On the occasion of Ideas City 2015, the biennial Festival created to explore the future city and to effect change, Storefront for Art and Architecture, along with the New Museum and the New York City Department of Transportation, is launching a competition for the design and construction of an outdoor structure—a work of "Street Architecture" that facilitates new forms of collective gathering and engagement with the city.
IDEAS CITY 2015 is the third iteration of the biennial Festival organized by the New Museum in partnership with the Architectural League of New York, Bowery Poetry Club, Cooper Union, the Drawing Center, and Storefront for Art and Architecture. The 2015 theme, The Invisible City, will be an invitation to explore the question of visibility and related dynamics, including transparency and surveillance, citizenship and representation, expression and suppression, and participation and dissent, as defining forces within the contemporary city.
IDEAS CITY 2015 will take place in downtown New York from May 28 to 30, 2015. On Saturday, May 30, 2015, the winning entry of this competition will occupy a designated pedestrianized outdoor space in the vicinity of the New Museum and Bowery area and host programs and activities throughout the day.
The Challenge: Street Architecture
IDEAS CITY 2015 will be organized around a number of stages distributed throughout the neighborhood that will become hubs of activity for a Street Festival taking place on Saturday, May 30.
These hubs will host events including live talks, debates, screenings, performances, games, and workshops.
For IDEAS CITY 2015, we are soliciting designs for a work of mobile architecture suited for hosting daring feats of oratory. The proposal will be a platform for conversation and debate; the exploration of ideas, dreams, and themes; the proclamation of manifestos; acts of intellectual communion; and declarations of dissent.
Proposals that address new forms of civic engagement for the urban context and that consider spaces, typologies, and objects including but not limited to: the Podium, the Mobile Theater, the Speakers Corner, the Megaphone, the Gavel, the Protest Booth, and other tactics supporting interdisciplinary discourse, are encouraged.
Proposed projects, which can consist of one or multiple structures, should be able to host citizens of all ages and physical abilities. In cases where multiple structures are proposed, at least one should be able to host a minimum of twenty-five people. While it is not mandatory for the structure to provide shelter from the elements, these amenities would be welcome.
Entrants should consider and specify power supply and other technological and digital aspects in their proposals if deemed appropriate.
Site Description and Scope
The Competition aims to reinvent a site-less typology with a call for projects that propose new modes of site engagement without a particular site limit.
During the Festival, which will be facilitated by street closures TBD [see annex 1], the Street Architecture will be roughly located around the New Museum and its surrounding streets. The information provided in the map is for orientation only and is subject to change. However, it is important to consider the dimension of the streets, sidewalks, fire egress lines, trees, street furniture, and lighting, etc.
More information about the competition, here.
Press release via Storefront.
