Downtown Montreal's gargantuan "Ring" installation to be unveiled today

The installation is intended to serve as a gateway to the city centre, says Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. (and maybe even another dimension?), and it was designed by Claude Cormier + Associés, a landscape architecture firm whose projects have “helped redefine the city’s urban spaces,” says the press release. “The imposing structure will beautify the face of Montreal while giving new vibrancy, vitality, and appeal to the heart of the city.”

While speaking with Daily Hive, Éric Senécal, the Public Affairs Advisor for Ivanhoé Cambridge says the art piece presents a two-year-long collaboration between the City of Montreal and local multidisciplinary teams.

Senécal says “The Ring” was manufactured by a Trois-Rivières-based firm, using “international expertise in high-precision machining, manufacturing, and mechanical assembly.”

The Ring will have a 31.5-inch-thick curved tube and is the crown jewel of the PVM’s $200 million investment it made in 2017 to improve the area’s “energy efficiency” and the revitalization of its Esplanade.

Senécal says materials for the art piece have been delivered on-site and is currently being assembled on the ground. He says the unveiling will take place on June 16 with the ring on the ground and it will be suspended for all to see “a few days later.”