The Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS) earned the City of Calgary’s top honour at the Mayor’s Urban Design Awards (MUDA) for the 2013 Community Improvement Project in Victoria Park.
On Sept. 29, 2012, EVDS students, faculty and alumni headed to Victoria Park, an urban neighbourhood in Calgary’s Beltline community, to participate in an exciting community enhancement project in conjunction with the Victoria Park Business Revitalization Zone.
Led by EVDS Master of Architecture students Guy Gardner and Krista Lauridsen, the team of 75 constructed and integrated a series of six transformative cedar benches into a pop-up park on the corner of 1st Street and 14th Avenue S.W.
The mass customizable bench system design by now EVDS alumnus, Guy Gardner, allowed for each of the benches to be uniquely configured by their construction team.
"The project was a rewarding experience that demonstrates how collaborative design approaches can have a positive impact on the urban fabric,” says Gardner.
What began as an effort to take a derelict construction site and turn it into a public asset, has transformed the urban space into a picturesque pathway lined with permaculture planters, where pedestrians now have a place to sit down and enjoy the park.
“It is rewarding to see the collaborative design efforts between faculty and students recognized in this way," notes EVDS assistant Prof. Jason Johnson, faculty lead on the project. “From engaging community partners to mobilizing the design and fabrication, expertise developed in EVDS this project demonstrates a commitment on the part of the faculty to engage in community-based design research that will enhance our community.”
This year the MUDA recognized EVDS’ contribution to great city building, awarding the student-led project with the 2013 Community Improvement Project Award.
MUDA is the city’s bi-annual program that celebrates urban design, architecture and landscape architecture in Calgary. It is part of the National Urban Design Awards, a national program created and sponsored by the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada.
Other EVDS-affiliated wins include:
Conceptual/Theoretical Urban Design Projects
- Winner: Building Iconomy: Possibilities for a Brutalist Building, by EVDS alumnus Lindsay Horan and Leanne Junnila.
- Honourable Mention: First Street S.W. Underpass Enhancement, by EVDS architecture Prof. Marc Boutin and the Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative.
Urban Architecture
- Winners: Olive, designed by EVDS adjunct Prof. Jeremy Sturgess of Sturgess Architecture and built by Avi Urban.
Civic Design Projects
- Honourable Mention: Memorial Drive Pathway Upgrades, by EVDS architecture Prof. Marc Boutin and the Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative.
Student Projects
- Honourable Mention: Aboriginal Artifact Archives and Research, by EVDS Master of Architecture alumnus Michael Chu.
Great City, Great Design
- Winner: Bridgeland Riverside Community Centre, by EVDS adjunct Prof. Jeremy Sturgess of Sturgess Architecture.