Montréal Urban Design

5117 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by yarabundi, Dec 14, 2008

Habfanman

Discussion Starter · May 14, 2008

PORTRAIT
Montréal: the design choice
The International Design Alliance
Montréal as a global design center: Eleni Stavridou, Executive Director of the Institute of Design Montréal (IDM), has been working toward this objective for several years. In 2004, with the decision by the 2 founding members (Icsid and Icograda) of the International Design Alliance (IDA) to establish their headquarters in Montréal, this objective became even more of a reality.

To pull off this remarkable feat, Montréal International spearheaded a bid which was sustained by the backing of its partners, the IDM and the entire Montréal design community. Initially, there were 33 cities vying for the prestigious secretariat. During the final selection process, Montréal was in the running against Brussels, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Nagoya and Turin, reflecting a very high level of competition.

The IDA is an alliance of the two main international organizations in the field of industrial and graphic design: the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) and the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda).

The arrival of IDA in Montréal is very important for the city. It confirms Montréal’s position as a global capital of creative and leading-edge design. In addition, the IDA will serve as a hub to further stimulate Montréal’s strategic design sector. Already, the IDA’s two founding organizations, Icsid and Icograda, share the same office space and take part in common activities, as well as cooperate with other IOs and Montréal design institutions. There are currently several major ongoing projects and Montréal's design community has taken note of one of them: the World Capital of Design, a title recently awarded to the city of Turin for 2008. This prestigious international competition, held every two years and organized by Icsid, aims to highlight excellence in design and to promote events in the chosen city.

The Montréal design sector is clearly bustling with creative energy. No doubt other international organizations will seek to benefit from this truly dynamic community.

Icograda
founding date: 1963
number of members: over 70 professional associations in 45 countries
in montréal since: 2005
website: www.icograda.org
Icsid
founding date: 1957
number of members: over 150 companies in 50 countries
in montréal since: 2005
website: www.icsid.org
“The presence of the IDA provides Montréal with outstanding international notoriety. This year, the members of the Board of Directors of Icograda and Icsid, senators and other influential people visited our city from all over the world. It is a tremendous contribution to design and to the city.”
Eleni Stavridou
Executive Director of the Institute of Design Montréal and Honorary Chair of the IDA

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Habfanman

Discussion Starter · #2 · May 14, 2008

MONTRÉAL: UNESCO CITY OF DESIGN
Montréal is the first city in North America to be designated a UNESCO City of Design by the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity. Buenos Aires and Berlin have also received this honor in the past. The launch of the City of Montréal’s design action plan in 2005, the presence of the prestigious Institute of Design Montréal (IDM) and the decision by the 2 founding members of the International Design Alliance (IDA) to establish their headquarters in Montréal are some of the many factors that make Montréal a leader in design. Benoît Labonté, Mayor of the Borough of Ville-Marie and City of Montréal Executive Committee member responsible for design, launched the city’s proposal. The City of Design Certificate was presented by Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, during his visit to Montréal to attend the International Economic Forum of the Americas.

WHAT IS A DESIGN CITY?
Montréal, Antwerp, Glasgow, Lisbon, Saint-Étienne, Stockholm and New York have succeeded in positioning themselves as “New Design Cities” by developing and implementing policies and programs that promote quality design on their territory. Based on case studies, the book analyzes the actions and events that have shaped the process driving the emergence of these seven cities.

http://www.creativitemontreal.com/

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ChrisDVD

· #3 · May 14, 2008

thanks habsfanman for yet another of your many great post that boast our city...

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Habfanman

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 18, 2008

While traffic signals may seem to be a rather blasé fact of life, they are everywhere, and a well designed one can make an incredible difference to the look and feel of a street.

I never really noticed the signals here, I don't have a car, but a friend came for a visit last weekend and she said "I really like the lights in Montréal" (she's an artist and tends to notice these things). I thought it was a strange comment but when I looked closer, I realised that the majority the signals are inobstusive, black, stand-alone affairs rather than the giant, ugly aluminum arm signals that I had become used to or what is even worse: lights strung on a wire suspended over the street. In fact, there is an almost complete lack of overhead wires and telephone poles on major streets. It makes for a much cleaner and more attractive street-level appearance. I suspect that they are less expensive as well.

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Habfanman

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 21, 2008

I found this really cool pedestrian square, Place Valois, 2 blocks from metro Joliette. It was completed only a year ago and is part of the revitalisation of HoMa. Could HoMa become the new Plateau???

Pano by Thesorus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesorus/2724437135/sizes/o/

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le calmar

· #6 · Aug 23, 2008

Habfanman said:
Could HoMa become the new Plateau???

From what I keep hearing, it could... It's already being gentrified as hell.

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Ashok

· #7 · Aug 23, 2008

Great thread Habfanman.

I really can not find a picture of this area, but I really love how the area around Place. St Henri Metro station is laid out. I will try to snap a picture next time I am around there.

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trainrover

· #8 · Sep 4, 2008

Habfanman said:
While traffic signals may seem to be a rather blasé fact of life, they are everywhere, and a well designed one can make an incredible difference to the look and feel of a street.

I never really noticed the signals here, I don't have a car, but a friend came for a visit last weekend and she said "I really like the lights in Montréal" (she's an artist and tends to notice these things). I thought it was a strange comment but when I looked closer, I realised that the majority the signals are inobstusive, black, stand-alone affairs rather than the giant, ugly aluminum arm signals that I had become used to or what is even worse: lights strung on a wire suspended over the street.

I used to reckon that all of North America's traffic signals looked like ours here.....big and bright.....but have now realised the past 15 odd years that their looks are actually unique around the continent. I've noticed, however, that yellow background plates have come to 'grace' signals at major, central intersections for the past several years...boy, they're damn ugly, I wish they'd never come about...

It's also dawned on me that their old greenish taupe colour --as well as the (wireless) lamposts-- hailing from either the '50s or '60s was to kinda place us in the same league as Paris...

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Habfanman

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 13, 2008

5 Shuko

This is a great idea! It's an excellent (and cheap) way to get the creative and design community involved and to throw some crazy ideas out there. I also like the 5 shuko. Hmmm.. cool cabs!

The 5 Shuko: Montreal Mayor Issues Five Challenges for Creative Professionals

http://www.dexigner.com/architecture/news-g16121.html

The Mayor of Montreal, Gerald Tremblay, has posted online five challenges for the creative and design community, which he issued last Tuesday during the Pecha Kucha Night for Elected Officials.

These five challenges, or shukos, which are aimed at beautifying the city and its street furniture, can be found at the website.

The conditions of these design competitions will be defined by the Design Montreal office in collaboration with all the partners involved.

Mr. Tremblay was joined at the Pecha Kucha Night by 13 mayors of boroughs and cities within the Montreal agglomeration who shared their vision of the attractiveness and potential of their respective territories with more than 400 designers, architects and planners in attendance.

Some of the elected officials pointed to specific challenges of urban development and called upon designers to harness their creativity to help meet those challenges, while others highlighted worthy achievements in design and planning in their communities.

This initiative, a one of its kind in the world, was a production of the Design Montreal office, the UNESCO Chair in Landscape and Environmental Design at Universite de Montreal and the Pecha Kucha Montreal team.

more: www.shukomontreal.com/... (107)

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yarabundi

· #10 · Dec 14, 2008

I love the project !! It is very exciting !!
BTW : I just found out about the beautiful square in Hochelaga (post as of 21/08/2008). I simply love it !!

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