The Shenzhen City of Design Promotion Office (a UNESCO City of Design) and Shenzhen City of Design Promotion Association invite designers from the 69 member cities of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and Hong Kong to submit applications for an Award recognizing the success and talent of young designers.
The competition aims, among other things, to encourage exchanges among young designers from various countries, co-operation among the various UNESCO Creative Cities, and the sharing of experiences and ideas in the development of creative and cultural industries.
Under the theme Transformation: The Mission of Design, the Shenzhen Design Award for Young Talents (“the Award”) will reward the efforts of young designers who, through their creativity, have contributed to improving environmental quality as well as social and economic development—more specifically, making cities more liveable. The Award also seeks to promote the value of design thinking as contributor to the transformation of economies and society.
As a UNESCO City of Design, Montréal, through its Bureau du design, collaborate in the Award selection process.
The judging process will take place in two stages:
- In the First Stage, a local jury will select eight projects by Montréal designers (three students and five professionals) for nomination.
- In the Second Stage, which is anonymous, an international jury will choose the winners from among the candidate designers nominated by each city.
ELIGIBILITY
Eligible contestants must be design professionals or students aged 35 or younger (in the case of architects aged 40 or younger) whose main office is located in Montréal, or students enrolled full-time at a Montréal university-level institution.
There are two submission categories, one for professionals and the other for students.PRIZES
Winners of the Second Stage will share the following prizes awarded by the City of Shenzhen.
Professional category
- Grand Award (one winner): $30,000 US
- Merit Award (maximum ten winners): $5,000 US per winner
Student category
- New Star Award (maximum five winners): $5,000 US per winner
JURY
The Montréal jury tasked with nominating eight candidates for the Shenzhen Design Award for Young Talents consists of the following members:
- Stéphanie Cardinal, designer, President, Huma Design + Architecture
- Mathieu Drapeau, Section Head, Gestion de projets, Bureau de projets d'aménagement - grands parcs, Service des grands parcs, du verdissement et du Mont-Royal, Ville de Montréal
- Kurt Hibchen, industrial designer and Partner, Toboggan Design
- Louise Pelletier, Director, École de design, UQAM
- Christian Thiffault, architect and urban designer, Partner, Atelier Christian Thiffault
The international jury that will select the Award winners will consist of seven members from different countries and having complementary design expertise. Their name will be announced on the website www.szday.org.
APPLICATIONS
Candidates must submit an application. There are no fees for submission of entries.
Any questions or requests for clarifications must be addressed via e-mail at
Stéphanie Jecrois at designmontreal@ville.montreal.qc.ca
Application must be submitted to the following address no later than September 30, 2015, at noon Montréal time at designmontreal@ville.montreal.qc.ca
