SMART Ideas Urban Design Competition

Sponsors: American Institute of Architects, Redwood Empire, and
Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy

Type: Open, Ideas

Language: English

Eligibilit
y: Entrants may be from any discipline- architects, planners, developers, engineers, urban designers, transportation planners, energy managers, landscape architects, students, community leaders, suburbanites, cyclists, poets, artists or general public.  Multidisciplinary design teams are encouraged across various disciplines.

Registration Fees:

Students – $50 USD
Academics/Professionals – $100 USD

Awards: Cash prizes to be announced

Timeline:
15 January 2010 – Early Registration Deadline
1 February 2010 – Late Registration Deadline
8 February 2010 – Submission Deadline
12 January 2010 – Jury meeting and decision
13 January 2010 – Community Presentation
+/- 1 March 2010 – eBook available

Jury:
A jury comprised of notable designers and theorists includes:
Ellen Dunham-Jones, AIA, author of
Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs
RK Stewart, FAIA, 2007 President of AIA National
Associate Principal, Perkins and Will
David Baker, FAIA, Award Winning Designer of Multi-Family
Principal, David Baker + Partners

Design Challenge:
SMART Ideas Urban Design Competition is for an existing suburban area around the North Santa Rosa Station for the new Sonoma Marin train. The Charette phase brought the community together to identify issues and opportunities in this area. The Competition phase tasks architects, planners, urban designers, and community members to come up with innovative ideas for solving the problems and retrofitting the suburban landscape for a more walkable and livable city.

This is an Ideas competition, so everything is on the table to be considered. NW Santa Rosa developed in pieces according to sales of large farm tracts for key institutions, then filled in with a variety of uses, but without a planning vision for what the area could become. When the general plan was written in the early 1990’s and a zoning map developed, the map primarily followed the existing uses, without much planning thought. Now there are some major employers, services, and institutions in the area, and they are growing. There is a highway right down the middle and there is a commuter train coming.

Submission Requirements:
All submissions must be received electronically. Submission is to be a maximum two 30”x42” .PDF panels, landscape or portrait uploaded to an ftp site to be provided, as a single PDF that must not exceed 10MB per panel. All participants will receive an identifying number upon registration. Only the identifying number is to be shown on the presentation and filename.  Identifying number and upload information to be provided after registration received. Electronic submissions must be received by 5:00 PM, PST, January 25, 2010, to be reviewed.

For more information, go to
: http://www.smartideascompetition.com/