Friday, January 18, marked the official opening of 4TH SPACE on Concordia’s downtown campus.
Canadian Member of Parliament Marc Miller and Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante were among the members of the Montreal community at the launch of the innovative venue located on the corner of De Maisonneuve and Mackay Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard.
A mash-up of a living lab, science centre, design showroom, exhibition space and theatre set, 4TH SPACE is designed to connect people with knowledge creation.
“This project is an imaginative and inclusive way to open up the walls of the academy and show off what we’re doing to our own community, to our neighbours and to our visitors,” says Justin Powlowski, associate vice-president of Strategy and Operations.
Here’s a sample of what other people were saying about Concordia’s new addition to the Montreal landscape.
Canadian Member of Parliament
4th SPACE provides a unique venue for Montrealers to discover, explore and experience the exciting and innovative work taking place at Concordia.
This work helps inspire and facilitate knowledge transfer across a wide range of subjects.
Quebec Minister of Education and Higher Education
4TH SPACE brings the fascinating variety of research projects taking place at Concordia down to street level, where people will learn about their applications, discuss them with experts and maybe even contribute to their advancement.
This innovative space is a prime example of the sorts of new education platforms that are now available, which allow us to draw on different areas of strength within our community.
Montreal Mayor
I am delighted by the creation of 4TH SPACE at Concordia University, a space that promotes citizen engagement and the sharing of ideas.
By integrating knowledge, innovation and experimentation, we are able to work more effectively to improve the quality of life for all Montrealers.
Provost and Vice-President, Academic
The project came about because we had this wonderful piece of real estate at the corner of one of the most trafficked parts of our campus.
We were wondering what we could do with that space to make it a real vitrine for what was going on at the university.
4TH SPACE is a great opportunity for people to step outside of their neighbourhoods and come and experience some of the truly exciting work that happens here at Concordia.
Vice-President of Research and Graduate Studies
The aim of 4TH SPACE is to ensure that Concordia research is accessible.
We really want to show the public that we do things that may be of interest to them, and that will no doubt have an impact on their quality of life.
And it should be noted that when we talk about our researchers, this includes both our teachers and our students.
Professor in the Département d’études françaises
This is a unique opportunity to share knowledge, but in a different way — one that will touch people.
It will permit us to interact with them when they come in to discover our work.
Here, the university community, and the community as a whole, can visit, react to the subject matter and help us further the research process.
With 4TH SPACE we invent new ways to propose research, to share research, but also to do research, so it’s a sharing opportunity that seems to me quite unique, and it’s something that really brings Concordia forward.
Dean of Graduate Studies
Concordia has this way of presenting our campus as being a continuous part of the city. 4TH SPACE, to me, is just an extension of that idea.
4TH SPACE is so exciting because it gives the students an opportunity to share their ideas and their passion.
Vanier Scholar, PhD student in the INDI Program
I saw so much curiosity and enthusiasm that it helped further affirm the importance and relevance of my work.
4TH SPACE is light, bright, open, and makes knowledge accessible.
4TH SPACE is an ideal downtown destination for learning and discovery.
Public Scholar and Communications Studies PhD student
While I often have the opportunity to write and speak about my work, I can’t always show what I do. 4TH SPACE thrives on active participation, so it easily lends itself to engage Concordians and the greater public, and to experience the learning.
What I enjoyed about 4TH SPACE was that I could invite the public to the same kinds of conversations that I was having with my colleagues.
Find out more about Concordia’s 4TH SPACE.
© Concordia University
