This year, Montréal is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its designation as a UNESCO City of Design.
In June 2006, the city became the first in North America and only the third in the world to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of design. The designation has been presented to the city as a progressive vision whereby Montréal has established design as a core principle of its development, its cultural vitality, and its transition into a more sustainable and equitable metropolis.
“Montréal’s designation as a UNESCO City of Design is a key lever for outreach and development. More than ever, our city is focused on innovation to meet urban challenges, be they economic, social or environmental. The expertise of our designers and the actions of the Bureau du design continue to reinforce Montréal’s international leadership when it comes to innovation by design,” said Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Mayor of Montréal.
Back in 1991, Montréal made the decision to incorporate an office dedicated to design into its municipal administration. As a result, the city’s first design commissioner, Marie-Josée Lacroix, joined the Service du développement économique.
“This role didn’t really exist anywhere, so we had to build it from the ground up. We not only had to prove its worth, but also persuade the City itself to become an exemplary client with regard to design and architecture,” said Lacroix.
In 2006, after joining the UNESCO network, the city created the Bureau du design, which became the primary vehicle for implementing the mission and values of the City of Design designation. In making design a service in the public interest and not only an aesthetic feature, Montréal led the way for some 50 other cities around the world that are now members of the Cities of Design subnetwork. While each city has adapted the designation to its own institutional framework, Montréal’s experience has shown the benefits of placing design at the core of public policy and decision-making.
Early in the 2000s, as the city sought to reinvent its economic growth drivers, it recognized design and architecture as sectors with promising futures. The UNESCO designation has since helped support and consolidate a creative ecosystem that now makes up almost 20,000 professionals in Greater Montréal.
Biomachine Exhibition, in collaboration with La bande à Paul. Photo credit: Marc Cramer
Over the past 20 years, a number of flagship initiatives have expanded the public’s appreciation of design, supported emerging talent, and demonstrated the economic value of creativity, from giving thousands of people behind-the-scenes access to design studios through Design Montréal Open House and raising merchants’ awareness of design through the Commerce Design Montréal awards, to encouraging local purchasing through CODE Souvenir Montréal and supporting emerging design and architecture practitioners through the Phyllis Lambert Grant.
“As a participant in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and the Davos Baukultur Alliance, Montréal is on the front lines of dialogue around international best practices. The city is now positioned as a genuine testing ground for circular-economy principles applied to the built environment,” said Patrick Marmen, chief of staff and design commissioner, Bureau du Design.
The designation of Montréal as a UNESCO City of Design reflects a shared ambition embraced for the past two decades by thousands of designers, architects, firms, institutions, organizations, partners and citizens who, each day, are helping shape a more creative, inclusive and sustainable city. Throughout the year, Montréal will be making the most of this anniversary to showcase the faces, architects and designers who are transforming the city. Through a range of inspiring, accessible digital content, the public will be invited to go behind the scenes and explore Montréal’s creativity.
