The Ville de Montréal invites designers to submit applications for the development of mobile urban furniture, such as anchoring, support, signage and crowd-control systems, to be used at festivals in the new Quartier des spectacles.
The furniture currently used at festivals, such as concrete blocks of various sizes, may cause permanent damage at outdoor sites where cultural events are held, and especially the Quartier des spectacles, where significant investments have been made.
At the end of the competition, the city expects to order some 950 anchoring, support and crowd control systems, in the first year. These systems will be made available to festival promoters, to avoid damaging the sites.
Context
This competition is one of the five “shukôs,” or creative challenges, issued during the Pecha Kucha Night for Elected Officials by the Mayor of Montréal, Gérald Tremblay, as part of the commitments made by the Ville de Montréal and its partners in the Action Plan 2007–2017 – Montréal, Cultural Métropolis. One of the goals of this plan is to promote excellence in design and architecture by widening the use of competitions, which in turn will help position Montréal as a UNESCO City of Design.
This design competition is:
- open
- with registration fees ($50)
- Quebec-wide
- held in two stages: the first involving anonymous submissions and the second involving presentations by a maximum of five finalists chosen by the jury
To be eligible, submissions must be:
- presented by a candidate who is a member in good standing of the Association des designers industriels du Québec or any individual who has at least 5 years' experience in similar projects, in the design field or a related field, in particular industrial design, architecture or environmental design;
- presented by a candidate having its main place of business in Quebec.
The jury, which is the same for both stages, comprises the following individuals:
- Ruedi Baur, Designer, Intégral Ruedi Baur
- Radu Buruiana, Consulting Engineer
- Renée Daoust, Architect and Urban Designer, Partner, Daoust Lestage Architecture & Design urbain
- Mario Gagnon, Industrial Designer, President of both Alto Design and the Association des designers industriels du Québec
- Tatjana Leblanc, Industrial Designer, Associate Director, GRAD (Groupe de recherche en aménagement et design) and Professor, École de design industriel de l'Université de Montréal
- Alain Petel, Commissioner, Culture, Bureau des festivals et des événements culturels, Ville de Montréal
- Pierre Raymond, Site Director, Les Productions Raymond inc.
- Michael Santella, Industrial Designer, Professor of Industrial Design, Dawson College (DIBIS)
- Jean-François Jacques, Industrial Designer, Météore Design (substitute of Garry Savage, Industrial Designer, Director, Centre de recherche et d'innovation en performance, Cirque du Soleil)
No fees or allowances will be paid for Stage 1 of the competition.
For Stage 2 of the competition, each of the five competitors will receive $15,000 plus taxes.
At the completion of the competition, the company that is awarded the tender for developing and following up on the production of prototypes and furniture will be required to enlist the services of the winning firm, whose fees will be a maximum of $60,000 plus taxes.
Every candidate must submit the form that is attached as Appendix 1, duly completed, signed and dated, along with a $50 certified cheque payable to the Ville de Montréal.
The Design Montréal office is located at:
303 rue Notre-Dame Est, 6th floor
Montréal, Quebec, H2Y 3Y8
Stage 1
Request for submissions for pre-selection of 5 finalists
June 25, 2009, 12 noon
Stage 2
Funded concept development by the 5 finalists, for selection of a winner
October 5, 2009, 12 noon
Candidates may send their questions by e-mail to the competition advisor, Véronique Rioux, Industrial Designer, BDI ADIQ, [email protected], before June 17, 2009.