1976 Olympic Games, the Biodome opened in 1992 and is a jewel in the crown of a consortium of facilities that collectively account for the most visited museum spaces in Canada. “Our mandate was to enhance the immersive experience between visitors and the museum’s distinct ecosystems, as well as to transform the building’s public spaces,” notes Rami Bebawi, a partner of KANVA and the project’s lead architect. “In doing so, we proudly embraced the role that the Biodome plays in sensitizing humans to the intricacies of natural environments, particularly in the current context of climate change and the importance of understanding its effects.”
A calming nucleus
With a massive open space now forming the core between the ecosystems, KANVA parametrically designed a living skin that they could wrap around the ecosystems, and which would serve as a guiding accompaniment to visitors. With exceptionally complicated structural engineering, the installation of the prefabricated pure white, biophilic skin was a monumental task. With no room for error, the skin was curved and stretched around a bowed aluminum structure, using tension, cantilevering, and triangular beams for suspension, and itself anchored to a primary steel structure. Mechanical junctions were also incorporated in order to accommodate a variety of movements and allow for on-site adjustments. The translucent skin harmoniously interacts with the skylights above, with beveled horizons that elicit a sense of calm and infinity. The new core also amplifies the sensorial experience of visitors transitioning from its pure neutrality to the multi-sensorial discovery of its adjacent ecosystems.
KANVA then focused on the journey itself, designing new passages aimed at transforming the existing linear path of discovery into a more dynamic experience, where visitors take charge of their own journeys through the Biodome’s five ecosystems, housing more than 250,000 animals and 500 plant species. Conceptually aiming for a more immersive experience, KANVA focused its attention on soliciting senses, relegating sight to the end of the line behind sound, smell, and touch. From the calming lobby hall, the undulating living skin funnels visitors into a 10-meter tunnel leading to the central core, where their exploration of five ecosystems, including Tropical Rainforest, Laurentian Maple Forest, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Sub-Antarctic Islands, and Labrador Coast, begins.
A learning process
Before designing a new water basin for the facility’s resident penguins, KANVA staff spent weeks with biologists and veterinarians in order to gain insight into the specie’s swimming patterns. To provide an authentic feel to an observation point where visitors can observe beavers in their natural habitat, the firm studied the architectural prowess of the beavers. The idea emerged to let the beavers carve the wood themselves, which was then dried and used to line the interior of the space.
“Before you can even begin to design in an environment with living species all around you, education and a notion of humbleness are required,” explains Bebawi. “We take basic assumptions about ourselves for granted when we design for other human beings, but designing for an otter or a sloth requires that you re-educate yourself.” The entire experience has enriched KANVA’s journey as an architectural firm. The educational process has advanced their exploration of how buildings, rather than being barriers to external forces, can be rendered more permeable as harmonious cohabitations between humans and nature.
蒙特婁自然
生態博物館
KANVA翻新自然生態博物館，締造人與自然的平衡。來自加拿大蒙特婁的KANVA設計事務所，擅長超越建築造型與形式局限，為案件賦予豐富意義，因而遠近馳名。最近事務所重新改造蒙特婁生態博物館（Biodome），採用精緻細密的設計手法，讓參觀者能沉浸於真正的多元生態系統環境中。
蒙特婁生態博物館原為1976年蒙特婁奧運會的自由車競賽場館，經改造之後，於1992年開幕，吸引大量參觀人次，為加拿大諸多博物館中的佼佼者。此次KANVA接下翻新改造的委託。「我們的任務，是強化訪客沉浸於獨特生態系統的體驗，並改造建築物的公共空間，」本計畫主建築師拉米・貝巴韋（Rami Bebawi）說，「如此一來，我們將擁抱生態博物館所扮演的重要角色，讓人能感受到自然環境的錯綜複雜，這在當前氣候變遷的背景之下尤為重要，還能讓民眾了解氣候變遷帶來哪些重大影響。」
令人平靜的核心區域
此建築原有的大型開放空間，如今是博物館中，不同生態系統之間的核心場域。KANVA以富有生命的柔軟皮層，包覆於生態系統周圍，引導動線同時亦伴隨著參觀者。這純白、親生物設計的預鑄皮層是相當複雜的結構工程，尤安裝時更是艱鉅任務。沒有犯錯空間，必須運用張力、懸臂與三角樑懸吊起來，在弓形的鋁結構周圍彎曲與延伸，並與建築本身的主要鋼構整合。過程中亦採用機械式連結，便於進行現場調整的各種移動。此一半透明皮層與上方天窗和諧互動，傾斜的地平線可傳達出寧靜與無窮之感。新的核心場域讓參訪者從原本純然中立的環境，轉換到鄰近生態系統的多重感官探索，強化了五感體驗。
接下來，KANVA把重點放在走訪生態博物館的旅程本身，並設計出新通道，將原有的探索路線轉換為更動態的體驗，參觀者可自行掌控穿過館內五大生態系的旅程，館內有逾二十五萬隻動物與五百種植物品種。因為設計概念的目標，在於更沉浸式的體驗，因此KANVA注重營造出感覺，讓視覺能超越聲音、氣味與觸覺，進而無限延伸。在使人寧靜的入口大廳，宛如有生命的波浪狀皮層將帶領訪客進入十公尺的隧道，來到中央核心，探索五大生態系統：熱帶雨林區、羅倫森楓樹林區、聖羅羅斯灣區、亞南極島嶼區、拉布拉多海岸區。
設計是不斷學習的過程
在設計新水池，供館內的企鵝使用之前，KANVA事務所的職員曾先投入幾週的時間，向生物學家和獸醫請益，了解物種的游泳模式。為了賦予觀測點更真實的感受，讓參觀者觀察河狸在自然棲地的狀態，事務所也研究河狸的建築技能。後來，事務所靈光乍現，讓河狸自行鑿木頭，之後將木頭乾燥，鋪設空間的內部。「在開始設計環境、讓周圍有諸多活生生的物種與我們共處之前，必須要先接受教育，也要秉持謙卑的心，」貝巴韋解釋，「在為其他人設計建築時，我們會把一些基本假設視為理所當然，但是為海獺或樹懶設計時，得重新教育自己。」整體的設計經驗也讓KANVA事務所的旅程更豐富。教育過程讓事務所能更進一步探索建築物，不把建築視為阻檔外力的屏障，而是變得更具滲透性，成為人與自然和諧共存的空間。
