Architectural Competitions for Spring 2008

USA Newest to Oldest

Reinventing Grand Army Plaza
Submission Deadline: April 2008
To catalyze Grand Army Plaza's rebirth, the Design Trust for Public Space, in partnership with the Grand Army Plaza Coalition, is launching an international ideas competition, "Reinventing Grand Army Plaza," to generate new visions for every aspect of the plaza's design. Grand Army Plaza is New York City's greatest unrealized asset. Home to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch, the elegant Bailey Fountain, the entrance to Frederick Law Olmsted's greatest park, and a major transit hub, the sum of these parts is today emphatically less than the whole. Currently an underdeveloped public amenity, the redesign of Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza will invigorate surrounding communities, just as the re-conception of Manhattan's High Line set off an explosion of activity in West Chelsea. Top submissions will be exhibited at either the Brooklyn Pubic Library or Brooklyn Museum of Art in the summer of 2008.
Link

Contrabands and Freedmen's Cemetery Memorial
Competition entries due by 5pm April 25, 2008:
This Competition seeks design submissions from architects, landscape architects, artists, students, and other interested individuals to memorialize and honor those who are buried at Contrabands and Freedmen's Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia. The site was established in 1864 as a burial ground for African Americans who fled slavery, seeking a safe haven in Union-controlled Alexandria during the Civil War. More than 1,800 people were buried there over the five years that the federal government managed the cemetery. While other physical sites that recalled the once-considerable African American presence in Alexandria have been lost, the City of Alexandria acquired the property in 2007 in order to remove the buildings, reclaim the cemetery, and create a memorial.
Link

White House Redux Competition
Registration and submissions deadline: April 20, 2008
What if the White House, the ultimate architectural symbol of political power, were to be designed today? Over two hundred years ago the winning design of an 18th century architecture competition became the residence of the president of the United States at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. To mark the election of the 44th president of the US, Storefront for Art and Architecture, in association with Control Group, has opened White House Redux, a challenge to design a new residence for the world's most powerful individual.
Link

New York Designs: Threshold
Submissions by April 16, 2008.
The Architectural League created the New York Designs juried lecture series in 2003 to provide a forum for the presentation of innovative and accomplished work built in New York City. This year's theme, 'threshold,' focuses on projects whose design mediates distinct conditions. A 'threshold' might be understood literally as a transitional space that interfaces public and private; that bridges inside and outside; that connects nature and the city ­ or as a conceptual space of overlap between materials, disciplines, cultures, the client and architect, the past and future. What limits, opportunities, and compromises shape thresholds in the city? What can thresholds tell us about the experience of building in New York City and contemporary design practice? The jury seeks portfolios that situate a project within this liminal space. Submissions should demonstrate how a space of transition and the act of mediation informed the final project.
Link

Trans-Atlantic Newest to Oldest:

Belgium: Interieur 08
Registration: deadline: 15 July 08
Interieur 08 is a biennial competition for creativity in interior design, organised by the Interieur Foundation, located in Kortrijk, Belgium. Centred on three thematic subjects, it focuses on new, functional, creative and contemporary prototypes. All entries will be on display during the 21st Interieur Biennale, where they will be seen by potential manufacturers, professional visitors and the general public.
Link

UK: Lex Walsall
Entries by 30th May 2008
Working with partners Advantage West Midlands, Walsall Council and Walsall Regeneration Company, Urban Splash are working on Phase One of the Waterfront development just near The New Art Gallery - a collection of buildings designed by SMC Alsop and shedkm which are set within a public realm designed by Grant Associates. Urban Splash has now been invited to come up with plans for Phase Two, the Lex site, and are looking for a great architect to work with them to deliver more award winning buildings. It. Aspirations for this site are typically high -they are looking for excitement, flair and imagination to be the defining piece of architecture for Walsall.
Link

Denmark: Toftegard Square South International Design Competition Copenhagen
Registration Deadline 14th May 2008
Toftegards Plads Syd (Toftegard Square South) has remained largely unused for several years. In its current form it far from reflects the fact that it is one of the most important and most distinctive gateways to Copenhagen. The City of Copenhagen has decided to launch a competition to obtain ideas for the creation of a lively, human and vibrant urban space of high architectural quality. Entrants in the competition may also include proposals for new buildings, various types of coverings and other structures in the square. The new square must be part of the ongoing development that will turn the southern part of the Valby district into one of the most interesting areas in Copenhagen.
Link

Italy: New Schools for the City of Cultures Competition, City of Prato, Italy
Dossier to arrive no later than 12 o'clock noon on April 24, 2008.
The competition's goal is to generate two distinct preliminary proposals for the construction of two new nursery schools (each housing six classes) and the organization of the outdoor spaces and the green areas for recreation on the school grounds. The first plot is located in the Galcetello zone, in via Marie Curie, and the other in the Ponzano zone, in viale Montegrappa. See the drawings for further details. The two projects will be constructed out in two functional phases, each made up of three sections, as is further specified in the preliminary document.
Link

Germany: Designer´s Workstation
Closing date: April 22nd
This competition, promoted by the Design Institution is aimed at designing the ideal work station for the designer of the XXI century. Competitors may choose the area of design of their proposal: industrial design, interior design, architectural design, fashion design, etc. The competition is aimed at professional designers and design students.
Link

Trans-Pacific Newest to Oldest:

Japan: 3rd Nitori One-House Total Coordination Competition 2008
Entries by June 30th 2008
Nitori develops products based on the concept of One-House Total Coordination Merchandising (OTCM), in which all the spaces of a house are totally coordinated. In this Competition, Nitori invites the public to propose totally coordinated designs of fabrics, furniture and interior accessories that match the idea of OTCM. This competition aims to commercialize excellent designs and sell them at Nitori stores as well as discover new designers to work with Nitori.
Link

Vietnam: Thu Thiem New Urban Area: Ho Chi Minh City.
Submissions: May 19th, 2008
The Investment & Construction Authority for the Thu Thiem New Urban Area (The Thu Thiem ICA) of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam announces an open, international Design Competition in two stages. The focus of this Competition will be on the "Central Plaza, Crescent Park, and Saigon River Pedestrian Bridge". The Thu Thiem project has an area of 740 hectares and is located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City on the east bank of the Saigon River, opposite the existing historic city center. The Central Plaza will be the largest integrated park and plaza within Ho Chi Minh City; the Crescent Park will be Ho Chi Minh City's great waterfront park and promenade; the Saigon River Pedestrian Bridge will be an impressive architectural symbol and represent the future city.
Link

Got a competition you want listed?
email me
Next competition update is July 1

Charting the Eighties

We've all been subjected to terrible powerpoint presentations,
We've all suffered data fatigue in our share of darkened conference rooms.

My colleague/co-founder at Reelpunk, and I were marveling this very afternoon at how Keynote can make even the most banal data look pretty appealing. All it takes is a little self restraint to keep the data to a minimum. As a test, we took the most abstract subject matter as a test.
We decided to create graphic representations of some of the pop-iest tunes from the eighties.
We resisted applying any fancy transitions, soundtracks, or animations, in order to just focus on what the "data" was telling us.

Click on the image below to dim the lights and begin the presentation.



There were many songs that didn't make the final cut, and we decided to withhold songs from other decades for future posts.

Truth in Advertising

We went out on a limb this week and tried the "Super Yogurt" at Wegmans.



After all, who am I to dismiss a product called Super-anything?
After a few lunches worth of these, I can say that they taste pretty good, although a bit "zingier" than their other sour milk offerings. I will leave the long-winded reviews to people who know more about yogurt than I. (yogurt-savvy, if you will)

The packaging is a welcome departure from most staid Wegman's branded products, with it's vacuum shrunk plastic casing, made popular by the revolutionary one-off milk bottles in the late nineties.

But it's what's on the top label that is a little disconcerting.

That's right....BILLION, as in three commas and ten digits.
There are 1,430,000,000 of these -whatever they are- swimming around in an 8-ounce tank. This makes sea-monkeys look like a home-school glee club.
It's ok if don't trust me, you can count them.... i'll wait.

This number seems terrifyingly specific to me. After all, once you're over a million, wouldn't it suffice to simply state: "we stopped counting, trust us though, there's a crap-load!"

Not only do six of these containers contain more wigglies than the human race, they only counted the "Live and Active" cultures. So all of the cultures that were too lazy to get up from their recliners and turn off their X-boxes are not on the list.

In fact, I just recently got ahold of the recent micro-biotic census form that was used to calculate this cess-pool. Here are some interesting excerpts:

Question #245:
How long have you been a culture?
Question #654:
Have you recently relocated from another 8-ounce container?
Question #689:
How long have you been in yogurt?
Question #750:
Are you pro-biotic or anti-biotic?
Question #904:
How many thousands of children do you have?
Question #904b:
Are they all in yogurt? (this could really save us alot of time)
Question #1042:
Do you consider yourself "active"?
Question #1042b:
If yes, when was the last time you touched your toes?
Question #1042c:
If no, do you even have toes?

Upon closer inspection, I think that I have traced the source of the afore mentioned "zingy-ness". It can in all likely-hood be attributed to the "beef gelatin" and "fish oil" additives. That sure is "Super!"

omg - fxfowle gets pwn3d @ lvhrd ;-p

400 hipsters (the kind who would have no trouble understanding that post title) from a variety of design trades, dressed as lumberjacks, watched in stunned silence at the Music Hall of Williamsburg as four architects representing two firms in Pink-Foam Battle Royale.

Here's the teaser for the event:


Here's the resulting model from Konyk:


Here's the resulting model from FXFOWLE:


The online and in-person voting results were as follows:
Konyk. . . . . . . . . 765
FXFOWLE . . . . . . 623

Konyk "Brung It" and "Drank FXFOWLES Milkshake"

Staff Changes

We lost a dear member of our staff last Autumn. Sadie was as good an office manager as one could hope for.


Frank was brought in to fill her sizable paws as office manager. As a ten year old Beagle, he comes with a breadth of experience in office management and human resources. Although he will be traveling occasionally as special envoy to my wife's place of work, the rest of the staff will probably avail themselves to his expertise in conflict resolution.


Henry, meanwhile, has proven his trustworthiness and unflappable work ethic over the past 2 years with us. We are delighted to announce that he has been promoted to Head of Accounts Receivable. Those of you who have had the unfortunate experience of calling the studio during mail delivery time, will undoubtedly recognize his voice. Take our word for it, you will not want to get a phone call from him.


Maggie is the newest addition to the staff. She will be starting out in shipping and receiving, for her probationary period, as Henry trains her to replace his duties as file clerk.

Annual Prognistication

As many of you know, Groundhogs Day is a big tradition here, for many reasons. Not the least of which is that it's a testament to the indomitable American spirit that for one day we ignore all empirical weather data and rely solely on the intelligence and apparent pupil dilation of a small marmot.

Here is this years prediction:

Here Ye! Here Ye! Here Ye!

On Gobbler's Knob on this fabulous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008
Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators,
Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

After casting a weathered eye toward thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:

"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me.
Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

....and here are some photos from this years event in Punxatawney.

Crazy Fans



Crazy Crowds


Crazy Marmot


As a Penn State Alumn, I must insist that you accept no substitutes. Punxatawney Phil is THE only furry four legged creature with this divine meteorological intuition.

Who Has The Time?

I am a movie buff. I love old movies and have a pretty good collection.*
But let's all be honest... who can sit through a 110 minute movie these days?
What, with all that Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) going around.

Here are some brilliant 5 second versions of movies. There's a whole list of them. I'll just post my favorites below:

Princess Bride


Harry Potter (All of them)


Titanic


Fargo


Monty Python and the Holy Grail


Rocky 1,2,3,4,5,6...


Warning: The following clip contains a few descriptive words which may not be cubicle safe.
Although, If you've already scrolled down this far, it's far more likely that the concept of employment escapes you anyway, so go ahead... click away.

The Big Lebowski


Each of these clips is probably 1 second longer than the pitch was to the producers.

*Anyone willing to challenge in TCM Scene It or Trivial Pursuit Silver Screen Edition... Bring it!

Our New Album

Here's is a pre-release of the cover art of our band's new album.




Ok I'm joking. I don't have a sitar band named "Silat Bongsu", and we don't have an album called "Oppression Can Only Survive Through Silence", and I don't even know who this guy is. (although he seems like an interesting bloke)

But, if you ever wondered how artists come up with album covers, here's a good example:

Get the name of your band here.

Get the name of your album here.

And get the album cover art here.

(Edit) Clarification: Every time you click on one of these links you get a random wiki, quote, or photo set. No, I'm not sending you to some obscure wikipedia page.