YING GAO, 2009 RECIPIENT
This year the Phyllis Lambert Design Montréal Grant is awarded to university professor and fashion designer Ying Gao. The $10,000 grant will enable Ms Gao to design “modulatable” garments, whose construction will be directly inspired by transformations in the urban environments of Berlin and Nagoya, both of which share UNESCO City of Design status with Montréal. In addition, the Ville de Montréal will contribute $5,000 to assist the recipient in promoting and disseminating her project.
The jury members were unanimous in acknowledging the relevance of the link between the research project and the chosen cities (Berlin and Nagoya), and in their enthusiasm for picking this candidate. Ying Gao has had a remarkable career thus far, having presented her projects in well-known venues in Montréal, Switzerland and Belgium, which demonstrates her desire to disseminate and share knowledge.
CREATING “MODULATABLE” GARMENTS
Ying Gao’s project proposal is for a study trip involving a reflection on the function of apparel. Her original and rigorous creative approach challenges the notion of garments as we know them. Her work investigates the modular nature of clothing and its construction by observing transformations in urban spaces. For this new project, the conceptual and esthetic framework of her designs will draw inspiration from the cities of Berlin and Nagoya, especially their impressive mass-transit systems. Ying Gao will be developing her project in collaboration with two Berlin-based designers as well as the Japanese industrial firm Amaike Textile Industry, inventor of the world’s lightest fabric.
The production phase of the project will extend over the next eight months. Ying Gao will present the outcomes of her research in Montréal by means of exhibitions, conferences, publications and teaching, and will also give presentations in Berlin (during Fashion Week) and Nagoya (Nagoya Design Do! Competition) in 2010.
YING GAO, UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND FASHION DESIGNER
Ying Gao is Director of the Exercices de style design laboratory and a professor at UQAM’s Graduate School of Fashion as well as its School of Design. In 2002 and 2003, she completed a double project that included two clothing collections, “Pékin” and “Accidents de parcours,” inspired by the traditional hutong architecture of Beijing as well as the city’s newer urbanization. Returning to Montréal in September 2003, Ying Gao tackled the projects “Cardigan météorologue” (2005) and “Indice de l’indifférence” (2006), in which she investigated the relationships between individuals, their cities and their climatic and social environments. Ying Gao created two new projects, “Walking City” and “Living Pod,” in 2007 and 2008. These involved two types of interactive garments, one inflatable and the other light-sensitive, developed as a tribute to the British architectural collective Archigram.
MEMBERS OF THE JURY
- Giovanna Borasi, CCA Curator of Contemporary Architecture
- Benoit Dupuis, MOAQ, Partner and Design Principal, ACDF
- Angela Grauerholz, Director of the Design Centre, UQAM
- Marie-Josée Lacroix, Director of Design Montréal, Ville de Montréal
- Mario Masson, Division Manager, Direction des grands parcs et de la nature en ville, Ville de Montréal
PHYLLIS LAMBERT
Phyllis Lambert - CC, GOQ, CAL, FIRAC, FRSC, FRIBA (Hon.), FAIA (Hon.), LL D
Phyllis Lambert, architect, is Founding Director and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montréal, an international research centre and museum founded in 1979 on the conviction that architecture is a public concern. Based on its extensive collections, the CCA is a leading voice in advancing knowledge, promoting public understanding, and widening thought and debate on the art of architecture, its history, theory, practice, and role in society today.
Phyllis Lambert first made architectural history as the Director of Planning of the Seagram Building (1954-58) in New York City. She is recognized internationally both for her contribution in advancing contemporary architecture and for her concern for the social issues of urban conservation and the role of architecture in the public realm.
With a parallel commitment to intervention in the urban fabric, Lambert founded Héritage Montréal in 1975, and four years later was instrumental in establishing the Société d'Amélioration de Milton-Parc, the largest non-profit cooperative housing renovation project in Canada. As member of the McGill College Committee with the Montréal Chamber of Commerce in 1984, Lambert initiated the process of public consultation as a way of involving the public in decisions concerning development of the city. Subsequently, she was named member of the Public Consultation Committee of the Vieux-Port de Montréal, the body responsible for the historic area’s transformation from industrial to societal use. From 1984 to 2007, Lambert was a member of the Board of the Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal. In 1996, Lambert formed the Fonds d’Investissement de Montréal (FIM), the only private investment fund in Canada participating in the revitalization of housing in low- and medium-income neighbourhoods. Lambert is currently a participant in the renewal of Montréal’s downtown west quarter, through the Table de concertation du centre-ville Ouest, the roundtable she initiated in 2005.
Lambert has pioneered publications on photography and architecture, landscape, gardens, and the history of Montréal, as well as leading architects. Her writings include a number of major essays and contributions to books such as: Court House: A Photographic Document; Photography and Architecture; Architecture and Its Image; Canadian Centre for Architecture: Buildings and Gardens; Opening the Gates of Eighteenth-Century Montréal; Fortifications and the Synagogue: The Fortress of Babylon and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, Cairo; Viewing Olmsted: Photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander, and Geoffrey James; En Chantier, the Collections of the CCA, 1989 - 1999; and Mies in America.
With major contributions to scholarship and architecture, as well as a tireless commitment to civic activism, Phyllis Lambert has been recognized with numerous awards and distinctions. She holds honorary degrees from over two dozen universities in North America and Europe. Having received the Massey Medal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada for the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montréal, Lambert subsequently was elected Fellow of the Institute, and in 1991 received its highest award, the RAIC Gold Medal. Numerous prestigious awards followed: the Prix Gérard-Morisset of the Government of Québec for museology and conservation; the World Monuments Fund’s Hadrian Award, for the preservation of international cultural heritage; and the Vincent J. Scully Prize from the National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., for outstanding contributions to the design of the built environment, advancement of public awareness of design, and dedication to architectural preservation. This past year she received the Prix d’Excellence de l’Opération Patrimoine Architectural of the City of Montréal and Héritage Montréal, in recognition of her efforts to preserve the city’s heritage; the Preservation League of New York State’s Pillar of New York Award, for contributions to historic preservation; and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, conferred by the Canada Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.. Lambert is recipient of the 2008 Iris Foundation Award, from the Bard Graduate Center, New York, for outstanding contributions to the decorative arts and the 2008 Jane Jacobs Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Urban Institute, for exemplary leadership and achievements in the betterment of the public realm.
Phyllis Lambert has received the highest civil honours in Canada as Companion of the Order of Canada and Grand Officier de l’Ordre national du Québec. France has appointed her Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and l’Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie has named her Chevalier of the Ordre de la Pléiade. Lambert is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.