"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.