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 |
©Bauen+Wohnen
 An article, Trois tourettes et un jardin (Three Turrets and a Garden) by Swiss landscape architect, Valérie Hoffmeyer, in Werk, Bauen + Wohnen, is another recent example highlighting the value of green space in the design of mid-rise residential buildings. At a time when developers endeavor to maximize their profits by turning to highrise buildings, even when higher density is at stake, referencing the Garden City concept has been turning up as a more frequent theme.
Read more… 
Aerial view ©Grimshaw Architects
After the conclusion of the second stage of the Nyugati Railway Station Competition, Grimshaw Architects has been declared the winner. This conclusion was reached by a jury after twelve teams had been shortlisted from the initial stage of the competition in an RfQ process. 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/ 
Boardwalk photo: Courtesy Atlantic Beach
Boardwalks, especially on oceanfront locations, have a pretty universal look. But how they fit into their local context is another matter. Topography, real estate and commerce all play a role in their function, and to some extent, design. In the case of Miami Beach, it’s primarily a promenade; Brooklyn’s 2.7 mile Coney Island boardwalk stretching all the way to Brighton Beach is a mixture of promenade and commerce, with the latter at both ends. In the case of Atlantic City, it’s mostly about retail.
Read more… 
Winning entry – Hyunjoon Min Architects Office
National Library of Korea Data Preservation Center Competition
Retrofitting existing buildings is nothing new. The abandonment of old factory structures, especially in the northeast of the U.S., has been occurring at a rapid pace ever since those businesses ceased to be profitable in the face of foreign competition. However, in North America, retrofitting those structures has seldom been the subject of a design competition. In Korea, the recent plethora of design competitions for all types of projects has also included several for providing a new life for abandoned buildings. Read more… Countryside Dilemmas – New Rural Planning 
1st Place – ©Tianjin University Team
Planning used to be at the bottom of Chinese students’ lists of design priorities. One western architect, whose firm was at the forefront in the design and implementation of numerous planning projects in China, surmised that planning was an area that received little attention in the university curricula. So when planning for a major metropolitan area has occurred, the Chinese have almost always turned to outside international firms for ideas and implementation. Read more… The Chicago Architecture Club Shines the Spotlight on Another Endangered Landmark 
Public Pool Image: ©Perkins&Will
What do Bertrad Goldberg and Helmut Jahn have in common? Besides having high-profile buildings threatened by demolition, both served as subject matter for two competitions sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Club (CAC)—raising public consciousness about their impending fate. They both produced buildings in a city famous for its architecture that have been abandoned: Goldberg’s Future Prentice Women’s Hospital, demolished in 2014 after a valiant effort by preservationists to save it from the wrecking ball; and Jahn’s Thompson Center, now the object of a similar effort by the State of Illinois to sell it to a developer. Read more… |
