The City of Calgary, in partnership with the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, is launching the inaugural Winter City Design Competition by inviting designers, artists and students to imagine the possibilities for eye-catching and interactive displays along Stephen Avenue. The city is encouraging contestants to explore and push beyond the boundaries of what public spaces look like in midst of a Calgary winter.
“Calgary is a winter city and we should embrace that when we plan and create public spaces,” said Kate Zago, who is leading the competition. “We want to see creative designs that will draw people downtown during the winter and make Stephen Avenue a winter walk destination.”
The theme for the first-ever Winter City Design Competition is ‘Out of Bounds’. Applicants are asked to consider what activations, designs and experiments could fit ‘like a glove’ with Calgary’s climate and culture. This could mean winter-friendly designs that enhance existing public spaces, light up Stephen Avenue creatively, create opportunities for people to socialize, or act as multi-sensory way-finding along Stephen Avenue.
Three submissions will be selected to receive funding to build and install their designs along Stephen Avenue. The design will be on display for approximately four weeks in February and March 2022. Chosen installations will receive $10,000 for their project.
Prospective applicants can visit calgary.ca/wintercity for full application and submission guidelines. Submission deadline is Dec. 1, 2021 at 23:59 MST.
All eligible submissions will be reviewed by a jury consisting of City of Calgary associates, School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape (SAPL) architecture students, Calgary Downtown Association and other design professionals.
The Winter City Design Competition is part of the city’s Future of Stephen Avenue Activate + Experiment project, to re-imagine Stephen Avenue from City Hall to Mewata Armoury. This project is testing out ideas and experiments and measuring impacts, to help inform the future of downtown’s iconic main street.
