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Some of the city's most esteemed new urban design projects, spaces, places and buildings are up for top honours at the Edmonton Urban Design Awards this year, and for the first time, the public is being invited to vote for an inaugural people's choice award.
Since 2005, the City of Edmonton and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) have co-hosted the Edmonton Urban Design Awards every two years. Their goal is to recognize the achievements of individuals, organizations, firms and projects in urban design and quality of life in the city. This year, 44 submissions have made their way to the nominations list, with the public being asked to cast their vote online by September 26.
Media Architecture Design Edmonton and RAIC are hosting an event on September 25 at the Art Gallery of Alberta that will give attendees an inside look at the challenges faced by the five-member jury over their respective careers in urban design. The jury is comprised of Matthew Blackett, publisher, creative director and one of the founders of Spacing magazine; Harold Madi, planner and head of Stantec's Urban Places Group; Lola Sheppard, registered architect and founding partner at Lateral Office; Gary Sorge, vice president and discipline leader for planning and landscape architecture at Stantec; and Jason Thorne, general manager of planning and economic development at the City of Hamilton.
The 2017 batch of nominees includes several high-profile projects familiar to readers of SkyriseEdmonton, including the Enbridge Centre, Rogers Place, and The Hendrix. The awards are split into seven categories, from civic design projects and heritage projects to student projects and urban architecture.
Only one vote will be recorded per person. The project that receives the most votes will be honoured at the Urban Design Awards gala on November 3.
