16th Edition of the Guide 200 Architectes et Designers Québécois
Index-Design
Party of two, by MXMA architecture et design
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©Photographie intérieure co
16th Edition of the Guide 200 Architectes et Designers Québécois
Index-Design
Parc culturel de la bibliothèque de Drummondville, par Agence Spatiale
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©Adrien Williams
16th Edition of the Guide 200 Architectes et Designers Québécois
Index-Design
Parc Elie-Wiesel, par Affleck de la Riva
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©Maxime Brouillet
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Île Verte seen from a helicopter in December 2024. Home to only around fifty permanent residents, Île Verte experiences stark population fluctuations and exists somewhat apart from the rest of Quebec—like a time capsule where daily needs and available resources are uniquely shaped by isolation. In winter, the river’s ice makes ferry access impossible. While an ice bridge once connected the island to the mainland, climate warming has rendered this option unreliable. Today, for nearly five months each year, residents must rely on helicopter transport to shop, visit family, or participate in social life beyond the island. As generations before them once did, Île Verte’s community must continue to find new ways to adapt.
Photo credit:
Alexis Boivin
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
The architects from Atelier Pierre Thibault—along with intern students from Université Laval—were invited to immerse themselves in the rhythms and realities of Île Verte across the changing seasons. Situated in the Saint Lawrence River, this fourteen-kilometre-long island is defined by its rugged coastline, where rocky beaches are ceaselessly sculpted by by the Nordet winds, its cliffs that open onto the vast estuarial horizon, and its contrasting landscape of pastoral meadows and dense spruce forests.
Photo credit:
Alexis Boivin
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
During visits to Île Verte and through conversations with the Verdoyants—as the island’s residents are known—twelve captivating structures were (re)discovered. Known as boucaneries, these vernacular buildings, inspired by traditional smokehouses, were constructed between the 1920s and 1980s to withstand the island’s particularly harsh climatic conditions.
Photo credit:
Alexis Boivin
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.
Photo credit:
Jean-Marie Cossette
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.
Photo credit:
Jean-Marie Cossette
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.
Photo credit:
Jean-Marie Cossette
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.
Photo credit:
Mireille Caron
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Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Known as boucaneries, these vernacular buildings, inspired by traditional smokehouses, were constructed between the 1920s and 1980s to withstand the island’s particularly harsh climatic conditions. Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.Characterized by their windowless façades and vertically elongated forms, the boucaneries gradually fell into disuse. Changes in hygiene regulations, along with the decline of the local fishing industry, rendered them obsolete. Since then, wind, snow, and rain have continued to erode these symbolic structures, which, for decades, had remained without a renewed purpose.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
A 2023 report by architect Pascal Létourneau, a specialist in heritage conservation, revealed that among the twelve remaining smokehouses on Île Verte, four possess exceptional heritage value, while six are considered to have high heritage value. Key architectural features such as their pronounced verticality, roof ridge openings, drying pole systems, and humidity control mechanisms were identified as elements worth preserving. Unfortunately, half of these boucaneries are now in an advanced or critical state of deterioration—one even collapsed a few years ago.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
In response to the Verdoyants’ strong desire to preserve and revitalize this unique built heritage, the Atelier launched a participatory design project aimed at exploring new uses for these structures. At the heart of the initiative lies a central question: How can these silent witnesses of the past help shape the future?
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Map of food self-sufficiency. To better understand and assess the island’s resilience, the architects mapped existing initiatives that support community autonomy. These included: Jacques’ herring and smelt fishing; Marie-Claire’s weekly production of around twenty loaves; Anne and Charles’ flock of twenty lambs; Michelle’s chicken coop; Geneviève’s seed-saving collective; Nolwen and Régis’ homemade dishes and pastries; Véronique and Colin’s honey, lavender, pigs, raspberries, and even lemons; Mijanou’s garlic crops; and Gilbert’s tomato greenhouse.
Photo credit:
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Drawing. How can these silent witnesses of the past help shape the future?
Photo credit:
Pierre Thibault
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Drawing. How can these silent witnesses of the past help shape the future?
Photo credit:
Pierre Thibault
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Drawing. How can these silent witnesses of the past help shape the future?
Photo credit:
Pierre Thibault
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Models of the boucaneries. An island ideas laboratory to identify new uses.
Photo credit:
Pierre-Ulric Gagné
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Architectural installations to reveal new relationships between landscape, volume, uses, and people
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Architectural installations to reveal new relationships between landscape, volume, uses, and people
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
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Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Lightweight and easily transportable, the installations were moved across the island—from the shoreline to fields and meadows—like evocative, nomadic figures.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
The Atelier Pierre Thibault team and intern students from Université Laval.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Lightweight and easily transportable, the installations were moved across the island—from the shoreline to fields and meadows—like evocative, nomadic figures.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Assembling of one of the four architectural installations
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Lightweight and easily transportable, the installations were moved across the island—from the shoreline to fields and meadows—like evocative, nomadic figures.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Echoing the spirit of the original vernacular structures, these new installations embraced the simplicity and efficiency of contemporary timber construction. The result: elegant, open frameworks that stood as inspiring visions of the future, thoughtfully integrated into the island’s varied landscapes. These temporary structures revealed new relationships between landscape, built form, and community.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Assembling
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Echoing the spirit of the original vernacular structures, these new installations embraced the simplicity and efficiency of contemporary timber construction.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Lightweight and easily transportable, the installations were moved across the island—from the shoreline to fields and meadows—like evocative, nomadic figures.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Community dialogue through participatory discussion sessions
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
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