Abstract

Manic 5 is the largest multiple-arch and buttress dam in the world. It is part of the Manicouagan-Outardes Complex that marked the emergence of a Québécois expertise in hydroelectric production and transportation. Begun in 1959 and completed in 1968, the iconic dam is located on the Manicouagan River in the Côte-Nord region. In the summer of 1967, during the last stages of Manic 5’s construction, three cameras captured the daily activity of construction, from 10am to 10pm. The live footage was edited, transmitted and projected in full color in the Québec Industries pavilion on the grounds of Expo 67, Montréal’s world’s fair celebrating the centennial of Canada.
Drawing on multiple archival resources such as printed and filmic promotional documents of the dam, photographs, architectural drawings of the pavilion, and newspaper articles, this research departs from a photomontage representing the spectacle of Manic 5 at Expo 67 and aims to uncover its history while contextualizing it into the history of twentieth-century architecture. I consider this event and its underlying material presence as a “territorial megastructure,” based on the architectural concept of the megastructure developed during the 1960s and in which Montréal had a prominent role, mainly through its hosting of Expo 67. Manic 5, a space of production, and Expo 67, a space of consumption, can each be considered a megastructure in and of itself, although they will here be analysed in relation to their physical and virtual connection over a territory covering more than 800 kilometres, the space of transmission