With 90+ categories and 300+ jurors, the Architizer A+Awards is the world’s definitive architectural awards program. In anticipation of the Awards Gala and Phaidon book launch on May 14, we are pleased to take a closer look at some of the winners of the 2015 Awards program — see all of them here.
Nearly one year ago, six ambitious designs were presented to the public with the aim to keep New York City afloat. Created by the President’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Taskforce, the Rebuild by Design competition asked architects to develop innovative, implementable plans to protect the New York and New Jersey coast from future storms. Implementable was the key word: Rebuild by Design planned to realize each proposal with $920 million of Community Development Block Grants — Disaster Recovery.
Image at top: New Meadowlands: Productive City + Regional Park, by MIT CAU + ZUS + URBANISTEN with Deltares, 75B, and Volker Infra Design
One year later and two-and-a-half years after Hurricane Sandy devastated the region, it’s easy to forget that resilient design is still a dire necessity for the East Coast. But the six winning architecture firms — BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Interboro Partners, OMA, OLIN, SCAPE, and Urbanisten — remain hard at work on proposals that were developed in close collaboration with the surrounding community, local politicians, and various stakeholders. As a condition of the grant money, implementation must begin by 2017.
“Everything is moving as planned,” said Amy Chester, the Rebuild by Design Project Manager. “Each firm has embraced the concept and gotten to work.” She explained that it has taken a year just for the $920 million funding to pass down from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to New York City, New York State, and New Jersey to begin implementation of the winning Rebuild by Design designs. The funding should start flowing soon. (The teams have been able to spend against the budget, so work hasn’t been held up by the lack of funding.) She called Rebuild by Design “institutionally transformative.” She continued, “We have a clear understanding that we need to respond to environmental uncertainties.”
© BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, Rebuild by Design
The Dryline, by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) with One Architecture, Starr Whitehouse, Buro Happold, Level Agency for Infrastructure, James Lima Planning + Development, Green Shield Ecology, AEA Consulting, Arcadis, Project Projects, and the Parsons School of Constructed Environments
Projects propose everything from plant growth, barrier reefs, and water storage to protective walls and new buildings. At an estimated cost of $335 million, the Dryline by the Bjarke Ingels Group is one of the most ambitious concepts: the multipart proposal ranges from a bridging berm, to protect the East River Park from storm surges and rising sea levels, to recreational spaces for residents within the surrounding public housing units. [Ed. Note: BIG also won the Jury Choice A+Award in the “Landscape & Planning: Masterplan Category” for the Dryline.] Project leader Jeremy Siegel reported on the team’s progress: “The team is now (literally) digging into the issues of underground utilities, infrastructure, soil, and hydrology that will inform the technical and urban parameters of the project’s first phase.” He noted that, “A waterfront with nearly a century of history, like that of the LES, forms an incredibly complex layering of these systems that the project team needs to now carefully survey, analyze, and negotiate through design.”
Living Breakwaters, by SCAPE / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Dr. Philip Orton / Stevens Institute of Technology, the New York Harbor School, Ocean and Coastal Consultants, SeArc Ecological Consulting, LOT-EK, MTWTF, and Paul Greenberg
Meanwhile, two of the firms, Interboro and SCAPE, are closely working with the Governor’s Office for Storm Recovery on implementation. A representative from GOSR reported that the agency is currently making headway with SCAPE on their Staten Island project, Living Breakwaters. The $60-million project will create a barrier oyster reef to revitalize the sea habitat and provide environmental education opportunities in local schools. The project is in its formal implementation process and is undergoing an environmental review through the summer as the design is still being refined.
Living with the Bay: A Comprehensive Regional Rebuilding Plan for Nassau’s South Shore, by Interboro / Apex / Bosch Slabbers / Deltares / H+N+S / Palmbout Urban Landscapes / IMG Rebel with Center for Urban Pedagogy, David Rusk, NJIT Infrastructure Planning Program, Project Projects, RFA Investments, TU Delft, Innovative Housing Institute
The Living with the Bay project, developed by Interboro Group, is a $125-million proposal for Nassau County’s north-south tributaries. The initial plan included a special street corridor to store and filter water, as well as new urban development and public spaces. According to GOSR, the Living with the Bay project was modified slightly to successfully accommodate funding and permitting constraints. The project, however, will still achieve its desired goals of water sustainability.
GOSR and Interboro are now exploring the possibility to restore a 100-year-old dam at Hempstead Lake State Park and are studying different methods of storm water management and storm surge protections. GOSR plans to firm up the revised project components by early summer, allowing for an environmental review to kick off this summer and fall.
Hunts Point Lifelines, by PennDesign / OLIN with HR&A Advisors, eDesign Dynamics, Level Infrastructure, Barretto Bay Strategies, Buro Happold, McLaren Engineering Group, and Philip Habib & Associates
Olin’s proposal, Lifelines, was different than the rest in that it proposed a long-term feasibility study rather than actual construction. The $20-million study looks at various options for flood protection for the massive Hunts Point food distribution center in the South Bronx. Richard Roark, a partner at Olin, said that their project got a huge boost when the mayor recently announced his One New York Plan, which included $190 million of investment in the South Bronx. “One year ago, there was no funding for this at all,” said Roark. “Now we have $20 million for this feasibility study, with the city matching an additional $25 million. That’s $45 million in one year.” As he said, “People realized that the city’s food supply cannot be flooded.”
However, Roark said there is “still a gap” in moving forward with developing their plan. “We’re still not there yet to build an integrated flood protection plan,” he explained. But he noted that more and more, resilient design is being linked to the well-being of city dwellers, especially those who live in poverty. “I’m happy to see that link finally codified.”
Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: A Comprehensive Strategy for Hoboken, by OMA with Royal HaskoningDHV, HR&A Advisors, and Balmori Associates
Indeed, since the launch of Rebuild by Design in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, there has been a significant shift in how architects view design in flood-prone areas. “Firms are changing their approach,” said Amy Chester of Rebuild by Design, and that approach now includes resiliency measures and community involvement. She also noted that since the design competition, which worked heavily with communities who lived in flood zones, residents have started asking the government for better, more resilient standards of design.
“We’re all approaching our risks differently,” she said, “Because we know now that the environmental concern is a reality.”
See all of the 2015 A+Award Winners here and preorder the book from Phaidon here!