Literary scholar Stephen Greenblatt insinuates two kinds of human responses evoked by museums in his 1991 essay Resonance and Wonder. He describes resonance as the “power of the displayed object to reach out beyond its formal boundaries to a larger world, to evoke in the viewer the complex, dynamic cultural forces from which it has emerged.” Wonder, on the other hand, is described as "the power of the displayed object to stop the viewer in his or her tracks, to convey an arresting sense of uniqueness, to evoke an exalted attention.” A precursor to modern-day museums, the Cabinet of Curiosities emerged as a concept during the Renaissance period, due to a collective worldview that believed in the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm – the universe and the human body. Eliciting both resonance and wonder as described by Greenblatt, the concept encouraged people to explore their relationship with the world, animals, plants and things through an assortment of extraordinary objects.

The popularity and relevance of the Cabinet of Curiosities persist in modern times as it continues to inspire artists, writers, filmmakers and designers to reimagine and reiterate the core of its concept in varied forms while reflecting their distinctive interests and worldview. Every collection is a mirror of its collector and architect Jean Verville's Cabinet de Curiosités, manifesting itself in the form of a habitable creative laboratory called BRUJ – a reflection on a spatiality that is at once surreal, sublime and even perceivably sterile and its ability to trigger a metamorphosis in everyday life, housing literal cabinets of remarkable objects of personal significance to the architect.

BRUJ, along more abstract lines, appears to be a remnant of a mirror dimension existing within a Marcel Bilodeau-designed tall, residential concrete monolith from the 1970s that overlooks the Plains of Abraham Park and sits amidst the brutalist urban landscape of Canada's Québec City, physically confined in a somewhat meagre 79 square metres of footprint. The interior design of the unit reflects the raw, rugged, almost sculptural brutalism of the city and complements it with industrial elements, offering picturesque views of the Laurentian Mountains and the St Lawrence River. The residence also features a fluid interplay of surfaces that create inconsistencies in the perceived ‘image’ of the house through kinetic light animation and one is compelled to navigate this material reality with wonder and curiosity.

Humour, playfulness and an endearing self-mockery are at the centre of Jean Verville’s eponymous practice and his teachings as the director of the Speculative Architecture laboratory at the School of Architecture of Laval University, Québec City. A PhD in Art, the Canadian architect’s approach explores the intersubjectivity that helps people understand their environment and form a relationship with it, casually highlighting society’s fascination with popular culture through plays of spatial design. Verville’s creative sanctuary embodies his interests, pursuits and beliefs and his individuality permeates every facet of the unit.

Verville’s residence utilises responsible design choices to reduce resources and expenses, while efficiently materialising his design philosophies. The demolition of existing internal walls creates a transversally pierced shell of exposed concrete that allows natural ventilation, provides thermal comfort, reduces energy consumption and ultimately lowers carbon footprint. The metallic blinds and glass screens along the north-south axis manipulate one’s perception of the space through configurations of transparency and reflections, regulating the amount of desired light and privacy and enabling versatile living for the inhabitants. The organisation of these screens subject the unit to six distinct spatial organisation options, creating up to seven adaptable sub-spaces.

The red graphic walls at the entrance to the quarters remind one of a movie theatre, where one prepares to enter a world of fiction. A charming arrangement of sparse planters and a near otherworldly black chair greet visitors into the hall upon opening the red entrance door which also doubles as a mirror from the inside. The hall comprises a kitchen and a living that extends to a minimal study and a warm, green terrace to its left while concealing utility, storage, a bathroom and a bedroom on the right. Additionally, all domestic equipment is strategically placed to ensure functional, visual and physical permeability, achieving a sense of openness and fluidity in the compact apartment design despite the perceived hostility of some of the stronger, more polar design choices. A network of thoughtfully placed exposed pipes runs through all the spaces in the unit, accentuating the naked walls of the concrete architecture along the basal tenets of minimalism. The cold, grey canvas of concrete and metal steals views from the city through reflections in glass, introducing a certain warmth in the house’s corners.

All sub-spaces feature modest and minimal monochromatic industrial furnishings, creating visual interest with a few pops of colour and the packed display cabinets. Two bright yellow unloading dock lamps and a long rust-orange sofa add to the appeal of the polished industrial furniture, while strikingly contrasting the greys of the interiors. Metal-framed open cabinets are used as screening devices all over the apartment, making one reconsider one’s discernment towards the objects they hold and the world they frame. Models, design explorations, utilitarian objects, utensils, ceramics, plants and several other decorative items showcased in these cabinets are excerpts from the memories and temporal realities of Verville’s everyday life that redefine the ethos of the Cabinet of Curiosities.

While photographer Maxime Brouillet brings out the simplicity of spatial organisation, photographer Maryse Béland captures the fictional constructs of the residential facility in experimental frames, highlighting the peculiarities of the spaces through a human prop and clever compositions that benefit from a play of light, shadows and reflections. An eccentric project such as this thrives on an equally (if not more) eccentric documentation that is itself transcendental to art or bears that aspiration, becoming an inseparable variable in the equation of spatial perception.

Project Details

Name: BRUJ
Architect: Studio Jean Verville Architectes
Location: Québec City, Canada
Client: Jean Verville
Area: 79 square metres
Years of construction: 2023-2024
Contractor: Nomad Construction
Art furniture: Loïc Bard
Ceramic sculptures: France Goneau

(Text by Bansari Paghdar, intern at STIR)