Earlier this year, Design Talks, or d.talks, captured the imagination of many Calgarians through its Lost Space Ideas Competition. Intended to spark interest in leftover, unused or underused spaces, the competition attracted submissions from more than 40 countries.

CREB®Now recently sat down with d.Talks co-founder Amery Calvelli to discuss everything from the competition to what she feels is Calgary's best-kept secret. Here's what she had to say:

Local competition to spur creative thinking for underutilized Calgary areas

A local non-profit association is holding a competition in the hopes the lost becomes found again with some of Calgary's less attractive spots.

The Lost Spaces competition – held by d.talks, a grassroots organization dedicated to "fostering collaborative and engaging public conversation about design and the built environment" – is a call for architects, artists, designers, engineers and students to come up with ideas to enhance "under-utilized" pieces of Calgary's urban environment.

"Lost spaces are kind of complicated spaces. They're the kind of remnants ... they're often fairly underutilized and they're complex in the fact where they're situated, how they're situated, in the urban environment," said d.talks co-founder Amery Calvelli.