The Connected City: Connecting Downtown Dallas to the Trinity RiverSponsor: Dallas CityDesign Studio, an office of the City of Dallas, in partnership with The Trinity Trust Foundation, Downtown Dallas, Inc. and The Real Estate Council Foundation
Type: Invited and “Open Stream” section (3 shortlisted firms already invited/open stream section for professionals and students with 4 finalists shortlisted)
Eligibility: Architects, landscape architects, urban planners
Fee: none
Language: English
Professional teams selected: OMA*AMO New York, Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura of Barcelona, and Stoss Landscape Urbanism of Boston with SHoP of New York. (Each team will receive $50,000 for their submission)
Awards:
Open stream finalists (4) will receive $5,000 each
Timetable: 24 July 2013 – Public Symposium with Professional Teams 19 Sept 2013 – Professional stream design proposals due 3 Oct 2013 – Open stream design proposals due 17 Oct 2013 – Opening of the Challenge Exhibition Jury:
- Larry Beasley, Chair (Retired Chief Planner, Vancouver, BC)
- Peter Bishop, Prof. of Urban Design, Bartlett School of Architecture, London
- John Crawford, CEO, Downtown Dallas, Inc.
- Allan Jacobs, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley and former San Francisco Director of Planning
- Mary McDermott Cook, Trinity Trust Foundation
- Linda McMahon, CEO, The Real Estate Council
- Robert Meckfessel, FAIA, Chair of the City of Dallas Urban Design Peer Review Panel
- Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Design Challenge
The Connected City Design Challenge is an open call for urban design strategies to connect Downtown Dallas and the Trinity River. The Trinity River Project is one of the most monumental public works and economic development projects ever attempted. The effort will realize one of the world’s largest urban parks with over 10,000 acres of land as public space. The Balanced Vision Plan was approved and endorsed by the Dallas City Council on December 8, 2003, as the master plan for the comprehensive development of the Trinity River Corridor. The plan includes the integration of flood control, transportation needs, recreational and aesthetic amenities, environmental preservation and functional design elements to ensure that the development represents the highest and best aspirations for the citizens of the community for generations to come.
Teams are urged to help reveal the untapped potential of this area through innovative and compelling design proposals. It is our belief that the complexity of factors converging in this part of our city are catalysts for compelling, innovative, and precedent setting design proposals. The Connected City Design Challenge will inspire new strategies for overcoming the voids often created by urban infrastructure. It is time for a clear vision and urban strategy to be developed to inspire a new future for this area of our city.
For more information and to enter, go to:
http://connectedcitydesign.com/about.aspx |
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/
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… Another Competition for Moscow’s Expanding Subway Network
Image © Zaha Hadid Architects
Even under Stalin, Moscow subway stations represented the crown jewels of the city’s projects when it came to design. In more recent years, the emphasis placed on modern design in the city’s expanding metro rail network has resulted in some major new projects, and this year’s competitions for two stations was no exception: the Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2 won by Zaha Hadid Architects (London), and the Prospect Marshala Zhukova station, won by the ASADOV Architectural Bureau (Moscow). Read More… Hangang District Urban Design International Master Competition
1st place entry by Dominique Perrault Architecture (image ©Dominique Perrault Architect)
China’s planning priorities for their urban areas experienced a sharp turn after the post-Mao reforms took place. During the early post-WWII period, when Soviet influence in the early urbanization of China dominated, industrial development took precedence over all other issues, with heritage, conservation, residential planning, and the amenities associated with it, being almost entirely neglected. Read more…
Winning design by ©Moreau Kusunoki /Genton
Although one might normally assume that local firms participating in a competition might have a clear advantage over foreign competitors, this has seldom been the case: just see Sydney’s Opera House, won by a Danish architect, and Toronto’s City Hall, won by a Finn—as evidence that well devised competition briefs as adequate documentation can create a level playing field for potential competitors, regardless of their location.
Read more… |
