Winter City Design Competition

Calgary Winter City Design Competition

Have a Winter Dream for Calgary’s Downtown? We’d love to hear it.

As a winter city, Calgarians know the cold isn’t something to escape. It's something to embrace and celebrate, snowsuits and all! The Winter City Design Competition invites passionate and creative people to re-imagine winter. It encourages new ideas for public spaces during the cooler months.

Innovative winter design is needed for great public spaces to thrive in the colder months of the year. Winnipeg has its warming huts, Germany has its Christmas Markets. What interventions and activations could fit like a glove in Calgary’s climate and culture?

In 2026, Chinook Blast will host the Winter City Design Competition. Chinook Blast is Calgary’s winter celebration. It features a mix of events in arts, culture, sports, and unique experiences. Please visit the Chinook Blast website for further updates including information regarding the application process.

2026 competition winners

We are proud to award two winners for the 2026 Winter City Design competition. Congratulations to Out from Under the Shadow and Luminisona + for their bright and creative ideas.

The 2026 Winter City Design Competition Winners were selected in collaboration with Chinook Blast based on completing the Chinook Blast Art Installation Form and a fair and equitable jury process comprised of local artists, architects and technical specialists.

Out from Under the Shadow

Kid.Be (Bryan Faubert) and Studio 34 are innovative placemakers engaging with the concrete jungle which surrounds them. They wish to intervene in the mundane states of everyday living through tactical, urbanist interventions, filling the liminal spaces and voids of our existence with moments of the sublime.

Out from Under the Shadow is a sculptural form that will utilize shadow projections to create a greater sense of the public space in and surrounding the artwork, inviting attendees to explore and navigate this space. This sculpture will employ methods of lacemaking that involve the viewer as an integral part.

Dates: Jan. 30, 2026 – April 20, 2026
Location: Information coming in 2026

Luminisona +

Ideen and Romin Banijamali & Jacob and Simon Schon are two sets of brothers who joined forces to create a unique audio/visual art piece called “Luminisona +”. They combine their skills in various backgrounds, including engineering, architecture and business, to create this experience for festival-goers.

Luminisona + is an immersive art installation where sound and light converge to create a captivating experience. Its design is inspired by the harmony of nature and technology; the piece transforms rustic wood and modern LED systems into a living canvas of colour and sound. As visitors step inside, the lights, synchronized with the rhythm of the deep house beats, dance across the textured wooden panels, creating a visual symphony that feels alive. The installation invites passersby to pause, immerse themselves, and witness the beauty of two worlds blending seamlessly.

Dates: Jan. 30, 2026 – April 20, 2026
Location: Information coming in 2026

All past winners

View previous winners and see how they transformed downtown.

See the past winner and submissions

This information has no legal status and cannot be used as an official interpretation of the various bylaws, codes and regulations currently in effect. The City of Calgary accepts no responsibility to persons relying solely on this information. Web pages are updated periodically. ​

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