"The economic crisis permits us to stop and reconsider business as usual at construction sites," says Rick Bell, executive director of the American Institute of Architects' New York chapter, in a release. "That's one of the reasons why the urbanSHED competition is so important at this point in time. We have the opportunity to call for a different, greener and better-designed way to protect passers-by. When construction picks up again, the new standard--one that addresses our city's safety, sustainability and streetscape concerns--will be ready."
The DOB and AIANY are sponsoring the competition, along with the Alliance for Downtown New York, the ABNY Foundation, the Illuminating Engineering Society New York City Section and the New York Building Congress. Providing additional support are the city's Department of Transportation and Department of City Planning and the Structural Engineers Assoc. of New York.
Elizabeth Berger, president of the Downtown Alliance, notes in a release that the urbanSHED competition complements the alliance's Re: Construction program of turning Lower Manhattan construction barriers into canvases for temporary artwork. The alliance on Friday announced that four temporary installations have been put up at separate construction sites through the Re: Con program.
"These installations beautify our streets, and increase foot-traffic and economic activity Downtown," Berger says in a release from the alliance. "Adding a public art component to our civic improvement, economic development and construction mitigation efforts provides a clear benefit to pedestrians and the community."
The urbanSHED competition will be conducted in two phases, with the jury selecting up to three designs in phase one based on safety, sustainability and constructability. According to the urbanSHED website, constructability criteria include a mandate that costs must be in line with those of the 6,000 sidewalk sheds currently in use around the city.
In phase two, the finalists will further develop their designs to meet or exceed current technical and structural requirements to assure safety and stability. The jury is slated to select a winning design in December, according to the DOB. Further information is available at www.urbanshed.org.
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Paul Bubny
Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.
