The mayor of Montreal, 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 Montreal and Old Montreal, and is one of the main pedestrian access routes to the historic district.
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.
“Montreal 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,” says Tremblay. “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 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.
Registration is free and mandatory. Each entrant must complete the form available on the realisonsmontreal.com website, by Jan. 15, 2010. Proposals must be sent no later than February 10, 2010, at 5 p.m. (local time) to:
Ideas Competition
Redesigning of the area around Champ-de-Mars metro station
A/S bureau Design Montreal
303, rue Notre-Dame Est, 6e étage
Montreal (Quebec) H2Y 3Y8
Entrants who have questions about the competition must submit them by e-mail to the Design Montréal office at [email protected]onsmontreal.com