Photo: William Michael Fredericks
The jury included: Theodore S. Berger (non-voting), Design Trust Board member and Joan Mitchell Foundation; Paul Herzan, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and Lily Auchincloss Foundation; Kemi Ilesanmi, The Laundromat Project; Natalie Jeremijenko, xDesign Environmental Health Clinic at NYU; Jeff Merritt, NYC Office of the Mayor; Damon Rich, City of Newark; and Tim Tompkins (non-voting), Design Trust Board member and Times Square Alliance.
Let’s take a closer look at the four winning proposals, selected from the record-breaking number of proposals Design Trust received to its public call over the course of just several weeks!
The winning proposals (in alphabetical order):
Proposal Title: Design Guidelines for Neighborhood Retail
The NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development needs design guidelines to achieve successful mixed-use developments that include high-performing ground-floor spaces. The resulting manual will affect millions of square feet of mixed-use projects, generating immediate changes to HPD’s development process and for other entities focused on creating vibrant local economies through design.
Proposal title: FMCP Creative / Reconnect the Park
Queens Museum and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation will investigate new ways of connecting public parks to communities through a pilot study that will analyze Flushing Meadows Corona Park (FMCP). Envisioned as an active learning framework for park users, the project will support community participants in developing proposals to improve FMCP’s connectivity with surrounding neighborhoods, focusing on the park entrances, wayfinding system, and new uses for the World’s Fair infrastructure.
Proposal title: Future Culture: Connecting Staten Island’s Waterfront
Staten Island Arts seeks to establish a replicable model of inclusive development through public art to link neighborhoods, starting with Staten Island's North Shore. The project will provide planning and policy recommendations to stabilize the cultural assets of neighborhoods.
Proposal title: Opening the Edge
Brooklyn artist Jane Greengold aims to activate underused public spaces surrounding public housing developments with the residents. The project will develop new ideas and a prototype to transform inaccessible landscapes around NYCHA developments into lively places to gather for residents and visitors alike.
The other finalists (in alphabetical order):
Proposal title: Guiding Gowanus: Community-based Guidelines for a Healthy Neighborhood Evolution
Gowanus Canal Conservancy needs guidelines to help ensure healthy development around the Gowanus Canal Watershed, in the face of rising sea levels and financial pressure. The resulting design guidelines will serve as an advocacy toolkit for building dynamic landscape strategies, and will be a new model for community stewardship.
Proposal title: Manhattan’s Lower East River Waterfront: A Vision for Action
Two Bridges Neighborhood Council believes it's a 'now or never' opportunity for thoughtful and integrated planning to counteract the forces of climate change and development in Manhattan's Lower East River waterfront. The project will synthesize the various existing proposals for the area into a comprehensive and feasible master plan as well as conduct an economic impact study that demonstrates the potential of its implementation.
Proposal title: Windows onto Freshkills Park
Freshkills Park Alliance calls for multimedia solutions to involve the community in the Freshkills Park’s 2,200 acres of public space, amid its incredible transformation to NYC's signature landscape. As increments of the park open from the outside-in, the community will use the multimedia systems to navigate the park’s exterior edge and to engage in park programs.
Special thanks to the National Museum of the American Indian for hosting this event.
"We have to commend the many artists and organizations—those who were selected and those who submitted proposals—for creatively thinking about ways of improving the public realm. They are a force for change in New York City."
THEODORE S. BERGER, Design Trust Board member and Joan Mitchell Foundation
"All of these projects address 'edge' conditions in our urban environment in some way, and the interaction between physical and social barriers."
TIM TOMPKINS, Design Trust Board Member and Times Square Alliance
"These explorations of edge conditions can inform each other and provide new opportunities to engage communities."
KEMI ILESANMI, The Laundromat Project
"The Design Trust has a tremendous opportunity with the Mayor's focus on affordable housing and equitable public park development to contribute to widespread transformation in our city."
PAUL HERZAN, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc.