page_title: Gsmprjct°
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Gsmprjct° / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Jacques Guillon, Morley Smith, Laurent Marquart and Roger Labastrou, associates of Guillon, Smith, Marquart, et ass.
context_page_description: GSM Project is a Montreal-based group specialized in the design and production of thematic installations and exhibitions mainly for museums. It includes four companies: gsmprjct°création, gsmprjct°intégration, gsmprjct°média and gsmprjct°technologie.
context_section_description: GSM Project can be traced back to Jacques Guillon and Associates, the first multidisciplinary design office in Canada, founded by architect Jacques Guillon in 1962. The firm participated in numerous landmark projects in various fields, including the signage and metro cars for Montreal’s metro system  and several thematic pavilions at Expo 67 in Montreal. These projects were realized by the talents of Morley Smith, an American industrial designer in charge of the design of Montreal Metro cars and the Man and Life pavilion at Expo 67, and the Swiss graphic designer, Laurent Marquart. The company rebranded itself Jacques Guillon Designers in 1968. 
   Together, they added exhibition design to the repertoire of this versatile company. The team was completed by a fourth associate, Roger Labastrou, a Swiss architect in charge of the interior design department.
  Renamed Guillon, Smith, Marquart  in 1978  as Guillon passed the majority of his shares to Smith and Marquart, then as GSM Design in 1982, the company offered services in visual communications, industrial design, interior design and exhibition design. Having secured his succession, Jacques Guillon retired in 1987.
   After Guillon’s departure Morley Smith and Laurent Marquart divided the company.  Morley Smith moved the industrial design department to his own firm, GSM Design, Produits et Transport and Laurent Marquart kept the interior and exhibition design.  Laurent continued in 1987 with his two associates, Kathleen Lanni in interior design and Yves Mayrand in exhibition design. The firm, operating at the time under the name GSM Design/Aménagement, communication visuelle et exposition inc., specialized itself and began to deal with an international clientele and competition.
  The interior design department of GSM Design built its reputation on its adaptability to cultural realities, allowing it to work on a variety of projects ranging from a Jewish community centre (CJA Federation, 1997–2000), to the Swedish telecommunications company, Ericsson Communications, or the National Bank of Dubai.
   Meanwhile, a series of successes in exhibition design, including the invention of the multimedia show for the Louis St-Laurent National Historic Site (1982) and Memories at the Musée de la civilisation de Québec (1988), an exhibition that redefined the visitor’s role as an actor rather than a mere spectator, allowed the exhibition design department of GSM to take flight. In parallel, the company reduced its services in visual communications, limiting itself only to the graphics necessary for their interior design and exhibition design projects.
   Starting in 1992, GSM Design began to collaborate with TBY, a company specialized in the management of shows founded by engineer Pierre Royer and lighting designer Vincent Brie, working together to create a multimedia show for Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal’s museum of history and archaeology, in 1992. In 2001, Vincent Brie, Pierre Royer and Yves Mayrand created a new company, M2C1 (for "measure twice, cut once") whose mandate was to oversee the construction and installation of equipment for shows, exhibitions and fairs. In this way, these three companies collaborated on a variety of projects, including the design, manufacture and installation of the City Museum of Washington, D.C. in 2003.
  In order to offer their clients specialized turn-key services, GSM Design separated itself from the interior design department in 2002 to become GSM Design Expositions. In 2004, they also created Kleio Systems to develop new technologies related to the field of exhibitions. M2C1 and Kleio Systems were renamed GSM Build and GSM Products respectively, and GSM Media was created in 2005. TBY was subsequently fused to GSM Build. This new group of companies was then capable of offering turn-key solutions, including the design, management, construction, installation and maintenance of exhibitions.
  In 2003, GSM Project had no projects in Montreal and 98% of its business was outside of Canada. After completing renovations on the Asian Civilizations Museum in Singapore, 
caption: Jacques Guillon, Morley Smith, Laurent Marquart and Roger Labastrou
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