Winners created exciting visions for Calgary, said judges. Nabeel Ramji, CEO of Pedesting, served as one of the judges for the Green Line portion of the challenge. He said that it was a powerful thing to see students thinking about the spaces they were designing, and in a way that reflected the needs of everyday people and those with mobility challenges.
“Every year, the students get better and better, and I’m grateful to be a part of it. It’s amazing that someone can take something like Minecraft and create a world that opens up possibilities,” he said.
Creative Designs for Calgary
Ward 8 Councillor Courtney Walcott, who prior to being elected as a city councillor was a high school teacher, praised the design work that the students created because it represented a creative and great vision for Calgary.
“When I think about these locations, whether or not it’s the Green Line station or Haultain Park, these beautiful locations are made to become something more than what they are today,” Coun. Walcott said.
“Haultain Park is actually being reimagined right now. There’s a significant amount of work by other creators to turn that park into something else, and so while you’re here, creating a vision for it, someone else is creating a vision for it. There’s an exciting opportunity to see how they align right in the end. Same story for the Green Line station.”
He said that the one thing that students always do better than adults is to step out of their comfort zones to be creative in unexpected ways.
Finalist and winning entries will be available to be viewed in the Central Library throughout July, and all of the winning entries can be viewed at calgary.ca/levelup.