Newark Visitors Center CompetitionSponsor: AIA Newark Suburban
Type: open, international, 1-stage
Language: English Eligibility: all international interested parties, regardless of age, discipline or professional status. Students are encouraged to enter. Registration fee:
$150 – for professionals
$75 – for students Awards:
1st Prize – $10,000
2nd Prize – $7,000
3rd Prize – 3,000
Honorable Mention – $1,000
Timetable:
31 August, 2009 – registration deadline
15 October, 2009 – submission deadline
January 2010 – awards ceremony Jury: To be announced Design Challenge:
NVC is an international design competition focused on enhancing the progress of future endeavors in Newark, NJ while celebrating its past. All of the most significant cities in America include some sort of visitor’s hub that welcomes and funnels countless people through to their restaurants, civic marvel, and cultural/community events. This new structure would facilitate further progress and highlight all of Newark’s hidden gens and main attractions alike. The space shall boast an eclectic, sustainable program, becoming its very own destination spot. Submission Requirements:
PRESENTATION BOARDS:
Competitors shall submit two digital files for 40″ x40″ boards, labeled A and B, that illustrate their project.
REQUIRED DRAWINGS:
-Plan(s) of proposed design of the Newark Visitor Center
-Two perspective views
-Two Sections
Additional drawings and diagrams may be included to further illustrate proposals in terms of infrastructure/context/approach.
REQUIRED TEXT:
A text statement of no more than 250 words describing the project concept and design intent must be incorporated onto one of the boards.
FILE FORMAT/SIZE:
Files must be uploaded in the following formats:
Two 40″ x 40″ PDF files, 300 dpi, 10MB maximum size for each file (primary files for printing boards)
Two 800 x 800 pixel JPEG files, 200 dpi, 1.5MB maximum size for each file (files for online exhibition and publication)
One 100 x 100 pixel JPEG file, 200 dpi, 50K max size (image DETAIL of your choice from either board for online thumbnail)
One Microsoft Word compatible (.doc) file, 50K maximum size (project description in 250 words or less)
For PDF files, graphics should be set to 300 dpi/ppi. For more information, go to: http://www.visitnewarknj.org/Home/Welcome.html |
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/
Aerial view of site – Courtesy National Finnish Museum
When major cultural institutions in Finland plan a new building project, one can almost always assume that an open competition will be the vehicle by which the client settles on the building’s design. The only question is, will this be organized in a format open to local, Scandinavian, or international architects. In the case of the National Museum of Finland annex competition, it was open to architects throughout the world — resulting in 185 entries. Read more…
The Opening of Taichung’s Central Park by Catherine Mosbach/Philippe Rahm
View from the south with downtown Taichung in the distance image: ©Mosbach/Rahm
The abandonment and closing of airports, including decommissioning those that were used for military purposes, has presented design communities with several opportunities to convert them entirely to civilian purposes. Notable among those which have been the result of competitions are Orange County Great Park, Irvine, California (Ken Smith Landscape Architects), The Estonian National Museum (Dan Dorell, Lina Ghotmeh and Tsuyoshi Tane), and Toronto’s less successful Downsview Park competition, whereby the winning design by OMA, with trees as the primary feature, has been basically ignored. Instead, the area has become the site of numerous commercial and residential projects.
Read more…
SMAR’s Winning Entry Gets the Green Light
Image: ©SMAR Architecture
The winning competition entry in the 2016 Science Island competition in Kaunas, Lithuania by SMAR Architects may only take five years to realize—from the date of the competition to completion. This is encouraging news, as the duration of such projects resulting from a competition can often take much longer—sometimes up to 8-10 years. Read more…
Night view of the memorial tapestry from Independence Avenue, with Gehry’s sketch of the Normandy cliffs.
Explaining the contributions of a World War II hero and later President of the United States on a very modest site on Independence Avenue just off the Washington Mall is tantamount to asking an author to describe the life of this person in no more than one paragraph. But on September 17th, after a long and bumpy journey, lasting almost 20 years and navigating a warren of the DC approval processes and public scrutiny, the Eisenhower Memorial finally was dedicated and opened to the public. Designed by Frank Gehry, it has received mixed reviews, the majority being more positive. But most have pointed out that the memorial is more impressive at night than in full daylight. This is due primarily to the illumination of an almost block-long metallic tapestry—featuring a sketch by Gehry, which depicts his interpretation of the cliffs of the Normandy coastline where the Americans landed on D-Day. Read more…
Professional winner: Brooklyn Bridge Forest (image © Pilot Projects Design Collective)
While looking for new adventures on a visit to New York City, friends suggested that I take time to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge—certainly a New York icon. For those intending to undertake this trek across the bridge for the first time, the bridge consists of layers, with a large platform for pedestrians on top of a lower level for cars and the metro system. Traversing this connection for the first time between Manhattan and Brooklyn is not just about getting from one place to another, but experiencing a great scenic view of both boroughs and occasionally interacting with other bridge crossers. As for the latter, they provide a flavor of the city’s demographics, as opposed to similar experiences one might have of the city’s inhabitants when riding the city’s subway system. Read more… |
