FunambOule

Summer pedestrian walkway inspired by vertigo and referencing construction games.

The main objective of the project was to offer a new point of view on Montreal's iconic suspended balls while offering a multi-sensory and unusual experience. Visitors float above St. Catherine Street on a river of balls. Some people may even experience the "suspended bridge effect" and fall in love*.

In reference to the modularity of its components and its function, its aesthetics is partly inspired by construction games. The self-supporting structure is dismantled, stored and reinstalled each year in a different section of the street. The installation recalls the lightweight suspended walkways supported by cables. The curved design of the deck, in fiberglass gratings, bent according to the profile of the garlands of balls, accentuates the vertigo effect.

The main challenges were: extremely short timeframe, compliance with strict regulations such as the codes applicable to bridges, the requirements of the City of Montreal and the fire department for the structure and its installation on site.

*The suspension bridge effect is a "misattribution of arousal", in which someone experiences the effects of fear of a physical danger while meeting someone, and mistakenly believes that the other person is the cause of their physical responses.