Fontaine/Fortin/Labelle creates Pomo-inspired entrance to Quebec passageway
Pomo summer: design collective Fontaine/Fortin/Labelle has blocked both ends of a lane in Quebec's Quartier Création with a Postmodern-influenced installation of colourful walls and geometric doorways (+ slideshow).
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
Named Petite Vie, French for "little life", the installation was built as part of Les Passages Insolites – a public art festival curated by creative non-profit organisation EXMURO that involves the creation of unusual passageways.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
The collective, which comprises Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle, won a competition open to architecture students from the local Laval University.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_12.jpg)
"Without any imposed theme, we were asked to invest a place in the Quartier Création to create an unusual situation," Fortin told Dezeen.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
Designers are often asked to temporarily intervene with entranceways and passages to highlight their use for events. Giles Miller clad an archway in 20,000 wooden hexagons at the entrance to a Clerkenwell Design Week venue, while an open tunnel beneath a bridge in northern Spain was turned into a concealed passageway with a secret mirror by VAV Architects.
The Canadian team added walls made of construction wood and plywood in the gap between two houses, which usually serves as a link between two perpendicular streets.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
The sides that face outwards are covered with enamel paint in bright blue and purple respectively, while the interior walls are clad with vinyl mirrors.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_14.jpg)
Both are anchored into the existing walls and the ground, and are perforated with playfully-shaped doors and windows to encourage passersby to use the walkway.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
The shapes of the walls and the openings take their inspiration from typical architecture in Old Québec like arrow slits and steep roofs.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
"Without directly taking over the surrounding elements, formal gestures are intended as a reinterpretation of some typical forms of the Old Québec, executed with a Postmodern detachment," said Fortin.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
Dezeen is currently celebrating a revival of Postmodernism with a summer-long series. Other examples of the controversial movement's return include a Greek apartment filled with patterned tiles and a bright yellow staircase, and a range of tiles based on Postmodern buildings.
The name of Fontaine/Fortin/Labelle's installation is taken from the title of a popular 1990s Quebec television series. "Playing on notions of decors, the title is a tribute to the vivid and colourful images from that show," added Fortin.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_15.jpg)
The collective has found that the installation has proven most popular with kids, and that pedestrian usage of the passage has increased since it was created.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
"Children are naturally attracted to the interior walls – the bright colours and the little door contribute greatly to the interest and games with the mirrors are popular," said Fortin.
Petite Vie will remain in situ until 2 November 2015.
![Petite Vie by Francis Fontaine, Luca Fortin and Pascal Labelle](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/Petite-Vie-by-Francis-Fontaine-Luca-Fortin-and-Pascal-Labelle_dezeen_1.gif)