Minds in the Gutter

Just found out about Minds in the Gutter: a call for submissions. Sounds like a good idea for a competition, applicable well beyond New York City's boundaries.

Every time it rains in New York City, our combined sewer system gobbles up stormwater running off all hard surfaces - roadways, sidewalks, rooftops and parking lots - into the same network of pipes that carry our sewage. This system quickly reaches capacity, and the stormwater and sewage overflow into local waterways on the order of 27 billion gallons per year. This limits how New Yorkers can safely access the waterfront, and impairs our estuary ecosystem. It’s also a waste! Almost 30% of NYC’s surface is made of streets and sidewalks that contribute to this problem.

DESIGN QUESTION: How do we utilize the existing 6K miles of roadway and accompanying 12K miles of sidewalk as an opportunity for stormwater management? The majority of roads are crowned, water flows some distance along a gutter adjacent to sidewalks and existing vegetation and escapes into a storm drain. What can we do with what we’ve got? Where is your intervention?

Deadline: February 15, 2010

(via eOculus)