Des Moines Water Works Parkitecture Sponsor: Des Moines Water Works Board, Iowa State University College of Design Department of Landscape Architecture
Type: Open, two-stage
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Language: English
Fee: none
Eligibility: Open to teams in architecture and related fields.
Timetable:
June 8, 2011 – Registration open
August 1 – Registration deadline
October 3 – Submission deadline
October 24 – First Stage winners announced
November 7-11 – First Stage winners visit Des Moines, IA
December 16 – Second Stage submission deadline
December 30 – Second Stage winner announced
Awards:
Each first stage winner (the jury will select 3-5 teams) will receive $10,000 dollars for the second stage of the competition for design and travel. Payment will be issued after second stage submittal has been received.
Jury:
1. Des Moines Water Works Director of Water Distribution
2. Des Moines Water Works Board Member
3. Iowa State University College of Design Department of Landscape Architecture Faculty
4. Iowa Landscape Architect
5. Nationally recognized Landscape Architect
6. City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department Director
7. Des Moines Art Center Director
8. Des Moines Community Member
9. Des Moines Community Member
Design Challenge:
For nearly 100 years, Des Moines Water Works has supplied water to the residents of Des Moines from Water Works Park, located along the Raccoon River. Parallel to the river is a 3-mile-long infiltration gallery, which early in its history provided the entire water supply for the city of Des Moines. This gallery, one of the largest in the United States, was built in the 1920s and ’30s and is a historic example of urban infrastructure. Today, the concrete access structures are a visual reminder of the park’s history and stand as sculptural objects defining the character of today’s park.
The challenge for design teams is to create a comprehensive vision plan for the 1,500-acre park in addition to meeting current demands of the public open space, responding to historic functions of flooding and urban watershed protection, and attesting to the park’s future use. The winning design proposal will integrate the ecological and social functions of the park and river into a unified landscape that performs in all manners associated with the word. The winning design proposal should operate at the scale of the watershed, the city and the site, exploring diverse functions and uses for all its constituents. Finally, the winning proposal will transform and reshape the park to inspire the community.
Submission Requirements:
First stage design proposals will be presented in both electronic and physical format to the competition jury as well as in public exhibition. Submissions must be in the form of stand-alone board presentations that can be displayed online and published in print as part of the competition documentation. Submissions must communicate ideas in a clear and compelling manner and express the unique character of the design and design team.
The format for the second stage will be announced at the conclusion of the first stage submission. First stage finalists should be prepared to meet with the jury and discuss developing their submission in both board and electronic format.
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Helsinki Central Library, by ALA Architects (2012-2018)
The world has experienced a limited number of open competitions over the past three decades, but even with diminishing numbers, some stand out among projects in their categories that can’t be ignored for the high quality and degree of creativity they revealed. Included among those are several invited competitions that were extraordinary in their efforts to explore new avenues of institutional and museum design. Some might ask why the Vietnam Memorial is not mentioned here. Only included in our list are competitions that were covered by us, beginning in 1990 with COMPETITIONS magazine to the present day. As for what category a project under construction (Science Island), might belong to or fundraising still in progress (San Jose’s Urban Confluence or the Cold War Memorial competition, Wisconsin), we would classify the former as “built” and wait and see what happens with the latter—keeping our fingers crossed for a positive outcome.
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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/
RUR model perspective – ©RUR
New Kaohsiung Port and Cruise Terminal, Taiwan (2011-2020)
Reiser+Umemoto RUR Architecture PC/ Jesse Reiser – U.S.A.
with
Fei & Cheng Associates/Philip T.C. Fei –R.O.C. (Tendener)
This was probably the last international open competition result that was built in Taiwan. A later competition for the Keelung Harbor Service Building Competition, won by Neil Denari of the U.S., the result of a shortlisting procedure, was not built. The fact that the project by RUR was eventually completed—the result of the RUR/Fei & Cheng’s winning entry there—certainly goes back to the collaborative role of those to firms in winning the 2008 Taipei Pop Music Center competition, a collaboration that should not be underestimated in setting the stage for this competition.
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Winning entry ©Herzog de Meuron
In visiting any museum, one might wonder what important works of art are out of view in storage, possibly not considered high profile enough to see the light of day? In Korea, an answer to this question is in the making.
It can come as no surprise that museums are running out of storage space. This is not just the case with long established “western” museums, but elsewhere throughout the world as well. In Seoul, South Korea, such an issue has been addressed by planning for a new kind of storage facility, the Seouipul Open Storage Museum. The new institution will house artworks and artifacts of three major museums in Seoul: the Seoul Museum of Modern Art, the Seoul Museum of History, and the Seoul Museum of Craft Art.
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Belfast Looks Toward an Equitable and Sustainable Housing Model
Birdseye view of Mackie site ©Matthew Lloyd Architects
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Alster Swimming Pool after restoration (2023)
Linking Two Competitions with Three Modernist Projects
Hardly a week goes by without the news of another architectural icon being threatened with demolition. A modernist swimming pool in Hamburg, Germany belonged in this category, even though the concrete shell roof had been placed under landmark status. When the possibility of being replaced by a high-rise building, it came to the notice of architects at von Gerkan Marg Partners (gmp), who in collaboration with schlaich bergermann partner (sbp), developed a feasibility study that became the basis for the decision to retain and refurbish the building.
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