1 Background and Mission VALUES
The Montréal UNESCO City of Design initiative is based on the idea of quality in design:
- It is an area of concern: the quality of design lies at the heart of the viability, vitality, attractiveness and competitiveness of cities. Excellence in design and its exemplary character are the minimum that is required for objects, building and spaces intended for public use
- It is the outcome of a process: quality in design is accessible to everyone and depends heavily on the proper planning of the awarding of commissions and good choices in selecting the designers. It is set out upstream from the projects. Some processes, such as design competitions, promote better reflection on needs and a more enlightened choice of those being mandated based on concept quality. They foster a competitive spirit among designers that favours excellence, as shown by international experience
- It is defined by certain criteria: quality in design follows criteria that broadly exceed the appropriate relationship between form and function. According to the U.S. magazine Metropolis (March 2009), “good design” now meets the 10 following criteria:
- Sustainable (environmentally responsible)
- Accessible
- Functional
- Well made (manufactured and built)
- Emotionally resonant
- Enduring
- Socially beneficial
- Beautiful
- Ergonomic
- Affordable
On top of these criteria is the idea that good design:
- offers a solution that is sensitive to the context
- makes sense culturally
To this list can be added other criteria, such as well-being, desire (aspiration), cultural expression, re-use, sensitivity to context, etc. Quality in design does not refer only to the esthetic nature of projects. It corresponds above all to a community’s long-standing desired values. These values may be associated with cultural, social, environmental and economic aspects of a society. They fluctuate, because they are intimately linked to the evolution of society.
Click here to download the Montreal UNESCO City of Design label
Click here to download the imprint only
APPROACH
The initiative aims to:
- lead the various influential players in urban development to engage with the project to conceive and build the city with input from designers
- champion those who defend quality in design
- develop, by the power of example, Montrealers’ interest in and taste for – and, consequently, their demand for – good design
- democratize quality in design: a city is built not only on exceptions (the “spectacular”) but on the sum of individual efforts (“the ordinary”)
- open up the awarding of public commissions and make them more accessible: creating room for the next generation, letting new talents flourish by enabling them to contribute to the city’s future
- promote design competitions as the preferred process for awarding public commissions, because of their transparency, their educational scope and the quality that they generate
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encourage the undertaking of projects that contribute to the quality and sustainability of the living environment, and to the development of Montréal’s urban landscapes
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