Student Competition: The Object Laid Bare [below zero]
Professors Geneviève Vachon and Myriam Blais have found a good way to warm up the creative minds of their students at the beginning of the semester with the contest The Object Laid Bare [below zero], a vertical charrette between second-year bachelor students from the Atelier Vachon (Habitability and Poetry of Space) and master students from the Atelier Blais (Construction and Design).
The challenge of this contest was to design an object for the habitat, which would emerge from an "imagined and new" encounter with the Inuit cultures and communities of northern Quebec. The resulting "mixed" object would be an interpretation of the imaginary encounter between the students and their idea of the North; a cultural blend, a meeting between two worlds as "trading grounds btween distinct worlds" (Pirson, in Kaine (2004) : 4) The object-model had to be smaller than 30cm x 30cm x 30cm, and be accompanied by a short explanatory text of 150 words.
Proposals
Jury
A separate jury [in parallel] of the Charette de l'Objet 2017 was constituted by the project Living in Northern Quebec.
Mona Belleau, Mobilization and Communication Coordinator, Habiter le nord québécois
Érick Rivard, Associate Architect Groupe / A annexe \ U, OAQ, Urban Designer, ADUQ.
Sandrine Tremblay-Lemieux, Master student in a dual program Architecture and Architecture Sciences.
Prize
1st prize: $ 300 - L'ÉCHO DU TEMPS
with Charles Côté, Marie-Pier Robidoux and Audrey Morency
The jury liked the ingenious culture mixing of this object. The traditional drum, a true object of communication in Inuit culture, finds an echo in the regular rhythm of the clock. In the idea of culture mixing, the jury liked the duality in the visions of time: the Inuit have a tendency to "take their time", whereas non-Inuit are afraid of "wasting their time". For the Inuit, time is something that can be seized, but for non-Inuit, time is something that escapes them. The echo of time therefore calls for the rhythm of the two cultures to be respected, an essential aspect when of any intercultural enterprise. In terms of materials, the Inuit drum, traditionally made of skin, evokes the "bare" theme. The jury also appreciated the ingenuity of the needle mechanism, integrated to the frame rather than in the center of the clock.
2nd prize: $ 150 - FLATTER SON ÉGO
with Léandre Chaumont, Étienne Lambert, Simon Parent and Alexandre Morin
The jury pointed out the usefulness/fanciness duality of this object. In the idea of culture mixing, the jury appreciated that the fur, essential to Inuit survival, has been reinterpreted in an object as futile as a tool to flatter one's ego. The intriguing object's purpose is to spark reflexions :as the Inuit people are still seen by some as an "exotic" people, it can be asked if some researchers work solely with them to flatter their ego, rather than by real interest in their well-being. The message behind this object is what earned it its second place.
3rd prize: $ 75 - À SAVEUR DE POIL!
with Sandra Zimmermann, Julie Bradette and Audrey Turcotte
This object reminds us of the significance of cold and heat in the Arctic. The Inuit like to prepare tea on a Coleman™ stove after a long snowmobile trip: an absolute treat! The jury found that this object evoked something of a unifying character as well. The material of this object - skin, on its leather and fur sides - demonstrated a good spirit of complete use of a resource, in addition to reflecting well the theme of the contest.
