Jamais deux sans trois

Manitoba Children's Museum

Roughly translated, it never rains but it pours. The two principals of Atelier du Presse-citron almost became squeezed lemons themselves as they finished three major exhibition designs in three different provinces, all opening at the same time

Last summer, Suzanne Côté and Jocelyn Laplante, the principals of Atelier du Presse-citron, in Montreal, didn’t have a lot of time to drink beer and laze around in the exceptionally nice weather.  “This past year, we worked on three different exhibitions, all different sizes and subjects – one in Quebec, one in Ontario and one in Manitoba – all opening last summer,” says Côté. “Doing one exhibit is a big job. Three at time?  It was crazy but we were thrilled to see the results.”

Creating My Arctic Adventure for the London Children’s Museum, the Manitoba Children’s Museum permanent installation and the Moving with the River Parks Canada temporary exhibit for Musée de la civilisation in Quebec required not only long hours but lots of flexibility.  “One day you would have to think like a historian and the next like a kid,” says Laplante. “One day you would be designing a small logo and the next, a climbing structure for kids. Beyond doing graphic design, we were mandated to develop immersive environments.”

Côté and Laplante were hired to create the concepts and graphics for all three exhibits by Toboggan, an industrial design firm. Located in the same building as Presse-citron, Toboggan often relies on the duo for their “visual craziness” and ability to sink themselves completely into a theme that is developed in a long, involved process. 

In describing the strengths of Presse-citron’s design in an October 2005 Applied Arts profile (“The Exhibitionists of Montreal” by Liz Warwick), Côté said, “Our work is naive and sometimes comical. We like to make people smile.” Added Laplante: “We do things that are amusing, colourful and appealing to everyone – for the young and young at heart.

These qualities are clearly evident in all three exhibits.

Manitoba Children’s Museum

Winnipeg, Manitoba 

Permanent installation

25,000 square feet

The mandate for this project included the design and graphics for the museum’s branding, research and development of the overall concept for the exhibition theme, spatial layout, stylization of the décor, interactive game ideas, creation of the furniture and game pieces. Not a small job! The concept revolves around a city made of giant stylized building blocks, organized around the centrepiece of the Museum: a 1952 diesel locomotive. The space is divided into nine zones, each with a theme and a city location, all integrated and interpreted with an entertaining approach.

My Arctic Adventure 

London Children’s Museum

London, Ontario

Permanent installation

2,000 square feet

Here visitors can experience life in the Arctic as they crawl through an igloo and end up in a modern Inuit household. They can check out the fridge to see what Inuit kids eat, learn the language of Inuktitut and how to communicate using syllabics, enjoy the unique sounds of traditional throat-singing, try out the snow-goggles, kayaks and ice-fishing, and experience the beauty of the Northern Lights. Stylized forms cut out of constructed components offer an intimate visitor journey circulating under, over and through the décor. 

Moving with the River 

Musée de la civilisation

Quebec City

Temporary Parks Canada installation 

3,000 square feet

The exhibition focuses on the St. Lawrence River and Quebec City,  and the major roles they played in the country’s development. It also looks at how various migratory phases have made us the people we are today. The challenge for Presse-citron was to take “a fresh look at our Canadian history,” especially “with the limited and familiar iconography seen in our history textbooks.” Since this story is about people, the design studio commissioned Montreal photographer Dominique Malaterre to photograph living descendants of different immigrant waves, including aboriginal peoples, and the French, German, English, Arab, Belgian, Bulgarian, Spanish, Scottish, Italian, Persian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Syrian and Turkish settlers who followed. Visitors explore the space under the gaze of monumental portraits, which are super sharp and crisp, despite their size.