The Phyllis Lambert Design Montréal Grant was awarded to Eugénie Manseau and Philippe Carreau of industrial design studio Dikini, during the Prix de Montréal pour les arts et la culture awards ceremony. The $10,000 grant will allow the recipients to take a study trip to Seoul, South Korea, where they will analyze various types of street furniture. Upon their return, they will conceptualize a prototype based on the Korean model incorporating services adapted to a North American urban context such as Montréal’s.
Manseau and Carreau design street furniture that they describe as “public interval objects”—or, if you will, moments to pause and wait that punctuate one’s path through the city. They plan to study the various ways in which these interval objects (bus shelters, public benches, Wi-Fi terminals, bike-share hubs) are used in Seoul, a “digital city” known for integrating new technologies to serve users.
This study trip will enable the pair to investigate the contributions of digital technology to the physical space of the city as well as study technological obsolescence in urban contexts. Following their research, they will conceptualize a model of public-interval typology incorporating services adapted to a North American urban context such as Montréal’s, based on the experience of Asian cities. The concept developed as well as the results of their approach will be detailed on a website.
The members of the jury were unanimous in hailing the quality of the project submitted, which is a logical extension of Manseau’s and Carreau’s professional approach. Jury member Éric Daoust said: “The formal research project on street furniture in Seoul will enable the recipients to perfect their knowledge of user interfaces. The Ville de Montréal may well benefit from the outcomes of this research as well, enriching its own thinking on utilization of public spaces.”
The jury comprised Mélanie Baillargé, Art Director, Nolin BBDO; Éric Daoust, co-founder, Bosses Design; Albert Ferré, Acting Communications and Publications Director, Canadian Centre for Architecture; Pierre Fortin, General Manager, Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles; and Francyne Lord, Section Head, Bureau d’art public, Ville de Montréal.