Last week the City of Seattle announced the shortlist of finalists for the role of lead designer. The four shortlisted teams are led by the following firms:
- Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
- James Corner Field Operations
- Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
- Wallace Roberts & Todd
The shortlist was established through careful consideration of Statements of Qualifications submitted by 30 teams for the project. The team ultimately selected by the City will lead a design process for more than nine acres of new waterfront public space and a new surface street on Alaskan Way.
Public Presentations will be made by the design teams on September 15. More information
Today the designs from the five finalists of the The City + The River + The Arch design competition were revealed to the public at the Gateway Arch Visitors Center with the Design Team Leaders set to present their designs on August 26. The winning team will be announced on September 24 with the design to be implemented for the 50th Anniversary of the Gateway Arch in 2015.
The competition represents how multi-discipline teams collaborate to create impressive landscape architecture that in the current economic times gives us all something to ponder and enjoy. The Competition website lists the extensive team members for each team along with the concept design statement along with slide shows with numerous images and the presentation boards for download.
The finalists were entrusted with designing the area surrounding the iconic Gateway Arch in St. Louis including both sides of the Mississippi River. Each design team has approach the design process in their own way and have created differing design solutions:
Behnisch Team Site Plan
Behnisch Team Overall View
Behnisch Team seeks to create ‘an active catalyst for urban cohesion and renewal in this most centered American landscape.’
MVVA TEAM Site Plan
MVVA TEAM - Historic Landscape Pond
Michael Van Valkenburgh Team ‘proposes a network of finer-grained interventions incorporating natural science, engineering, and design into a holistic philosophy of ecological urbanism.’
PWP TEAM - Concept Plan
PWP TEAM - Bluffs Daytime View
PWP Landscape Architecture, Foster + Partners, and Civitas used research & an understanding of history ‘to derive a sophisticated design solution from a thorough understanding of the site, a solution that will respect history while expanding possibilities for the future.’
SOM TEAM Site Plan
SOM TEAM North Look Out
SOM Team‘will strive to respect the modern masterpiece and its grounds. We will re-envision the core National Park Service exhibits and examine how to increase the flow of public life, and envision active uses on the East St. Louis side within the Memorial Addition.’
Weiss/Manfredi TEAM Site Plan
Weiss/Manfredi TEAM Plaza View
Weiss / Manfredi Team ‘enhance, extend, and transform the identity of the iconic Gateway Arch and the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.’
A design competition to improve construction sites across New York City. The competition is seeking artists and design professionals to develop creative artwork for construction fences, sidewalk sheds, supported scaffolds and cocoons in New York City.
This competition, created by the Department of Buildings and Department of Cultural Affairs and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, is a unique opportunity for artists and designers across the United States to contribute to New York City’s urban landscape.
Registration Deadline is 5:00pm EST July 19, 2010
Submission Deadlines is 3:30pm EST on July 28, 2010
NOTE: Design competition is limited to residents of the United States of America.
Following up from recent reports about the Lansdowne Park competition the Ottawa Citizen is reporting Edward Uhlir, Executive Director of Millennium Park and who oversaw the building of Chicago’s Millennium Park has commented that
“The landscape plan is pretty timid in terms of design,” Uhlir, who is now the executive director of the Millennium Park project, said Monday. “They took a lot of things from the plan that made it interesting. Is what’s left going to create the excitement and fun that people want to have? I am not sure.”
KCAP Architects & Planners in cooperation with local architect Arlette Schneiders win the competition for an office development in the city of Luxemburg. The competition entry was already awarded first prize in 2009. Recently, the client Fonds de Compensation has officially assigned the building commission to the team KCAP and ARLETTE SCHNEIDERS ARCHITECTS with advisors Ecofys, SIT-LUX and Lux C.E.C..
The site occupies a prominent location in Luxemburg’s Kirchberg district, facing the main square of Luxemburg’s future European district. The programme of 22.300 m2 gross floor area will be distributed over four buildings. They present a clear architectural language towards the main square and provide a strong volume on the street to reinforce the development’s urban appearance, as requested by the masterplan by French architect Dominique Perrault.
“The urban integration of the ensemble and the composition of individual buildings are key elements of our design. They allow us to create a block which is dense but permeable at the same time and to provide high quality and introverted outdoor spaces which complement the structure of the surrounding public spaces,” says Kees Christiaanse, founder and partner of KCAP.
Arlette Schneiders continues: “With this concept we are able to maintain a human scale within the European district and make the block a connecting element, able to link to the major pedestrian transfer routes. Pedestrians, cyclists, residents and working people will be stimulated to experience and actively use the new city quarter.”
Edward Uhlir unimpressed by Lansdowne Park design
Following up from recent reports about the Lansdowne Park competition the Ottawa Citizen is reporting Edward Uhlir, Executive Director of Millennium Park and who oversaw the building of Chicago’s Millennium Park has commented that
Read more Edward Uhlir’s comments at the SOURCE: OTTAWA CITIZEN – Lansdowne landscape plan ‘pretty timid’