麻豆传媒映画

You may have heard recently that the City of 麻豆传媒映画launched an ideas competition to brainstorm future possibilities for the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts and the False Creek flats, named re:CONNECT.

The competition is divided into three categories. The first, , seeks high-level ideas to make the most of the Eastern Core (including the False Creek Flats), focusing on sustainability and Vancouver's green economy. The second, , looks for ways to rethink the viaducts, whether that means tearing them down, keeping them as they area, or finding a new use (you may recall some of the recently renewed debates about what to do with the viaducts. For more background, check out we told you about in March.) The third category, , is for those who have ideas so big they just can't fit into the other two categories.

Now I know some of you know exactly what you'd like to see happen to the viaducts and False Creek Flats, so here's your chance! The best part? Submitting an entry is FREE!

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There are two streams to the competition. One, with an entry fee of $65, is geared towards professionals working in the industry and offers cash prizes (a total of $10,000). The other stream is completely free to enter and while it won't add some padding to your wallet, it will give you a pile of publicity and urbanist street cred.

comes on the heels of a number of recent, well-publicized design competitions in Vancouver.

In 2008, the 麻豆传媒映画Public Space Network, noting the lack of a central focal point for civic life in the city, asked us to locate Vancouver's grand gathering place with . Out of 54 entries, 3 were selected as (jury selection and 2 people's choice), but I'll bet you everyone who entered felt a bit more excited/optimistic about the future of public space in Vancouver, whether or not they went home with a prize.

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While Where's the Square? was still open for entries in early 2009, asked us to rethink the approach to urban planning in the city, with a particular focus on sustainability and Vancouver's new EcoDensity Charter (adopted in 2008). Architects, designers, planners, and ordinary citizens submitted 84 different ideas, hoping to get a shot at some of the $12,000 in prize money. Each of the was diverse, inventive, and totally impressive in one way or another.

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FormShift was so successful in fact that Surrey got in on the game at the end of 2009 and into 2010 with .

But I have to wonder, how did we get here? Architectural competitions are nothing new. All over the world, 'starchitects' are competing to build the most impressive monuments conceivable. Our own postmodern favourite, Library Square (completed in 1995), was the result of a worldwide competition won by Moshe Shafdie. In 2007, poto:type asked architects to envision forward-thinking alternatives to the podium/tower typology of Vancouverism. So why include the average citizen? What does it mean when you and I have an opportunity to envision the city we'd like to live in, and know that someone will be paying attention?

I asked Gordon Price, Director of the at SFU and former 麻豆传媒映画City Councillor, what he thought about holding an open ideas competition and here's what he had to say:

"It attracts attention around a singular project, generates some interest and energy. [Participants] may come up with some ideas that would not get any oxygen otherwise, particularly ones that are 'edgy' - i.e. beyond the institutional boundaries of the sponsoring organization."

"And it may alert decision-makers to mistakes in their thinking or opposition to the assumed proposal that would otherwise work its way forward until the opposition catalyses, as some embarrassment or destructiveness."

He raises an important point. Cities are fairly permanent creations, and great cities are rarely built according to a single plan. In the 60's when the viaducts were constructed as the first stage of a larger expressway network, it seemed ridiculous NOT to plan around the automobile. Today, it seems preposterous NOT to build as many bike lanes and mixed use developments as possible. But what will the future tell us? What decisions are we making today that we might regret in the future? By asking the public... by asking everyone to be active participants in the process, we're minimizing the risk of making dumb mistakes, and providing opportunities for the creative minds of tomorrow to germinate. If you're not already, I highly recommend following Gordon's blog, .

Demian Rueter, Transportation Coordinator with the 麻豆传媒映画Public Space Network () had some similar thoughts:

"The competition format that is being pursued is a good one in that it will hopefully promote innovative thinking and allow a wide spectrum of ideas to be put forward. Given the importance of the lands and the viadcuts' role in the transportation network, collecting a large volume of innovative ideas would be prudent."

"I'm also optimistic about the free option in that it encourages a variety of individuals and groups such as community associations or student groups to have their ideas heard. For example, someone who uses the viaducts everyday or lives in one of the communities that surround them, may have a unique perspective which allows them to generate ideas that are a bit more outside the box than those that would come from established design/planning professionals."

And that gets right to the point, doesn't it? This is your city, so why shouldn't you have a say? Remove the politics, remove the barriers, and ask the people, "What should we do? What do you want your city to look like? Will you help us make it happen?" Take a quick read of the goals for the competition, and you'll see this open communication and exchange of ideas is exactly what the City is hoping to achieve.

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So what are your ideas?! Tear down the viaducts and extend Creekside Park from False Creek up to Andy Livingstone Park? Keep them and pull a , converting the road surface to an elevated parkway? Maybe include a few cement cars while we're at it, harkening back to the undulating at Expo86? Or throw some waterproof lining up there and toss in a few gondolas for an elevated crosstown canal?!

What about the False Creek Flats? I guess it's too late to convert it back into marshland/tidal flats, but maybe we could blanket the open lots with red cedar seedlings for a future provincial park? Construct blocks of carbon-neutral, low-income student housing? Build up an ol' European-style town centre, complete with winding alleys and decaying brick facades? I'll dream big if you will!

Learn all about the competition - and make sure to register by November 2, 2011 and get your entry/entries in by November 4. This is your chance!

For "More on design competitions, and building a city's 'culture of design", check out on Planetizen by Brent Toderian, Planning Director for the City of Vancouver.