The purpose of this competition is to design a range of playful furniture for the Esplanade Clark in the Quartier des spectacles, in downtown Montreal.
The development of the Esplanade Clark, also known as the Clark block, is the last phase of the major project in the Quartier des spectacles, the heart of Place des Arts. Located west of Clark Street, between Sainte-Catherine and De Maisonneuve, Esplanade Clark will complement the other public squares in the Quartier des spectacles and will complement the area's offer on a more intimate scale. This new public space will include a refrigerated outdoor skating rink that will be transformed in the summer into a large urban terrace. It will be a prime location for hosting and holding civic, cultural and entertainment activities, primarily those of major festivals and events during the summer months.
Inspired by the spirit of Montreal's backyard, where it is good to gather and exchange ideas, the space is intended to be intimate, convivial and on a human scale. A true living space, it encourages a strong sense of ownership by citizens. It welcomes residents, workers, regulars and tourists, and makes a special place for families. This orientation is in line with the adoption of the City of Montreal's Children's Policy, which places children (0-17 years old) at the heart of its priorities. Esplanade Clark will then become one of the few public places downtown that has been planned to be particularly interesting and welcoming for families and children.
The public place will include common furniture for the use of the square, including chairs and tables. As an addition to this furniture, and the subject of the competition, the City of Montreal wishes to equip the place with mobile ludic furniture adapted to a varied and family-oriented clientele. This range of furniture will contribute to making the space lively, friendly, warm, and will extend the length of time users can visit the site, in all seasons. The family of ludic furniture is meant to support the imagination, its configuration evolves with the seasons and needs. Enjoying, interacting, meeting, moving, strolling, resting and refreshing are among the experiences sought after. The ludic furniture aims to provide experiences for the child in itself, regardless of age. The term playful (relating to play), sometimes overused in design, takes on its full meaning here.
The Service de la culture de la Ville de Montréal and the Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles are responsible for the implementation of the competition and the project.
All furniture elements to be designed and developed as part of the project must be mobile. These furniture elements include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The reinvented carrousel (marvel, contemplate, play);
- The reinvented fountain(s) (refresh, play);
- A series of complementary pieces of furniture serving as a link between the above two major elements of the family (allowing to sit, climb, rest, express oneself, create, wander, entertain, etc.).
(From competition's documentation)
(Unofficial automated translation)
The jury members wished to convey the following comments for all of the competition finalists to better prepare them for Stage 2 of the competition:
- Several competitors and some finalists did not illustrate, in the submitted perspectives, the common furniture (chairs, tables, planters, carpet - see Appendix C of the Program). In the second stage of the competition, this furniture must be included in the plan views, as well as in the submitted perspectives. The jury must be able to assess the team's thinking regarding the cohabitation of the various furniture elements (recreational and standard), both in terms of spatial and formal integration and the complementarity of the furniture functions. It should also be noted that the City wishes to make extensive use of circular planters in order to minimize the heat generated by the concrete surface of the rink.
- One of the main constraints of the project is the frequent movement of the play furniture around the site, its assembly/disassembly, transportation for short or long term storage, as well as its storage. Some of the proposals seem massive. It will be important, for Stage 2, to demonstrate that the range of furniture meets the needs of modularity of implementation (ref. section 3.1 of the Program) and the constraints related to assembly/disassembly, transportation and storage (ref. section 5.2 of the Program).
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
| Jury president S1 |
Jean-François Jacques, Designer Industriel
|
| Jury S1 | Marc Fauteux, Architecte de paysage |
| | Renée Lebel, Agente de développement culturel |
| | Anne Marchand, Designer Industriel |
| | Anne Plamondon, Directrice de la programmation par intérim, Parten |
| | Judith Portier, Designer de l'environnement |
| | Stéphane Ricci, Urbaniste |
| |
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| Jury president S2 |
Jean-François Jacques, Designer Industriel
|
| Jury S2 | Marc Fauteux, Architecte de paysage |
| | Renée Lebel, Agente de développement culturel |
| | Anne Marchand, Designer Industriel |
| | Anne Plamondon, Directrice de la programmation par intérim, Parten |
| | Judith Portier, Designer de l'environnement |
| | Stéphane Ricci, Urbaniste |
| |
|
| |
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| Technical Commitee | François Hubert |
| | Geneviève Lacoste |
| | Pierre Lapointe |
| | Simon Pouliot |
| | Guy Tremblay |
Step 1: Call for Proposals
Media announcement of the competition: August 14, 2019
Availability of Competition Documents on SEAO: August 14, 2019
Question and answer period: August 14 to September 23, 2019
Submission of proposals: October 4, 2019
Jury meeting: October 17, 2019
Notification to the Finalists concerned of the selection of their applications: October 18, 2019
Step 2: Submissions
Jury's comments sent to Finalists: October 22, 2019
Submission of the Team Complement File: October 23, 2019
Signing of the Finalists' Professional Services Agreement: October 30, 2019
Mandatory Information Meeting for Finalists: October 30, 2019
Public Announcement of Finalists: November 2019
Question and answer period: October 30 to November 27, 2019
Submissions deposit: December 11, 2019
Work of the technical committee: December 12, 2019 to January 8, 2020
Submission of the Technical Committee's report to the Finalists and the Jury: January 9, 2020
Presentation of the visual performance in support of hearing: January 13, 2020
Hearing of the Finalists and Jury: January 16, 2020
Announcement of the winner: February 2020
(From competition brief)
(Unofficial automated translation)
Gamme de mobilier ludique pour l’esplanade Clark, Quartier des spectacles
Esplanade Clark : Le nouveau toponyme et les finalistes du concours de design dévoilés, Ville de Montréal, 2019
Esplanade Tranquille - L'équipe Alto Design et Dikini avec Lateral + Induktion lauréate du concours de design pour le mobilier ludique, Ville de Montréal, 2020
Montréal, 5 juin 2020Concours Bureau du design | Ville de, Concours de mobilier ludique pour l’esplanade Tranquille | La proposition "Oasis tranquilles" d'Alto Design et Dikini lauréate, Kollectif, 2020
Angot, Louise, Une énorme terrasse est prévue au Quartier des spectacles et voici à quoi elle ressemblera, Narcity, 2020
Montpetit, Caroline, L’esplanade Clark portera le nom d’Henri Tranquille, Le Devoir, 2019
Esplanade Tranquille - L'équipe Alto Design et Dikini avec Lateral + Induktion lauréate du concours de design pour le mobilier ludique, CISION, 2020
Colpron, Suzanne, Montréal: le design urbain à l’heure de la COVID-19, La Presse, 2020
Neeley, Kelly-Ann, [PHOTOS] Voici à quoi va ressembler la nouvelle esplanade du Quartier des spectacles, Silo 57, 2020
- Programme
- Règlement
- Rapport du jury (global)
