Quebec City architecture students create B15 installation based on electropop music
A down-tempo, electronica song by a Montreal singer informed the design of an all-white installation created by students in a studio led by Canadian architect Jean Verville.
![B15 installation by Jean Verville and Kroy](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_hero-852x480.jpg)
Called B15, the installation is the final project for a graduate studio at Laval University School of Architecture in Quebec City, where Verville recently became a professor.
![B15 installation by Jean Verville and Kroy](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_col_13-852x568.jpg)
Verville also leads an eponymous firm in Montreal and is well-known for experimental projects such as a black-and-white apartment that tricks the eye and a fairytale-like cottage in the forest.
For the studio project, Verville invited singer-songwriter Camille Poliquin – leader of the Montreal electropop band KROY — to participate.
![B15 installation by Jean Verville and Kroy](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_col_7-852x614.jpg)
Poliquin met with the studio's 15 students to discuss her work methods and the "rhythms, sequences, nuances and variations" that characterise her artistic vision. She then composed a song specifically for the studio and charged the students with creating an installation to accompany it.
![B15 installation by Jean Verville and Kroy](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_col_24-852x568.jpg)
Over the course of the semester, the students conceived a small installation for a snowy clearing on campus. The temporary structure consists of 15 white-painted plywood blocks in various shapes and sizes, which can be combined to form different landscapes – some highly fractured, others more intact.
The students carried all of the pieces to the site by hand and tested out the different configurations.
![B15 installation by Jean Verville and Kroy](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_col_21-852x479.jpg)
"This stage led the group to work on in-situ adaptations of the elements, in order to explore the different assembly possibilities while preserving the installation's structural and formal characteristics," said Verville in a project description.
Canadian photographer Maxime Brouillet was brought in to document the work and capture "scenographic compositions" that revealed the versatile and expressive quality of the students' design.
![B15 installation by Jean Verville and Kroy](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_col_12-852x1278.jpg)
Poliquin used the installation as a backdrop for a forthcoming music video, and it will also figure in album artwork. Four different configurations will be featured in total. A short preview is available online.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_col_25-852x852.jpg)
"The hypnotic universe of KROY becomes the source of impulse for this installation, resulting in a multidisciplinary experiment combining music, architecture, video and photography," said Verville.
![B15 installation by Jean Verville and Kroy](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_col_5-852x639.jpg)
In addition to providing architecture students with a unique experience, the studio supported Verville's ongoing mission to develop "interventions that contribute to the de-compartmentalisation of artistic disciplines".
![B15 installation by Jean Verville and Kroy](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/02/b15-installation-architecture-students-jean-verville-kroy-canada_dezeen_2364_col_17-852x639.jpg)
Other recent projects by students include a robotically fabricated wooden bench by students in Vancouver and a woven pavilion that shelters archaeologists, which was designed by Swiss and Peruvian students.
Photography is by Maxime Brouillet.
Project credits:
Workshop instructor: Jean Verville
Students: Achille Breysse, Francis Brunette, Sara Bursikova, Louise Cancel, Alex Clavet, Guillaume Couture, Marion Delahay, Jonathan Estrade, Rosemonde Gadoury-Salvail, Steven Girard, Zachari Guay-Hébert, Walter Lopez-Echeverry, Noémie Marcellin, Justine Rioux, Marie-Ève Thibert
Workshop collaborators: Tania Paula Garza, France Goneau (of Jean Verville Architecte)
Musician: Camille Poliquin (of KROY)
Music video DOP and editing: Adrian Villagomez
Video colorisation: Charles-Étienne Pascal