Competition Shortlist is a who’s who of design

Recently the contest organisers of the Gateway Arch Design Competition announced the shortlist for the second round of the competition and it reads like a who’s who of built environment design from around the world. This competition is shaping up to be one of the most interesting for 2010 and the jury will have a hard job on their hands picking a winner.

The lead designers and design teams are:

  • Behnisch Architekten, Gehl Architects, Stephen Stimson Associates, Buro Happold, Transsolar, Applied Ecological Services, Limno-Tech, Herbert Dreiseitl, Arne Quinze, Peter MacKeith, Eric Mumford
  • FIT (Fully Integrated Thinking) Team – Arup, Doug Aitken Studio, HOK Planning Group, HOK
  • Michael Maltzan Architecture, Stoss Landscape Urbanism, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Richard Sommer, Buro Happold
  • Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Steven Holl Architects, Greenberg Consultants, Uhlir Consulting, HR&A Advisors, Guy Nordenson and Associates, Arup, LimnoTech, Ann Hamilton Studio, James Carpenter Design Associates, Elizabeth K. Meyer, Project Projects
  • PWP Landscape Architecture, Foster + Partners, Civitas, Ned Kahn, Buro Happold
  • Quennell Rothschild and Partners and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Vishkan Chakrabarti, Buro Happold, Atelier Ten, and Nicholas Baume
  • Rogers Marvel Architects and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Urban Strategies, Local Projects, Arup
  • SOM, BIG, Hargreaves Associates, Jaume Plensa, URS
  • Weiss/Manfredi, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Mark Dion

The nine design leaders and teams now have five weeks to complete their teams and present full qualifications to the competition jury, Stastny said.

In addition, local contractors, minority, disadvantaged, or women-owned businesses and others are invited to meet Feb. 18 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Old Court House with representatives of the short-listed design groups for potential teaming opportunities.

“This will be an excellent opportunity for these businesses to learn about the project and to begin considering participating,” Stastny said. “We look forward to a strong turnout.”

The final stage, Stage III, to take place over the summer, will include a 90-day design concept competition to explore the finalists’ design approach and test their working methodology.

The public will be invited to two events this spring and summer. A “meet the designers night” will be held in late April. This summer, there will be a public exhibition of the designs. Details will be available soon.

The final jury pick will be announced on Sept. 24, 2010. The project is set to be constructed by Oct. 28, 2015.

The new design is called for in the National Park Service’s General Management Plan, which was developed with extensive public input over an 18-month period and approved Nov. 23, 2009.

The competition is sponsored by the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation, which includes National Park Superintendent Tom Bradley, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, community leaders from Missouri and Illinois, academics, architects and national park advocates.

A full list of registrants for the competition, “Framing a Modern Masterpiece: The City + The Arch + The River 2015,” has also been released. It can be found with other competition information at www.cityarchrivercompetition.org.

MVVA selected for northern end of Grant Park

Chicago Journal reports

A Brooklyn-based landscape architecture firm has been recommended to lead the revamp of the northern end of Grant Park, one of the most prominent — and, in recent times, most contentious — public spaces in Chicago.

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc. will plan an area that includes the Grant Park site of the Chicago Children’s Museum, according to a letter park district staff posted on the agency’s Web site on Tuesday.

read the full article at the SOURCE: Chicago Journal- Grant Park contract going out

George W Bush Presidential Center unveiled

Today, the design for George W. Bush Presidential Center will be unveiled in Dallas. The center situated at the Southern Methodist University is expected to cost $250 million. The landscape architect for the project is Michael Van Valkenburgh. who’s design includes a replica of the White House Rose Garden and a garden of Texas prairie grasses. The Architect for the project is Robert A.M. Stern.

For more information and a picture gallery go to the [SOURCE: Dallasnews.com]

Groundbreaking for Penn Park on November 6

According to the University of Pennsylvania Almanac

A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held at Penn Park on Friday, November 6. The event tent will be located east of Levy Tennis Pavilion, at the west gate to the Penn Park site. Penn Park is a 24-acre site on the eastern edge of the campus, offering beautiful views of the Center City skyline located along the Schuylkill River between Walnut and South Street. The Park will expand Penn’s athletic and recreation facilities within a broader public open space. The primary facilities will include: multi-purpose artificial fields (one enclosed by a seasonal air structure), outdoor tennis courts, and associated program elements consisting of restrooms, spectator seating and parking. The landscape architect is Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. It is expected to be completed by summer 2011.

SOURCE: University of Pennsylvania Almanac

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