OFF GRID 2: Horseshoe Cove Competition: Healing the Damaged EdgeSponsor: The California Architectural Foundation Language: English Registration fee: none Eligibility: all residents of California Awards:
Student Category
Honor Award – $2,500 Merit Award – $1,250
Professional Category
Honor Award – $2,500 Merit Award – $1,250
An additional Environmental Prize of $5,000 will be distributed to an accredited school of architecture in the State of California, to be named by the winner, to further sustainable design research. Timetable:
30 July, 2009 – submission deadline Jury:
Mary E. Griffin, FAIA – Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects
John King – San Francisco Chronicle
Hsin-Ming Fung, AIA – Hodgetts & Fung Design Associates
Mark W. Steele, FAIA, AICP – M.W. Steele Group, Inc. Design Challenge:
A significant plot at the water’s edge along Horseshoe Cove remains vacant, damaged and undefined. This waterfront site offers a design opportunity to enhance the visitor’s experience of the San Francisco Bay. From casual bikers and hikers, to attendees at the Cavallo Conference Center, to the school children and families visiting the Bay Area Discovery Museum, a wide cross-section of the public is drawn to this location. A sensitive infill project that provides improved access to the water will only increase the appeal of Horseshoe Cove.
Suggested program components:
-Warming hut/shelter – minimum building program as follows:
-Café – counter serving line with simple warming kitchen area; Indoor seating for 30 people 2- and 4-top + counter; views to the water are
desirable. 2,200 net square feet (nsf)
-Cove shop – NPS gift and bookshop supporting Fort Baker programs, coordinate with Cavallho Conference Center, Travis Marina and
Discovery Museum; exterior presence and/or display windows desirable. 1,200 nsf
-Rest Rooms – male & female to Title 24 ADA requirements. 600 nsf.
-Water’s edge improvements
-Demonstration area – garden, art/sculpture, sustainability, alternative energy Submission Requirements:
Each entrant must submit two boards (A and B), explaining their project. The specifications of these boards are as follows:
– two 30×40” at 200 dpi PDF format are required (5MB maximum size for each file to be used as primary files for printing boards),
– Two JPEG versions of the same files (72 dpi, 600×800 pixels each – 150K maximum size for each file to be used for online exhibition)
– a single detail/thumbnail (100×100 pixels), and a Microsoft Word compatible document containing project description text. For more information, go to: http://www.caf-e.org/offgrid.htm |
Six Firms Competed to Rethink the Future of a Major Museum 
Aerial view of winning design ©Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (courtesy Malcolm Reading Consultants)
The history of the Dallas Museum of Art’s expansion has been punctuated by several moves, culminating in a new building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes in 1984. The importance of this move to a new, somewhat desolate location in the city cannot be underestimated: it has led to the revitalization of what is now called the “Arts District,” with the relocation of various arts institutions to new facilities: the opera house (Foster and Partners), Dee and Charles Wyly Performing Arts Theater (REX/OMA), Nasher Sculpture Center (Renzo Piano), and I.M. Pei’s Meyerson Symphony Center being among the most significant. Read more… Young Architects in Competitions When Competitions and a New Generation of Ideas Elevate Architectural Quality 
by Jean-Pierre Chupin and G. Stanley Collyer
published by Potential Architecture Books, Montreal, Canada 2020
271 illustrations in color and black & white
Available in PDF and eBook formats
ISBN 9781988962047
What do the Vietnam Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, and the Sydney Opera House have in common? These world renowned landmarks were all designed by architects under the age of 40, and in each case they were selected through open competitions. At their best, design competitions can provide a singular opportunity for young and unknown architects to make their mark on the built environment and launch productive, fruitful careers. But what happens when design competitions are engineered to favor the established and experienced practitioners from the very outset? This comprehensive new book written by Jean-Pierre Chupin (Canadian Competitions Catalogue) and Stanley Collyer (COMPETITIONS) highlights for the crucial role competitions have played in fostering the careers of young architects, and makes an argument against the trend of invited competitions and RFQs. The authors take an in-depth look at past competitions won by young architects and planners, and survey the state of competitions through the world on a region by region basis. The end result is a compelling argument for an inclusive approach to conducting international design competitions. Download Young Architects in Competitions for free at the following link: https://crc.umontreal.ca/en/publications-libre-acces/ 
View from Congress Square of Lever Architecture entry showing new wing on left
A New Wing to Accommodate a Museum’s Burgeoning Holdings, New Programs, and Rise in Attendance The passage of time has seen most art museums adding on new wings, or even deciding on a brand new building. The Portland Museum of Art (PMA) has followed this pattern, having commissioned the new Charles Shipman Payson Building by Harry Cobb of I.M. Pei and Partners in 1981. This building served the community well for decades; but numerous gifts to the museum have necessitated the expansion of exhibition spaces well beyond the limited capacity to be found in the existing building. Adding to this is an evolving mission of the PMA in its interaction with the community. Read more… 
Courtesy Malcolm Reading Consultants, ©Kengo Kuma & Associates
A UNESCO World Heritage Site Again on the World Stage How does one approach a challenge when creating a design worthy of a park with a history dating back to antiquity? This was what four design teams faced when shortlisted for the design of a Visitor Center for the Butrint National Park in Albania. The park’s history is illuminating in this regard.
Read more…
Chungji National Heritage Museum Competition
Image ©Ona Architects + Jongjin Lee architects + Laguillo Arquitectos
For those unfamiliar with Korean Heritage and its symbols, the choice of the jury for a new complex to house artifacts, now located at various scattered sites, would seem to beg more information, especially when one views the designs of the non-selected finalists—all quite modern. Some of this can certainly be explained by the subject matter of the new museum’s holdings, another by the site in broader terms. Some might say that emphasis placed on the heritage element in the design brief fostered an interpretation leading to the choice of the winning design: “The site chosen for the new Chungji National Museum is logical: Chungju, located in the central part of the Korean Peninsula, is the center of the so-called ‘Jungwon culture,’ which has played an important role geographically and historically since ancient time. Jungwon culture developed around the Namhan River, which runs through the central region from east to west, and the relics showing this are currently scattered and stored in various museums.”
Read more… University of Florida’s College of Design Construction and Planning’s New Addition 
Development phase image courtesy ©Brooks + Scarpa
If architects have had one complaint concerning the planning and realization of a project, it has been with planners and especially construction managers, both of whom often display a lack of knowledge about architecture. The survival of a well-conceived design can hang in the balance when there is a knowledge gap at the planning and realization end.
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