21st Century Street Winners

Back in July I posted a notice about "Designing the 21st Century Street," an open design competition sponsored by Transportation Alternatives, which I thought of entering at the time but didn't evenutally do. Regardless, three winners were announced today, and my first impressions are, um, mixed. But I'll admit that it is hard to fully grasp a piece of urban design from only one image. Below are snippets of the three winners, at a large scale to show one aspect of urban design, namely the small details that compose the public realm: lights, bike racks, paving, planters, etc.

TA21a.jpg
["Shared Space" by Steven Nutter, Somerville, MA. | image source]

TA21b.jpg
["Streets for Everyone" by Rogers Marvel Architects, NY, NY. | image source]

TA21c.jpg
["Streets Come Alive" by team LEVON, Philadelphia, PA. | image source]

Comments

  1. really that is what won,.

    TOO, bad I didnt know about this,.
    I designed one early this year for dallas tx.

    no one has seen it, but it is more 21st cen then those. Also plausible more functional and interactive.
    And to bad, you didnt enter yours.

    monique

    ReplyDelete
  2. my reaction is mixed too.

    as a daily dose reader i'm not sure how i missed this. i'd have liked to enter. we're (rosenlof/lucas + rolu dsgn) working on
    this super cool project
    with CITYDESKSTUDIO here in mpls. the
    test site
    was a huge success.

    btw - always meant to say congrats from a while ago.

    cheers,
    matt

    ReplyDelete
  3. looks like we do in some cities in europe...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmmmm. Nice enough, but nothing very dynamic in those images.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very middle-of-the-road in the long run. The street should be THE site for re-invention, not just some visual study that seems more a designers excuse for patchwork-quilt-as-"difference" or substituting straights with triangulations. Where are the studies and analysis first - any new ideas for how to identify what lies below? How will access to underground and aboveground services be better translated as one living, social, civic condition, as information-avenues as well as aesthetics spaces. Multi-lane paths are great but if you start trying to cross them it is a nightmare - bikes speeding are worse than cars for elderly people. And so on.

    Nice drawings but not new ideas.

    ReplyDelete

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