Recent Montréal participation in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network
A busy fall in international travel for the Montréal design community
Missions to Detroit, Turin, and Kortrijk
Following a call for mission projects in summer 2018, the Bureau du design selected five Montréal firms to represent the city and awarded them professional contracts to assess certain recurring international UNESCO Creative Cities Network events.
The mission reports from Baltic Club, Robocut Studio, Intégral Jean Beaudoin, Atelier Barda et Lambert et Fils provided useful information about the positioning of the Detroit Month of Design, Torino Design of the City in Turin, Italy, and the Biennale Intérieur in Kortrijk, Belgium. The Bureau du design is now equipped to better advise firms considering attendance at one of these events in the future. Please do not hesitate to contact us.
Turin’s universal accessibility forum “Towards an accessible city"
In October, Pierre-Etienne Gendron – development advisor and manager with the infrastructure and road network department of Montréal’s transportation division – was invited by the city of Turin to present Montréal’s universal accessibility policy at its international forum Towards an accessible city, aimed at informing Turin’s forthcoming policy.
Commerce Design: Detroit
After Montréal in 2006, Detroit became the second North American city to be named a UNESCO City of Design in 2015. Several years later, through Design Core Detroit, the city became the 14th licensee of Montréal’s Commerce Design concept. As a result, in August and October 2018, the Bureau du design was invited to take part in the first jury for the Commerce Design: Detroit Awards (37 nominated firms and designers, 18 finalists) and to attend the awards ceremony (10 winners and a People’s Choice Award).
UNESCO Cities of Design meetings in Dundee and Kortrijk
In October, the Bureau du design travelled to Dundee, Scotland to attend the meeting of the UNESCO Cities of Design. Alongside activities surrounding the opening of the new V&A dundee museum of design, a work by architect Kengo Kuma, the 20 cities attending continued to share their experiences, practice, and projects related to the working topics of communication, economic development, education, and design policy (a group coordinated by Montréal). A complementary program was held in Kortrijk, Belgium, a UNESCO City of Design since 2017, at the city’s Biennale Intérieur.
Interested in developing your market or promoting your expertise internationally? Feel free to contact us for more information about the Creative Cities Network, which brings together 180 cities around the world, including 31 cities of design.
