Alan DeSousa. Photo courtesy of Borough of Saint-Laurent.
A municipal politician who has made a significant contribution to sustainable development and exemplary design in Montreal will receive the 2017 RAIC Advocate for Architecture Award. The Award celebrates an individual who has made a public contribution to architecture in Canada by means other than the practice of architecture. It recognizes long-term commitment to the profession at a national, regional or local level.
Alan DeSousa has been mayor of the Borough of Saint-Laurent of the City of Montreal since 2002 and a municipal politician since 1990. He is a member of the council of the Montreal Metropolitan Community, which represents 82 municipalities.
?His work reflects a creative and effective use of the role of government in support of architecture,? said the three-member jury. ?He is a strong and effective advocate for quality architecture and urban design in Quebec, supporting a vision of modernism as well as heritage conservation.? For example, Montreal?s 2006 official designation as a UNESCO City of Design comes out of public policy documents that set design as a municipal priority. DeSousa played a leading role in the development and adoption of those documents: The Economic Development Strategy 2005-2010 defined design as a driver of economic growth, while the action plan, Montreal: City of Design/Design of a City, proposed steps such as design competitions for major public buildings.
From 2001 to 2012, De...