2012 Olympic Village in Queens
City Plans Design Competition for a 2012 Olympic Village. Big names on jury, large purse, short notice.
An international architectural competition will be held to design the 2012 Olympic Village, where more than 16,000 athletes and coaches would live if New York City is selected as the host of the Summer Games.
The village — with 4,400 units of housing on more than 36 acres at Queens West, across the East River from the United Nations — "will be the spiritual heart of the Olympic Games, and we want it to be remarkable, a real landmark," said Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding.
The competition is open to all architects, and up to five finalists will be announced on Dec. 4. Those finalists will participate in a 20-week planning and design study. After public commentary sessions akin to those during the architectural selection process for ground zero, the winner is to be announced in May.
The $400,000 design competition will be sponsored by NYC2012, the committee leading New York's bid to become the host city of the 2012 Games. The competition, as well as the village, will be privately financed, said Mr. Doctoroff, who was the founder of NYC2012.
Last November, New York was selected over seven other cities to represent the United States in the host-city competition. The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to announce the winning city on July 6, 2005.
The projected cost of the Olympic Village has been estimated at $1.5 billion.
A mix of high-rises, mid-rise structures and townhouses, the village "will not be dormitories," Mr. Doctoroff said. "We see it as first-class housing for New York City residents in a world-class design that people 50 years from now will remember as the center of the Games in our city."
He said the village would become a new city neighborhood at the southern margin of Queens West after the Olympics.
Contest submissions are due by Nov. 17. Alexander Garvin, director of planning, design and development for NYC2012, said: "We welcome proposals from young designers who are interested in exploring the potential of an environmentally sustainable residential community that will set the standard for urban design in the 21st century."
Members of the design review panel include Gary Hack, dean of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts; Con Howe, planning director for the City of Los Angeles; Ronay Menschel, chairwoman of Phipps Houses in Manhattan; Laurie D. Olin, professor of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania; Will Rogers, president of the Trust for Public Land; Moshe Safdie, an architect; Denise Scott Brown, of the architecture firm Venturi Scott Brown; Dejan Sudjic, editor of the architecture magazine Domus; and Cristina Teuscher, an Olympic swimmer.
* Ray, 9/26/2003 10:01:14 AM
