Reimagining the Experience of Public Transportation in a Post-pandemic Metropolis

This design competition is part of a joint research initiative. The Concordia University Chair of Integrated Design, Ecology, and Sustainability for the Built Environment and the Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Competitions, Mediations of Excellence at Université de Montréal are working together to mobilize the creativity of young designers of the built environment in order to stimulate debate on the renewed experiences of public transportation for increased urban resiliency.

This 2021 edition is done in collaboration CRE-Montreal and ARTM. The Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal (CRE-Montreal) has as its mission statement the protection of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development on the Island of Montreal. The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) is the transportation authority, which plans, funds, and promotes public transit and paratransit services for the Montréal metropolitan area.

Public transport has been impacted through the pandemic in ways that have considerably changed its experience. The notion of time, the experience of the city, the experience of the everyday, have all changed in 2020. We adhere to the principle that public transport is an essential and safe part of the ecological transition of our cities. If citizens shift from public transport back to private vehicles, we can predict a drastic degradation of environmental and traffic conditions – a situation to be averted. Thinking about new ways to encourage and renew the experience of public transport opens up avenues redefining an enhanced relationship to urbanity and the sharing of public space while contributing to the ecological transition.

This competition asks: 1. How can we renew the pleasure of public transportation following the decline in ridership experienced in the last year? 2. How can we redesign the spaces and places of public transportation for encouraging the use of public transit? Encouraging the use of public transport, metro, bus, and tramway, means imagining the pleasure of living in a sustainable city. This competition is aimed for students in arts, design, engineering, architecture, psychology, film-making, literature, sociology, finance, management.

REGISTRATION

This competition is open for registered students. We invite multi-disciplinary teams, involving at least one student in design or architecture.

Registration prior to submission is mandatory. Before submitting your proposal, please email ideas.be@concordia.ca to register your team and to receive your unique TEAM ID. This TEAM ID must be included on each of your three competition panels on the bottom right (Arial Bold, 14 point, black).

This competition is anonymous. Any indications of authors on the panels will disqualify the proposal. A team can present more than one proposal. Each proposal must have a unique title at the top left of each panel (Arial Bold, 18 point, black).

PRIZES

5 prizes of 1500$ will be awarded to 5 winning teams, one of which will be a public vote.

CRITERIA CONSIDERED BY JURY

Each submission will be judged based on how well they accomplish the following criteria:

PANEL 1: The qualities of the narrative in terms of its description of a renewed experience of public transportation in a post-pandemic metropolis.

PANEL 2: The evocative force and realistic simplicity of the design idea(s) for stimulating the use of public transport.

PANEL 3: Clarity and feasibility of design principles for implementing a renewed experience of public transportation. The submissions will be judged anonymously.

CONTACT

For registration or for further information, please email ideas.be@concordia.ca. The subject line of this email should read: “Registration for competition: Reimagining the Experience of Public Transportation” Please include the following information for each team member upon registration:

1. Full name: First name, second name + email address.

2. Affiliation (name of university, department of study).

3. Proof of registration + year of study.

>>> Go to the competition’s website <<<