MONTREAL, Nov. 4 /CNW Telbec/ - The Mayor of Montréal, Gérald Tremblay, is pleased to announce a nationwide ideas competition for the redesigning of the area around Champ-de-Mars metro station. The purpose of the competition is to solicit explorations and illustrations of a variety of development concepts made possible by the planned covering of the Ville-Marie expressway and the potential reconfiguration of its exit ramps.
Champ-de-Mars station, with its magnificent glassworks by renowned artist Marcelle Ferron, is one of the few landmarks remaining from the time before the construction of the Ville-Marie expressway. The immediate perimeter of the station forms a link between downtown Montréal and Old Montréal, and is one of the main pedestrian access routes to the historic district.
Reflecting on the quality of public spaces in Montréal
The competition invites entrants to submit development proposals that integrate smoothly with the existing public spaces and take into account the current and future built environment, including the impending Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal. Proposals must promote citizen appropriation of the urban environment and provide a development framework that facilitates movement through the city.
"Montréal has the potential, the talent and the resources to take its place as a true flagship city, where designers play a pre-eminent role in all urban renewal projects," Mayor Tremblay said. "To achieve this goal, it's important to promote exemplary practices such as the institution of competitions, workshops and expert panels. These are tried and tested methods on the international scene when it comes to enhancing the quality of urban environments, enriching thinking about the concept of public spaces, and generating new ideas."
This design competition is the third to be implemented in the wake of 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 widen access to public design commissions to the largest possible number of practitioners.
About the competition
The concept competition is being held on an anonymous-entry basis and is open to all design professionals, students or consortiums whose main place of business is located in Canada. It is a single-stage competition, with two submission categories, one for professionals and the other for students. The language of the competition is French. However, the conceptual approach may include a text in English.
Proposals received will be studied and evaluated by a jury on the basis of the following criteria: enhancement of the architecture and glassworks of Champ-de-Mars metro station; reinforcement of the pedestrian links and access routes leading from the station to all of the surrounding areas; and the innovative and esthetic qualities of the project as well as the atmosphere created by the planned action.
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