Given its openness to the world and its European heritage, Montreal’s image on the international stage is that of a cosmopolitan and cultural capital, where each neighbourhood has its own identity and each nook and cranny is utilized for sharing purposes. For many years, various organizations have seen in these locations the potential to bring communities closer together and are now introducing initiatives of a new genre by focusing on urban development.
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With their projects, our four panelists are bringing forward an alternative that places culture, togetherness and sustainable development at the center of their urban planning efforts. Convinced that the improvement of quality of life will be made by and for citizens, each of them attempts in their own way to bring drive and effervescence to the forefront, by re-injecting creativity and spontaneity in the Montreal living environment.
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Photo credit : Alexandre Guilbeault
Antoine Leduc is recognized for his vision for Montréal’s urban development. His current job is to let the Quartier de l’Innovation shine, through his role as its Communications Director. He is passionate about culture, having worked for almost 4 years at the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership.
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In his spare time, he blogs and writes articles for Abitibi-Témiscamingue’s Festival de musique émergente and for the National Film Board of Canada, where he has also worked as an online community manager.
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He was nominated for UQAM’s Prix de la relève en communication (Next Generation Prize in Communications) in 2016 and is also on the Board of Chromatic Festival.
Having graduated in Urban Design, Pauline Butiaux develops her practice through her passion for the city and the contemporary thought around it. Between Paris, New York and Montreal, her professional experiences weave themselves around the development of socio-cultural projects, with the city and the public space as supports and through alternative processes of the urban fabric.
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In 2012, she co-founded the Quebec Urban Design Association (ADUQ) in Montreal, Canada. In 2015, she became the laureate, with Manoeuvres and Ateliers créatifs Montreal, of the project of transformation of the Wellington Tower (Montreal, Canada) into an action-research and diffusion based space dedicated to urbanity.
After four years of traveling where he learned cooking, Japanese and Chinese, Frédéric settled in his native Montreal with the desire to start a business that should have a positive impact on the planet.
Passionate about human relations, Fred develops a network of many people interested in social entrepreneurship, culture, sustainable development and the re-appropriation of Montreal metro cars. He currently sits on the the Youth Forum of the Island of Montreal and on the Board of Directors of the RJCCQ.
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For his part, Étienne works hard in the arts sector to develop his curatorial and exhibition expertise and to keep up with the major trends in design and art. He currently sits on the C.A. of Culture Montréal.
He is also finishing his studies in film and visual arts, immersing himself in Montreal's cultural milieu by working in the film and television world.
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Together, they started MR-63 at the age of 25 and 23, a crazy project aiming to create a new space of discovery and culture from the old cars of Montreal’s Metro, sharing canadian art with a wider audience.
Philippe has been working in event management since the age of 16 by volunteering for summer festivals. The following years he occupied several positions in press relations, program and project managing within different companies like C2 Montreal, Spectra, Evenko and Annexe Communications. In 2015 he founded Sapin MTL, a christmas tree delivery company which got known internationally thanks to clever marketing stunts.
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Eager to get back to his first love, summer festivals, Philippe and two colleagues since founded Îlot 84, with which the three peers are multiplying new projects of events like Aire commune and Québec National Day in Villeray.