Design through the decades
UQAM's School of Design celebrates its 50th anniversary at the Centre de Design in Montreal, presenting an exhibition that resonates with a public curious to discover the diversity and eclecticism of the design milieu.
PARCOURS presents the trajectories of fifty graduates from the School of Design’s six academic programs, showcasing their journey from their first student works to their latest creations. Representing all generations that have passed through the school since 1974, the exhibition draws from five decades of creative archives to highlight the evolution and interconnectivity of the various design disciplines taught at the school, including graphic design, industrial design, architecture and urban design, fashion design, transportation design, event design, and modern patrimonial studies.
Thanks to this unprecedented collection of posters, books, drawings, plans, illustrations, models, objects, prototypes, furniture, and videos, the public will be able to explore the exceptional diversity of design practices and the importance of design in our everyday lives.
“Parcours explores the past, confronts the present, and imagines the future. Our team took on the challenge of creating an archeology of the school by uncovering unique student projects and artifacts,” says Patrick Evans, Director of the Centre de design and co-curator of the exhibition. “It’s a must-see exhibition to understand how design has accompanied the social, environmental, and technological transformations of the last fifty years.”
What have they become? Quebec designers who graduated from the School of Design who inspire us!
Among those featured are Alain Carle, of Atelier Carle, renowned for his works of residential architecture; Ying Gao, internationally renowned fashion designer and professor at the School of design; Marie-Josée Lacroix, the City of Montreal’s first design commissioner; Philippe La- marre, founder of Urbania; Denis Lapointe, head of design at Bombardier Recreational Products; Catherine Lebrun, director of product design at lululemon; and Melissa Mongiat, co-founder of Daily tous les jours, a design studio well known to Montrealers for its swings in the Quartier des spectacles.
A tribute wall and a library
A “tribute wall” celebrates the contributions of nearly 700 faculty members and employees of the School of design. Anecdotes and artifact descriptions reveal key moments from the school’s history.
The exhibition also evokes the memory of several important members of the teaching staff who left their mark on the careers of a large number of graduates.
A library is also available to the public. More than 200 works illustrating the excellence of the research carried out at the school can be consulted on-site. These works are made accessible in large part through close collaboration with the UQAM Library Service and donations from professors.
About the curators
Marc H. Choko is Professor Emeritus at the École de design de l’UQAM, where he taught from 1977 to 2018. He was director of research at INRS Urbanisation, Culture et Société from 1985 to 2005, and he directed the Centre de design de l’UQAM from 1999 to 2008. Founder-donor of the Société des designers graphiques du Québec’s annual student poster competition, he now devotes his professional activities to publishing books, producing and curating exhibitions, and lecturing on the graphic arts.
Éric Daoust graduated with a bachelor’s degree in environmental design from UQAM, and has maintained close ties with the École de design, serving as guest critic and lecturer. For over fifteen years, he has taught a 3rd-year workshop and passed on his expertise to future designers. At the same time, he continues his professional practice with Bosses design, focusing on projects such as trophy creation, country house design, ephemeral installations, and scenography for exhibitions in major Montreal museums.
Patrick Evans is director of the Centre de design, architect and professor at UQAM’s École de design. Since 2014, he has directed the N360 Northern Design Lab, where his research projects focus on the relationship between design, climate, and energy in northern environments. He is co-founder of the MEDIUM design collective and laureate of the Ronald J. Thom Award from the Canada Council for the Arts.
