See the winners here: https://www.cca.qc.ca/charrette/2024/winners.html

This year’s edition of the charrette, titled Beyond the Roof, was based on the idea that spaces that exist on the world’s rooftops are underutilized and remain uninvested. It invited participants to choose the roof of an existing building and propose an intervention that may take advantage of, or challenge, the roof as a fifth facade, and call into question the notions of property, habitat, use, and legislation.

Nicell and Godfrey’s proposal, titled Pantheon, sprang from discussions about the tendency of modern skyscrapers to cast shadows upon buildings below them and how shadow could ruin a famous roof.

“Plugging the oculus of the Pantheon with a giant rubber bath plug serves to sever this ancient masterpiece’s unique relationship with the sky,” they explain.

“Through leaving the hole in the roof open, Emperor Hadrian effectively made the sky a part of his roof. Now that this has been taken away, the great chamber below is plunged into darkness, and the building loses much of its appeal. The concept serves as an extreme example of how shadow can ruin an architectural masterpiece.”

The jury evaluated 48 proposals by teams composed of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent graduates from the Université de Montréal, McGill University, Concordia University, UQAM, Carleton University, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, Université Laval, University of Waterloo, University of British Columbia, and Ontario College of Art and Design University.

Participating teams had four days to develop a proposal in response to the theme.

The entire fourth-year studio at the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism, led by Associate Professor Inderbir Riar, Professor Greg Andonian, Adjunct Professor Eric Archambault, and Instructor Jay Lim, took part.

Lim’s group includes Nicell and Godfrey. “It was an opportunity to put Carleton’s best against other schools,” he said.

The studio, 25:8 City_Urban Trialities, is exploring architectural programming that can make a city active 25 hours: 8 days a week. The project is in LeBreton Flats. The students will also enter their projects in the National Capital Commission national student competition, National Urban Design Challenge 2024.

The jury members for the CCA contest were:

• Nicolay Boyadjiev, an architect and creative director based between Copenhagen, Sofia and Los Angeles;

• Daniel Zamarbide, an architect recognized both in Switzerland and internationally for his experience in the design and construction of research-oriented architecture;

• Alena Prochazka, who holds a PhD in Urban Studies and has led an international research team about urban roofscapes through the prism of energy and ecosystems.  

The annual Interuniversity Charrette, initiated in 1995 by the CCA in Montreal, Que., is open to students and recent graduates in architecture, landscape architecture, urbanism, environmental design, urban design, industrial design, and graphic design.

This year’s edition was organized by the CCA in partnership with the Université du Québec à Montréal, the Université de Montréal, and McGill University.