Montreal announces winners of festival street furniture competition
The Mayor of Montréal, Gérald Tremblay, has announced the winners of the design competition to develop movable street furniture elements for use by festivals. Among the five finalist concepts, the jury selected the proposal submitted by Morelli Designers and Signature Design Communication.
“At Rendez-vous November 2007 – Montréal, Cultural Metropolis, the city made a firm commitment to bring competitions into widespread use, and introduce guidance tools as well as financial incentives to encourage these practices,” the Mayor said. “The holding of this competition is proof of our administration’s desire to promote the implementation of projects that give vital and tangible expression to Montréal’s status as UNESCO City of Design, and to help designers make a more important contribution to the city’s future.”
The concept submitted by Morelli Designers and Signature Design Communication stood out from the other proposals, among other reasons for the ingenuity and effectiveness of the anchoring system and mounting brackets, and its modular system of nesting ballast blocks. The jury also remarked on the great flexibility of the various elements. “The concept is extremely simple from both the technical and visual standpoints,” explained Mario Gagnon, President of the Association des designers industriels du Québec and the jury Chair. “The movable furniture elements can be quickly installed by the setup teams, and will help prevent deterioration of the festival sites. The proposal is discreet, and respects the architectural concept of Place du Quartier des spectacles.”
For her part, Catherine Sévigny, Executive Committee member responsible for culture, said: “The Quartier des spectacles is an outstanding calling card for Montréal on the international scene. I congratulate the winners for their creativity and their commitment to bringing to fruition this project, which will help better respond to the needs of cultural event promoters.”
The jury sought to underscore the innovative nature of the concept submitted by NIP paysage by awarding the firm an honourable mention. Jury members were impressed by its playful character and the poetic aspects of its image.
The Ville de Montréal will issue a call for tenders between now and spring 2010 for the design and production of the winning concept. The company selected will be required to enlist the services of the winning firms for the technical development of the street furniture elements.
This design competition stems from the commitments announced by the Mayor of Montréal at the Pecha Kucha Night for Elected Officials on September 30, 2008. It aims to provide tangible impetus for creativity in made-in-Montréal design and architecture and to broaden access to public design commissions to the largest possible number of practitioners. The competition was run by the Design Montréal office of the Ville de Montréal on behalf of the Bureau des festivals et des événements culturels, Ville de Montréal, in collaboration with the Quartier international de Montréal and the Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles. To view the five finalist proposals, including the winning concept, visit realisonsmontreal.com.
