EXPOS + AIRPORTS | Same Same :: Le Pavilion du Québec @ expo 67 + l’Aéroport International Montréal-Mirabel

The similarities are strikingly apparent: Mirabel is just the Québec Pavilion sans the moat and elongated for travel.

Who wants to be known for designing a White Elephant?

But before there was Mirabel there was the cool, minimalist Québec Pavilion at expo 67.

Both were designed by Louis Papineau and his associates at Papineau, Gérin-Lajoie, LeBlanc Architectes (with Luc Durand on the expo commission and Gordon Edwards on the Mirabel project).

The firm got started during Montréal’s boom years with the design for several amazing stations for the then-new Métro de Montréal.

I came across the interview below with Mr. Papineau and saw definite connections between his style and the late great Mies van der Rohe (though he seems to have been more smitten with Mies’s sidekick, Philip Johnson).

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cyberpresse.ca | Louis Papineau + The Discreet Charm of Minimalism

★ expo 67 | Construction of the Québec Pavilion

★ expo 67 | Photos of the Québec Pavilion