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Construction challenging for students with reduced mobility

by Celine Hamze on

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Construction on and around McGill’s downtown campus has been causing accessibility issues for individuals with injuries or mobility impairments. Roadwork on McTavish and Dr. Penfield is directly impacting pedestrians wishing to access the west side of campus–especially for those with reduced mobility. Construction is due to the City of Montreal’s preparation for its 375th anniversary and is set to be completed in May 2017.

Director of the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) Terri Phillips noted that construction has been especially difficult for students with reduced mobility. 

“Pathways are continually shifting and changing, which creates difficulties not only for those with mobility impairments, but also those who experience visual impairment,” Phillips said. “The unevenness and, in some instances, reduced width of these pathways create navigational barriers. Often being constructed of gravel creates challenges related to the washing out of temporary ramps, as well as uneven and debris-littered corridors.” 

Senior Director of Student Services Cara Piperni acknowledged the difficulty that users of the McGill campus are currently experiencing due to construction.

“The configuration of pathways through the construction zones are frequently changing […making] it difficult for students with mobility impairments to be able to anticipate their journey from point A to point B,” Piperni said. 

According to Phillips, McGill is committed to accommodating students with reduced mobility despite challenges created by on-campus construction during this time and is one of the few Canadian Universities that provides adapted transportation. The university runs an on-campus bus service that provides personalized transport across campus between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. This service is available to all McGill students and staff with impairments or injuries that reduce their mobility. 

“Security Services has increased the hours that the [adapted transportation] van is operating during this construction period [in order] to support the increased demand for service,” Phillips said.

Darren Elias, U1 Management, is currently experiencing reduced mobility due to surgery on his leg and explained that the adapted transportation service is sometimes difficult to utilize. 

“The minibus service closes at 5:30 p.m. and it is by a first-come, first-serve basis,” Elias said. “Since I missed the first couple weeks of school due to surgery, I had to adapt my academic schedule as there were limited openings with the adapted transportation service.” 

According to Phillips, accommodating and helping students is an ongoing process. 

“Facilities Management is working on a day to day basis with the City of Montreal to identify and rectify accessibility concerns as they arise,” Phillips said. 

According to Phillips, the city has been in communication with the OSD when major pathways are being changed. In turn, the OSD is responding to student complaints in order to solve problems on an ongoing basis. An online form on the OSD website allows students to voice their concerns with construction accessibility anonymously.

Some students have complained that it is difficult to get from Lower McTavish to Peel and Dr. Penfield by way of the Brown Building, specifically after hours. Piperni said that this issue is being addressed by extending the hours of the Brown Building to 10:30 p.m. on weekdays.

“[Student Services has] arranged for the Brown building to be open longer hours Monday [through] Friday,” Piperni said. “This will ensure safe and universally accessible route of passage to Dr. Penfield, Peel and Upper McTavish for those experiencing mobility-related barriers.”

Campbell Veasey, U2 Arts, is on crutches after hip surgery is concerned that the university is not doing enough to accommodate those students who are experiencing reduced mobility. 

“I’m not even in a wheelchair and it’s hard,” Veasey said. “Getting up and down McTavish is almost impossible, especially on rainy days [….] McGill is definitely not doing enough and if I was to pinpoint the improvement area it would be reworking their construction, parts at a time. Which is next to impossible for their agenda so I don’t really see a solution in sight.”

Commentary, Opinion

Snowden revelations: The paradox of McGill students’ support for free expression and hostility towards AMUSE

by Natalie Wong on

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The Nov. 2 live video lecture of Edward Snowden—the famous whistleblower who leaked NSA documents on mass government surveillance—was eagerly anticipated by many at McGill and within the Greater Montreal community. However, few were expecting a mosh pit of students trying to force their way into the lecture, nor the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) picketing the event. 

Snowden's presentation and live-chat were just as I had imagined: Insightful, eloquent, and inspiring. The content of Snowden’s lecture—his revelations, Bill C-51, and the attack on journalism in Canada—was not particularly unexpected. Instead, I was caught off guard by the ironic disjuncture between the students who waited for hours to hear Snowden talk about civil liberties and free expression, while dismissing—and in some cases, verbally harassing—AMUSE protesters who were peacefully exercising the very rights for which Snowden advocates. Snowden made it clear that our generation must uphold the human right to free expression. McGill students should take Snowden’s message and apply it to our university. 

AMUSE is a labour union that represents around 1,500 casual and temporary employees at McGill. AMUSE members have been working under an expired collective agreement since April 2015 and are protesting the university’s inaction in securing a new agreement for their union. AMUSE’s requests include that its members receive a minimum wage of $15/hour, paid sick days, as well as access to health, dental, disability, and parental leave benefits. During the lineup for Snowden, AMUSE members handed out fliers which claimed that their labour union was not trying to dismiss Snowden’s work in their strike. 

Understandably, many students who queued for Snowden were frustrated by the unorganized lineup of around 5,000 people, the prospect that they would not make it into the lecture hall, and the inconveniences of a picket line. Students unleashed their frustrations by yelling at AMUSE to leave, ripping up the fliers that AMUSE was handing out, and screaming obscenities at AMUSE protesters. However, these reactions were neither productive nor democratic. Unbeknownst to many, AMUSE was not actually blocking the entrance to Leacock—its protestors were just delaying entry into the building to make sure that those who were entering knew about their strike.

(Lauren Benson-Armer / The McGill Tribune)
(Lauren Benson-Armer / The McGill Tribune)

 

Some criticism was justified: AMUSE could have chosen to picket another event that was less chaotic than the Snowden talk, or it could have conducted its strike without causing as much interference or delay. Yet, regardless of whatever stance individuals took on AMUSE, the protesters had just as much right as the next person to be in that lineup. The event occurred at McGill, which is the workplace of AMUSE members and falls within the jurisdiction of its strike.

Snowden’s message supports the right of workers to voice their discontent. Whether or not one sides with AMUSE, students should stand by its right to demand change from the university. In fact, Snowden began his speech by addressing AMUSE’s picketing to ask the audience to try to understand the motives behind their strike, rather than jumping to criticize it.

“I understand there’s a strike, which caused a lot of trouble,” Snowden said. “[Don’t] hold that against the protestors. We need to remember that this is what happens in a democracy. We have inconveniences […] these are not weaknesses, but a strength. Although these individuals may have caused difficulty, it was for something that they must believe in strongly.”  

Everyone in the audience clapped when he said that, despite booing AMUSE just minutes earlier. 

By picketing the Snowden event, which was within AMUSE’s jurisdiction, protesters were democratically—albeit inconveniently—expressing their frustration with the university administration. Instead of trying to stifle the voice of AMUSE, students should have respected the integrity of its strike, or, at the very least, let the protesters speak freely about their cause. 

Hockey, Men's Varsity, Private, Sports

McGill Redmen hockey overtake Laurentian Voyageurs in second period sweep

by Patrick Beacham on

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The McGill Redmen (7-2-0) overcame a tenacious first period performance by the Laurentian Voyageurs (4-5-0) with three goals in the second period to win 6-2 at McConnell Arena on Saturday.

“It was a great win, team effort,” second-year right-winger Christophe Lalonde said. “We had a slow start [in the] first five minutes, but then we came back and pushed up the pace, and just kept grinding.”

The first five minutes of the game culminated in a Voyageurs goal. A ten-minute stretch of intense back-and-forth with multiple shots on net followed.

“Our game plan was to put the puck below the red line, the goal line, and then just apply pressure on their defence and then shoot from everywhere,” Lalonde said.

While the strategy eventually resulted in two first period goals for McGill, it also caused numerous turnovers in the offensive zone that forced the Redmen defence to scramble back and nullify the ensuing breakaways.

“In a game like tonight, the [offensive] turnovers [were not] a big deal,” McGill fifth-year defenceman Nathan Chiarlitti said. “We just [needed] to get a little bit of momentum going, but we’ll just try and work on that throughout the season.”

This ultra-aggressive approach reaped rewards for the Redmen who took the lead with three goals in the second period. Ultimately, a slew of penalties in the third period ended any momentum for Laurentian as McGill’s strong powerplay team dominated.

“Special teams were good on both sides [powerplay and penalty kill],” Redmen Head Coach Kelly Nobes said. “We had everybody going tonight, all four lines, six defence, our goalie, there were no passengers and that’s a lot of fun to play like that, so that’s the positives of tonight.”

The next games for McGIll hockey will be at Waterloo against Laurier on Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Waterloo on Nov. 12 at 4 p.m. 

“The focus is going to be on the hard work and being ready to start the game on time, because we’re not doing that lately,” Redmen defenceman Redgie Bois said. “Just be ready, and I think it’s going to go well.”

 

Stat Corner

The Redmen took 43 shots on net to get their six goals, whereas the Voyageurs only managed to get 22 shots past a strong McGill defensive line.

 

Quotable

“We just kept shooting — we knew that the goalie was going to at least [mess up] once.” – McGill’s Christophe Lalonde on the team’s offensive strategy.

 

Moment of the Game

McGill’s Redgie Bois, following a powerplay goal by Laurentian, broke into the offensive zone and scored, the rapidity of their response dashing any hopes of a Voyageur comeback.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

A behind-the-scenes look at McGill on the big screen

by Ariella Garmaise on

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In the climactic scene of 2008’s Get Smart, Maxwell Smart (Steve Carrell) hastily scans his surroundings, desperate to escape a holding cell, where the fictional CONTROL intelligence agency is keeping him captive. In a crucial final moment, he notices the film’s iconic red convertible, and uses the automobile to crash out of the CONTROL facility. What most moviegoers do not know is that the interior of the holding cell is actually McGill’s Redpath Museum, and the doors that Carrell’s fiery red car furiously barge through belong to the university’s postcard-perfect Arts Building. 

Get Smart is only one of the countless box office hits shot at McGill, which include X-Men: Days of Future Past, North Pole, and Warm Bodies. Two weeks ago, students were thrilled to spot Ben Stiller wandering around campus, working on his next project. Behind collaborations like these are people like Rosetta Vannelli, the associate director of Housing & Conferences, and Stephanie Miller, the administrative coordinator for Student Housing & Conference Services. Vannelli and Miller coordinate the process of arranging films to shoot at McGill. They filter requests, negotiate and arrange payments with campus stakeholders, help scout locations, and build and maintain relationships with film bureaus and location managers. 

Vannelli shared a tidbit from her experience as a coordinator during the filming of Get Smart at McGill. 

“In the filming of the Get Smart movie, when the car exits through the Arts Building front doors onto the steps, the crew realized at the last minute that the width of the door would not permit the car to pass through due to the side mirrors, so they had to remove them for the scene […] and then you see the car again on the campus grounds and the mirrors are on!” Vanelli said. 

Montreal has long been a cinematic hub, a key location for major motion pictures like White House Down, Brooklyn,  and Stephen Spielberg’s The Terminal. Montreal’s appeal as a location is its malleability, and at the centre of that appeal is McGill. A historic institution within a busy city, McGill had doubled as everything from the Pentagon to Harvard. 

“We have a variety of buildings with a variety of styles allowing us to appeal to a broad range of films or televisions series, etc […]” Vannelli explained. “As location managers say, they can shoot anything at McGill from a period piece, to an 90s series scene to a contemporary scene to a futuristic science fiction scene all in one day in one location!” 

Montreal’s fusion of historic European architecture, artistic culture, and modern urban life makes it unique for its inhabitants as well as for film viewers. On film, however, this distinct combination can be easily manipulated to portray virtually any other city in the world. 

“Montreal was the only city in North America that gave us the flexibility to double [for] Paris, New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia,” said Jim Young, producer of The Words, in an interview with the Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC).

The relationship between McGill and film production is symbiotic.

 “Certainly, there is financial gain for the university with such a program in this form of an alternate revenue,” said Miller. 

Generally, access fees range between $2,000 and $4,000 a day, but this fee is location-dependent; buildings like Redpath Museum and the Faculty Club are more expensive. Access fees are only part of the economic implications. The university also charges building service staff, parking, and security service fees. This profit benefits the university in a multitude of ways. 

“I always try to provide at least 25 per cent [of the fees paid by the filmmakers] directly to the faculty [where the project is being filmed]. As well, a percentage of the overall access fee is returned to the university as part of the Student Housing and Hospitality Services commitment,” Vannelli said in an interview for McGill’s alumni magazine, McGill News.  

However, McGill focuses on more than profit, and is well aware of the cultural impact their historic setting holds. McGill makes a concerted effort to help Quebec and Montreal based artists by giving subsidies to projects with low production budgets. 

“We feel it is important to support the local filmmakers and encourage this industry,” Miller explained. 

McGill is one of many Canadian universities that uses their campus as locations for film. Many universities, especially schools near cities with thriving film industries like the University of Toronto and Simon Frasier University, have media relations departments dedicated to work with film production companies. 

McGill has promoted its successes in the film industry to other universities in Montreal. 

“We are quite proud of the reputation we have with the location managers and with the City of Montreal Film and TV Commission,” explained Vannelli. “We have been asked in the past to speak to other Montreal universities about the processes.” 

Filming on campus poses many benefits to universities; however, big productions may also disrupt student life. 

“Film crews have a habit of taking over an assigned space in [a] bold fashion, and tend to forget that they are in a university setting,” explained Vannelli, “We learned very quickly to put safeguards in place that minimize the inconvenience that may be caused.” 

“We generally permit shoots mainly in summer when there is a smaller student population on campus,” explained Miller. “Proper communication is key!’ 

Beyond the McGill campus, Montreal is a desirable destination for filmmakers. From a financial perspective, Montreal is attractive because it offers tax incentives. The QFTC advertises that, “Quebec offers some of the most advantageous cash rebates available in North America,” with, “20 per cent cash-back on all expenses.” Larry Franco, a line producer of White House Down, told QFTC that Montreal was $25 million cheaper than elsewhere. 

Montreal also offers superior technological support. The QFTC explains that Montreal has over 40 visual effect companies, making it one of the best cities for post-production work in the world.  

Juan Diego Solanas, director of 2012’s Upside Down, told QFTC, “I was so impressed by the professionalism of the technicians here, and the DOP’s [Director of Photography], they are unbelievable.”

Beyond the technical components, the filming process also places Montreal—and more specifically, McGill—at the centre of an illuminating artistic experience. Vannelli explained that it’s particularly interesting to have insight into the artistic development of a film. She and Miller have witnessed all aspects of this creative process; Vannelli was in awe of acclaimed 27-year-old director Xavier Dolan and his work on the film Mommy, which he filmed at the Arts Building. 

“As he explained the scene to his crew during a technical visit, it was easy to envision the scene as he likely saw it in his own mind […] a masterful director!” Vannelli remembered.

Filming at McGill gives students an exciting opportunity to recognize their alma mater on the big screen. More than that, it is a chance to watch talented actors and directors work to produce a creative vision, and a source of inspiration for students with the hopes of one day putting their Hollywood dreams into action. 

McGill, News

Drop in appointments overhauled at McGill Counselling and Mental Health Services

by Domenic Casciato on

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Starting this October, receiving medical notes for exam and assignment deferrals has been made substantially more difficult. With the ongoing integration of McGill Counselling and Mental Health Services (MCMHS), drop in appointments at the student mental health clinic have been overhauled. As a part of this change, students will no longer be able to receive medical notes during drop in hours unless they meet the criteria for the newly designed “Safety Appointments.”

Safety Appointments function the same as drop in appointments, but they are reserved for students who are considered urgent cases. This includes those who are having thoughts of harming themselves or others, have had a recent drug overdose, have recently attempted suicide, or been hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. It also includes those who have recently been physically assaulted, are feeling disconnected from reality, or are fearing for their physical safety. Drop in hours for students with psychological ailments that do not meet these criteria have been eliminated. For these students, medical notes will be available only if they have had past appointments at MCMHS.

According to the Director of McGill Counselling Service Dr. Vera Romano, MCMHS was faced with significant issues with wait times for both drop-ins and scheduled appointments.

“One of the key rationales for delineating the safety appointments [was] the fact that, when the intake process got bottlenecked, […] it created situations where a lot of [the] urgent appointments […] were filled,” Romano said. “Those who actually were in danger or were in grave need did not have access.We did not implement a change in our [medical note] policy. We have implemented changes that have to do with access, and those have ramifications on how students access medical notes.”

According to Romano, the overhaul of MCMHS is a continuing process.

“It’s very important to communicate that we have not yet finished the launch,” Romano said.  “That is, we’re still in design stage. We’re looking for feedback to see what’s working [and] what’s not.”

The availability of medical notes is one of many items that Student Services plans to address as they continue to tweak MCMHS following its integration. According to the Interim Senior Director of Student Services Cara Piperni, the administration is looking into a number of options to address the issue of medical notes.

“We’re looking at the possibility of having a case manager, like a nurse or a social worker, and they could have time carved out to deal with [medical notes],” Piperni said. “We are looking at the possibility of defining ‘urgent appointments.’”

According to Piperni, it is unlikely that urgent appointments could be used to receive medical documentation for exam deferrals.

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) University Affairs Erin Sobat thinks that the policy change was shortsighted.

“I don’t think that [they are] considering the reality of how accommodation works,” Sobat said.

Sobat has reached out to Student Services in order to negotiate making medical notes more widely available within the new urgent care system.

“I don’t think Student Services fully understands the fact that [they] are basically hanging out to dry this category of students that doesn’t meet this threshold of urgent need,” Sobat said.

Caitlin Courchesne, U3 Science, feels conflicted about the changes. She understands the rationale, but, as a former drop in patient at MCMHS, she is simultaneously frustrated.

“You might not know exactly what a mental health disorder is until it presents itself under a situation of high stress,” Courchesne said. “In the context of [the] exam period, I can imagine that there is probably an influx of students who go [to drop in appointments]. If someone is going who doesn’t need it, then that puts someone else who really does need to access the service at a disadvantage.”

However, Courchesne also feels it is difficult to define a person’s need for mental health services and is worried that without access to medical notes, many students will lack the time necessary to seek mental health support.

“What is the definition of who needs it and who doesn’t? That’s a spectrum,” Courchesne said. “I’ve used emergency drop in during exam time. I went through a loss during [an exam period]. I lost my grandmother. That, by definition, wouldn’t qualify for me to get exempt from an exam anymore [….] It's just frustrating for me to look back on that.”

Out on the Town, Student Life

Coffee shops that are actually conducive to studying

by Flaminia Cooper on

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With midterm season coming to an end, many McGill students have finally left the library and emerged into the daylight again. Unfortunately, these few exam-free weeks are short lived. Finals are slowly creeping up and, personally, I am not ready to set up camp in McLennan again. This is where Montreal’s well-known café culture becomes enticing. There is an endless number of places where you can find a change of scenery, get your daily coffee fix, and retain your last shred of sanity until exams are over. Cafés can be a hit or miss when it comes to their potential as a study space, with their varying noise levels and sometimes unreliable Wi-fi. Fortunately, I have tried and tested several in the downtown area surrounding campus for their potential as a study space. 

 

(Hannah Taylor / The McGill Tribune)
(Hannah Taylor / The McGill Tribune)

Cafe Humble Lion:

904 rue Sherbrooke O.
This small quirky cafe is just opposite the Roddick Gates on Sherbrooke, making it the most conveniently-located place on this list if you are already on campus. The staff are always friendly, and the coffee is some of the best I’ve had in Montreal. Their menu includes a range of small, delicious items for a small lunch or snack, although this limits the number of hours I can spend here, before  need a proper meal at some point during the day. The music isn’t too loud or disturbing, and the atmosphere and decor is really pleasant. It can get fairly crowded during peak hours and weekdays because of its downtown location, but is relatively quiet over the weekends, so it caters to almost all study environment preferences, depending on the day. It isn’t ideal if you like to spread your books and notes out, as their tables and countertops are quite small. However, the wifi is very fast, so I would recommend going here alone to catch up on lecture notes or answer emails. Cafe Humble Lion has 3.5 stars on Yelp, but as a student, I think it deserves a higher rating.


Yelp rating: 3.8/5
Tribune rating: 4.5/5

Price: $$
 

(Ellen Owsowitz / The McGill Tribune)
(Ellen Owsowitz / The McGill Tribune)

Cafe Nocturne:

19 rue Prince Arthur O.

Formerly called Café Kitsune, this study spot isn’t the biggest of places, but still feels very spacious with the large amount of natural light, in part beacause of its floor-to-ceiling windows. The high communal tables inside are wide enough to fit all of your study materials, though this is not preferable for someone who tends to feel claustrophobic, or needs their own personal space when studying. The Wi-fi works well, the lighting is good, and most of the customers are students, which can be motivating, since everyone else is also working on schoolwork. The music is on the alternative side and can be loud at times, and there are often people walking in and out of the shop. I would recommend bringing earplugs or headphones if you are easily distracted. As a study space, Café Nocturne is still high up on my list with its fun atmosphere and convenient location; however, I have given it a lower rating than Yelp because of the noisy and heavily-trafficked environment can be.

Yelp Rating: 4.5/5

Tribune Rating: 4/5 

Price: $$

 

(Ellen Owsowitz / The McGill Tribune)
(Ellen Owsowitz / The McGill Tribune)

Cafe Parvis:

433 Rue Mayor

More of a restaurant than a coffee house, Café Parvis provides the perfect motivation to get up in the morning and treat yourself to a good brunch while studying. The space is practically made for Instagram, with plenty of natural light, aesthetically-pleasing decor of soft tones, and plants hanging from the ceiling. It has a bar where you can sit with a coffee or tea and work for a couple of hours without too much disruption from those eating lunch at the tables. It’s not ideal for group studying, but provides a nice atmosphere to finish that assignment on which you’ve been putting off for a while. There might be too much going on in the background to concentrate for extended periods of time; therefore, the space works better for smaller tasks that don’t require extended focus, such as answering emails. It can get extremely busy during lunch and dinner as well, and the number of people studying at Café Parvis is quickly replaced by parties eating meals rather than studying. For this reason, I would highly recommend going as early in the morning as possible—7 a.m. on week days and 10 a.m. on week nights.

Yelp Rating: 4.3/5

Tribune Rating: 3.5/5

Price: $$


(Margaux Delalex / The McGill Tribune)
(Margaux Delalex / The McGill Tribune)

Anticafé:

294 rue Sainte-Catherine O.

Probably the quirkiest place on the list, the Anticafé is a place for those who get too distracted when they study at home, but can’t stand working in the library or more commercial cafés. Open until 11 p.m. every night, Anticafé is an apartment in Place des Arts that has been converted into a public space with mismatched tables and couches in every room. Instead of buying your coffee and snacks, you pay for the amount of time you stay here, starting at $3 up to a maximum of $9. This provides you with unlimited coffee, tea, and cookies, and you can heat up any food you bring in the microwave or toaster. The second floor is reasonably quiet, and has a great view of Place des Arts; however, the overall atmosphere was a little too relaxed for me, with a lot of people walking around or having casual conversations instead of working. 

Yelp Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Tribune Rating: 3/5 stars

Price: $

(Margaux Delalex / The McGill Tribune)
(Margaux Delalex / The McGill Tribune)

Cafe OSMO:

51 rue Sherbrooke O.

Café OSMO was specifically created as a social workspace geared towards students and entrepreneurs. It is furnished with modern decor and plenty of space where you can spread out your work and get comfortable. The room itself is quite spacious, with large windows and skylights that let in plenty of natural light, despite being a basement property. The WiFi is extremely fast, and there are plenty of electrical sockets dotting the walls, ensuring that you can always charge your laptop, phone, or tablet when you need to. The space  is optimal for both group projects and individual studying. Unfortunately, the café closes at 6 p.m. every day, and is closed on the weekends, which isn’t very practical when your next midterm is on a Monday. Even so, when Café OSMO is open, I always get plenty of work done.

Yelp Rating: 4.2/5

Tribune Rating: 4/5

Price: $$$

Science & Technology

Joint McGill-Concordia team design net-zero energy dwelling at 2017 Solar Decathlon China

by Julia Briand on

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Students and faculty from McGill and Concordia have teamed up to construct a sustainable dwelling to enter the 2017 Solar Decathlon China. This year the competition will be held in Dezhou, China’s ‘Solar Valley’–so named because of the region’s focus on solar power generation. The design theme of this year’s competition is the construction of a two-story solar-powered house for a single family in Dezhou.

Team Montreal is comprised of students and faculty from several different departments at Concordia and McGill. The diverse group of faculty support have experience in team management, research, and sustainable building practices.

An international extension to a U.S. Department of Energy program which has been held biennially since 2002, the Solar Decathlon China was started in 2011, in partnership with China’s National Energy Administration, as a contest where university teams from four different continents compete to construct the greenest dwelling. These contestants must design a functional, comfortable, and sustainable home by connecting clean energy technology, energy conservation, and environmental stewardship with creative architectural design. Their successful designs have been used to model the future of sustainable living and to stimulate future development and ecological awareness. The Solar Decathlon China requires that the residence be equipped with the necessary appliances for occupancy by a real family. The designs are evaluated by a panel of experts on the bases of cost, efficiency, power capacity, and architectural quality.

Team Montreal developed a Deep-Performance Dwelling (DPD) design that is applicable to both the living context in Dezhou and in Montreal. The team plans to construct a permanent home in both cities. The DPD is meant for an urban setting and is inspired by iconic designs like the Montreal Rowhouse and the Siheyuan Courtyard house, taking a culturally integrative approach.

“‘Deep-Performance’ implies a socially, culturally, and technologically advanced architecture that embodies qualitative and quantitative notions of performance in addressing energy efficiency, comfort, well-being, affordability, environmental sustainability, and ecological awareness,” Team Montreal writes on its website.

Through typological architecture, the dwelling is innovatively designed as a net-zero energy and low-to-zero carbon system housing unit.

“Our approach to net-zero energy is through Passive House design and construction principles,” Ben Wareing, architecture lead for the team, said. ”This methodology allows us to reduce the energy demand by 70 to 80 per cent, [while] the remaining demand met by the [solar] photovoltaic system on the roof.”

The house design promotes an interplay between technological advancement and sustainable living. For example, inhabitants are made aware of solar power usage, among other data, from

sensors within the house, encouraging an ecologically-minded lifestyle through visualization. The core of the DPD design is flexibility and adaptability through time.

Team Montreal’s innovative design draws from multiple disciplines to encourage learning and research in a variety of fields.

“It’s a great pedagogical opportunity for our students because the project itself is based on innovation and collaboration,” Carmela Cucuzella, associate professor from the Department of Design and Computation Art at Concordia and one of the main faculty members involved, explained. “It’s hard to get such an opportunity at an undergraduate level, so we are very excited.”

The team is supported by distinguished research labs, such as the Facility for Architectural Research in Media and Mediation (FARMM) at McGill, the Centre for Zero-Energy Building Studies (CZEBS) at Concordia, and the Topological Media Lab (TML) at Concordia.

“We would like to create awareness and prove that if students can provide affordable net-zero energy housing, then the industry should be able to apply these design principles and techniques [as well],” Wareing said. “We are trying to propagate an approach that encompasses socio-cultural, economic, and environmental aspects [… towards] a holistic approach to sustainability.”

 
Arts & Entertainment, Music, Pop Rhetoric

Pop Rhetoric: Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureaute

by Eric Noble-Marks on

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By now, you probably already know that Bob Dylan’s Nobel prize win is either a triumph of lyrics as literature or the harbinger of the decline of Western civilization. Over the past few weeks, the announcement has led to an all-consuming blaze of Internet think pieces. There’s been an explosion of responses that few artists (other than Kanye), let alone septuagenarian folk icons, are capable of starting. Intrepid writers both affirm and condemn the notion of lyrics as poetry, deftly expose the Nobel committee’s bias towards white, male writers, and question why such an esteemed artist needs the award at all. In an astoundingly complex display of mental and verbal acrobatics, a Telegraph op-ed even dared to compare Dylan’s victory to the rise of Donald Trump. 

The cultural legacy of Bob Dylan is undeniable. Biographies of the man (including those written by Anthony Scaduto and Howard Sounes) border on portraying him as a saint. Bob Dylan had his finger on the pulse of 1960s America. Whether skewering well-meaning elitism in “Like a Rolling Stone,” attacking entrenched racism in “Hurricane,” or simply, beautifully pointing out that “The Times They are A-Changin’”, Dylan had something insightful to say on almost every subject in the most turbulent decade of the post-war era. Lyrically, he was the best of them all. If any musician were to be considered a literary force, it’s him. Leonard Cohen put it best when he said that giving Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize was like “pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the tallest mountain.” To say he doesn’t need the Nobel Prize is an understatement. It’s an honour but an afterthought, considering the cultural colossus that Dylan has become in past decades. 

With this in mind, the controversy isn’t really whether Bob Dylan deserves the Nobel prize. In terms of cultural impact, of course he does. It’s more a dispute of the prize’s purpose.  Some may question the committee’s decision to recognize a pop culture icon like Dylan, who played to thousands of adoring baby boomers for outrageous prices at last week’s Desert Trip Festival in Indio, California instead of choosing a more unheralded literary figure (as was the case with last year’s winner Alice Munro). Others may argue that the Nobel Prize should seek to recognize and advance traditional literature—a field already under siege by a plethora of new media. 

Addressing these concerns involves doing more than talking about Bob Dylan or the Nobel Prize; it means talking about literature. Just as Mother Theresa and Barack Obama’s Peace Prize wins got us talking about the complexities of peace in modern, Western society, Bob Dylan’s triumph behooves us to do the same for literature. Even the staunchest Dylan fan would admit that his Nobel Prize win is controversial, but if it takes controversy to have meaningful conversations about what’s culturally important in 2016, that’s a good thing. Accepting “Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate” for many involves a relaxing of intellectual standards or even a suspension of disbelief. Cultural awards remain as subjective as they are contentious. But, if these critics remain skeptical of Bob Dylan’s value as an author, they can find a silver lining in the bounty of valuable discussion going on in personal conversations, interviews and yes, online think-pieces. As we approach the end of a turbulent 2016, this open communication is just what we need. 

Art, Arts & Entertainment, Music

In virtual reality: Entertainment and enlightenment at Björk Digital

by Joshua Fichman-Goldberg on

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Drifting off to sleep after attending Björk Digital, I found myself in an ontological panic. I was falling into a strange half-dream-state that had me questioning the true nature of reality. 

Montrealers have one week left to enter the mouth of Björk, the iconic Icelandic singer. After the Björk Digital exhibit at Centre Phi Gallery closes, museum-goers will no longer have the privilege of staring into her epiglottis as her voice lifts them into a space beyond reality. The Björk Digital virtual reality (VR) experience is, as one would imagine, a surreal trip. It is moving, disturbing, bizarre, and enlightening. It is undoubtedly the future of experiential media. 

After making stops in London, New York, Sydney, and Tokyo, the multimedia exhibit has come to Montreal as part of this year’s Red Bull Music Academy, a travelling culture festival featuring music, talks, and installations. Throughout her career, Björk has consistently pushed boundaries—and not only with her music. Her artistic persona explores our primal instincts and our role in the natural world. In crafting content for VR, she has created art that challenges our perceptions and extends our sensory experience to new landscapes. 

For many exhibit attendees, this will be the first time putting on a virtual reality (VR) headset. The exhibit consists of five VR music videos from her most recent album, Vulnicura. A second gallery displays Björk’s new Biophilia app and a reel of her latest videos. 

From the outset, viewers might be skeptical about the emotional impact of a VR music video. The first video for “Black Lake” confirms these suspicions: It’s gimmicky and doesn’t take full advantage of VR as an interactive medium. Thankfully, the exhibit gets progressively better. A highlight is the somewhat claustrophobic experience of being inside Björk’s mouth as she sings “Mouth Mantra.” The video for “Quicksand” is mesmerizing, involving animated grains of sand that dance around the viewer’s head, forming abstract images. 

The final video for “Family” is the most exciting use of the technology. The viewer is standing upright with the VR headset, holding two controllers that allow for interaction with a virtual environment. With the headset on, viewers see the movement of their own hands and arms, allowing them to reach out and touch their environment. An animated version of Björk sings and takes viewers flying through a sea of animated vulvae. The experience feels oddly emotional, as one experiences a degree of intimacy with the artist that would not be possible in any other medium. The fourth wall is broken, and the barrier between technology and reality is blurred. 

Despite this success, there is no doubt that the technology is still primitive. VR is a young yet  rapidly expanding industry, with the market expected to grow to $120 billion USD by 2020. At times, this exhibit feels like a prototype experiment in an emerging media platform. The display is pixelated and the clunky Samsung Galaxy headset risks causing neck pain after an hour. The medium is clearly still in its early stages, but when the technology advances, the possibilities for storytelling are endless. But, despite the technological downfalls, the exhibit is still undoubtedly worth attending. This is an exciting opportunity to partake in the emergence of a platform that is sure to become hugely popular in a number of years. 

As our media landscape shifts into uncharted territory, this multimedia exhibition is an example of how interactive technology can revolutionize our perception of the world around us, causing us to question the nature of reality. 

Björk Digital is an ongoing exhibition at the DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art at 451 Rue Saint-Jean in Old Montreal. It will end on November 12th. Book your appointment at http://dhc-art.org/

  

Features

Out and about: A visual diary of St-Laurent’s nightlife

by Laurie-Anne Benoit on

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It’s a cold Friday night in November, yet the street is busier than ever. People are crowded on the sidewalks, waiting in disorderly lines and eager to get into the coolest bars and clubs. Cigarette smoke mixes with the cold air as enthusiastic chatter rings over the noise of the traffic. People lean on window ledges, posing for the perfect selfie or Snapchat, while others devour steamies from La Belle Province or 2Chow noodles. Every so often, fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances race through the scene of revelry. Undoubtedly, boulevard St-Laurent is a staple of Montreal’s nightlife scene. It is a familiar location that holds countless memories for many students. 

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