À fleur d’eau to shape revitalized Pointe-Gatineau landscape

Tashi Farmilo

À fleur d’eau, a multifaceted public art installation by Gatineau artist Mélanie Myers and the Montreal-based urban design co-operative Le Comité, has been chosen for integration into the redevelopment of the motor zone in Pointe-Gatineau. The work is scheduled for production in autumn 2025, with installation set for spring 2026, pending final approval by Gatineau’s municipal council.

The piece emerged from a competitive selection process that included public input and expert deliberation. Earlier this year, residents of Pointe-Gatineau voted online for their preferred artwork among three proposals. À fleur d’eau received the highest number of votes and was also the unanimous choice of the selection committee. That decision was reached independently of the public results.

According to Myers, the inspiration for the piece was rooted in a deep engagement with the site's history. “We researched the many floods that have disrupted the area over the decades,” she said. “We wanted to create something functional, forward-looking, something that acknowledges the site’s future as a park, a place to sit, observe, and measure the rising waters.”

The artist’s collaboration with Le Comité was, in her words, a highly productive exchange of strengths. “The co-op has strong structural design skills. They’re clever and innovative when it comes to thinking through community spaces.” Myers explained that Le Comité would develop the structural skeleton based on the project’s criteria, and then both parties would refine it together through a shared artistic lens. “Eventually, we landed on the idea of arches embedded with limnimetric scales.” These are vertical gauges traditionally used to measure water levels in rivers or lakes, and in this context, they double as sculptural elements, blending utility with symbolism in a flood-prone landscape.

The installation will feature seating, counters, and an arch structure, including a hand-sculpted water-level gauge cast in bronze. The work not only serves an aesthetic and recreational function but is also a tangible record of the site’s hydrological memory. “In a direct way, it dialogues with the rising water,” said Myers. “It offers a measurement tool that’s accessible to citizens and makes the data of floods feel real. The memory of the site is reactivated every spring.”

For residents and visitors who encounter the piece next spring, Myers hopes the experience will be both contemplative and grounded in the land’s layered history. “They’ll be in a green space near the river, but physically standing on the foundations of deconstructed homes,” she said. “The place is inhabited, maybe even haunted, by its past. À fleur d’eau invites people to pause and live with the elements, not fight against them.”

City councillor Isabelle N. Miron, chair of the Commission for the Arts, Culture, Letters and Heritage, welcomed the announcement. “This public art project reflects the City's commitment to transforming urban spaces into unique and resilient places to live. À fleur d’eau is not only a beautiful piece, but a reminder of our shared history and our relationship with the environment.”