DESIGNING THE HEALTHY MAIN STREET:
WINNING TEAM SELECTED FOR MOVEMENT ON MAIN
A team led by STOSS landscape urbanism, including Höweler + Yoon Architecture, Nitsch Engineering, and Angie Cradock ScD, MPE has been selected as the winning design team for the Movement on Main: Designing the Healthy Main Street competition in Syracuse. The announcement was made today by The Near Westside Initiative, in partnership with UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research and Real Estate in the Syracuse University School of Architecture.
Movement on Main seeks to tie together the investments being made on Wyoming Street as a part of the revitalization of Syracuse’s traditionally impoverished Near Westside neighborhood. This street is anchored on the north by the new WCNY broadcast facility and on the south by the rehabilitation of Nojaim Bros. grocery store and the expansion of St. Joseph’s Westside Clinic. This unique and innovative street redesign will create a new public gathering place that encourages the community to engage in their neighborhood’s emergent creative life through a variety of movement and new technologies. The full press release can be found here
STOSS‘s proposal “Light-Play!” was among five competitive proposals by talented interdisciplinary teams reviewed by a panel of jurors consisting of Near Westside residents and business owners, Syracuse School of Architecture professors, Syracuse University Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development staff, city and county officials, experts in health services and human dynamics, and Richard Weller, the chair of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.
Movement on Main seeks to elaborate on the street’s role as an agent of social and recreational life. This unique and innovative street redesign, planned for Wyoming Street on Syracuse’s Near West Side, will create a new public gathering place that encourages the community to engage in the neighborhood’s emergent creative life through a variety of movement and new technologies.
Each of the selected teams will be given a $15,000 stipend and have eight weeks to develop designs for a buildable active urban street. The winner will be decided by a distinguished jury representing the design disciplines, health services, sports and human dynamics, economic development, planning, construction and the neighborhood, including Richard Weller, chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and Marc Norman, Director of UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate at Syracuse University.
This competition is enabled by generous funding by The Educational Foundation of America.
MOVEMENT ON MAIN seeks to elaborate on the street’s role as an agent of social and recreational life. This unique and innovative street redesign will create a new public gathering place that encourages the community to engage in their neighborhood’s emergent creative life through a variety of movement, including, but not limited to: strolling, running, dancing, and bicycling. The site for this competition is Wyoming Street and a selection of adjoining parcels. Competitors will be asked to build on the green infrastructure work already planned for Wyoming Street, and explore new technologies that activate and engage, such as kinetic energy applications, sensor driven musical pavers, movement activated lighting, and public “exergames.” The successful and implementable design will knit together recent development efforts in the area, improve public safety, and provide public education focused on personal and environmental health. When complete, the redesign and reconstruction of Wyoming Street into a central thoroughfare will invite and inspire movement for SALT District residents and visitors of all ages and backgrounds in all four seasons and in many types of weather.
Wyoming Street is located within Syracuse’s Westside, one of the first residential neighborhoods in the city. Through the efforts of the Near Westside Initiative (NWSI), a non-profit community development corporation, this neighborhood is being transformed from one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the region into a thriving creative, healthy, mixed income community. The NWSI’s mission is to combine the power of art, green technology and innovation with neighborhood values and culture to revitalize the neighborhood now known as the SALT district.
Syracuse University provided the leadership and $10 million in seed funding to get the project off the ground. To date 52 faculty from 5 Colleges and over 1000 students have been directly engaged in the neighborhood’s revitalization. Home Headquarters, Syracuse’s Neighborworks Corporation, works to revitalize the housing stock and increase home ownership in the SALT District. The Syracuse COE focuses on the district as a test bed for green technologies. The Syracuse University School of Architecture’s UPSTATE: Center for Design, Research and Real-estate provides neighborhood planning and design services. The Gifford Foundation, a small private charitable trust, has been instrumental in ensuring proper community engagement and resident ownership of this revitalization process. Lastly, the SU office of Community Engagement and Economic Development manages the overall Near Westside Initiative with its vice president acting as the NWSI board president and employing the executive director.
By building on the existing talents and assets of the area, the Near Westside Initiative is attracting artists, musicians, businesses and entrepreneurs. In the past four years the SALT District has attracted over $70 million dollars in leveraged investment and 337 new jobs. The SALT District is now a rapidly developing creative community with Wyoming Street the recipient of the majority of recent commercial investment. At its northernmost corner, an abandoned warehouse is being converted into the headquarters for Central New York’s public broadcasting station, WCNY Connected, and the newly opened headquarters for ProLiteracy, the largest international literacy organization in the world. Also here is the Delavan Center, an artist community which houses artist studios and workspaces. At mid-block is the newly renovated Lincoln Supply Building that houses artist live/work lofts, a Latino cultural center, and the headquarters for SAY YES, a district-wide school transformation effort. SALT Quarters new artist in residency building funded by ARTPLACE is also mid-block. At the southern terminus of Wyoming Street an innovative new development is being constructed that expands and joins a neighborhood health clinic with a revitalized full service neighborhood grocery store.
This competition, through the advanced design approaches it yields and the resulting built work, will demonstrate the feasibility of bringing a high quality of design to a diverse, traditionally underserved neighborhood seeing renewed attention and investment. Its ambition is to wed high design standards and advanced technology in the development of a healthy street that will catalyze movement and the continual improvement of the neighborhood.
Websites of interest:
The SALT District of the Near Westside: http://www.saltdistrict.com
UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate: http://upstate.syr.edu
Syracuse University School of Architecture: http://soa.syr.edu
Syracuse University: http://www.syr.edu
City of Syracuse: http://www.syracuse.ny.us
Onondaga Historical Society: http://www.cnyhistory.org
Onondaga County Save the Rain Program: http://savetherain.org
PROCESS
Movement on Main is a two-stage competition. Three teams will be selected to compete through this open call, joining two pre-selected design teams (see below) for a total of five teams. In the initial stage, design teams are invited to submit a booklet of relevant past projects and qualifications for consideration. A committee will review the received submissions and choose up to three teams to advance to the next stage. The five teams will travel to Syracuse for a daylong Information Session that will include a tour of the Near Westside neighborhood and Wyoming Street site. They will hear presentations by project stakeholders and other community members. A competition packet with background information about the neighborhood, the proposed site, and the program will be sent to each team in advance of the Information Session so that they can familiarize themselves with the specific challenge and the resources available. Teams will have eight weeks to develop designs for a buildable active urban street with construction costs not-to-exceed a first phase of $1,500,000. To help defray their research and design costs, each of the selected teams will be given a $15,000 stipend. Submissions will undergo a technical and cost review before being juried by a committee of design professionals, sustainability and construction experts, city representatives, and neighborhood residents.
The intention of the competition is to draw out the most advanced thinking about design, landscape urbanism, sustainability and the role our public spaces play in enhancing public health and recreation. The competition sponsors intend to see the winning scheme realized and will endeavor to build the jury’s top ranked design. However, competition sponsors reserve the right not to build any of the submitted projects, or to select one of the alternate designs, depending on the strength of the submissions, the resources available, and how the mechanics of the project unfold.
QUALIFICATIONS
Format
Teams wishing to be considered for the competition must submit a booklet profiling their proposed team and qualifications. At this stage, the booklet will serve in lieu of an interview or direct conversation with the selection committee. It should convey the required information clearly, compellingly, and demonstrate the team’s commitment to good design. All qualifications must be bound securely in a format no larger than 8.5” x 11” (oriented either portrait or landscape), utilizing both sides of every page (wherever possible.) A high quality digital copy of the complete booklet must also be submitted on disc.
Content
The Selection Committee will look for the following items, in this order:
- Letter of Interest
The letter should be a carefully considered discussion about why your team is interested in this project. You should cite relevant information about the challenges of designing public active space based on your experience. The letter should also address the team’s knowledge of new technologies, green infrastructure and working in challenged urban environments. - Project Sketchbook
As part of the booklet, each team must submit preliminary sketches illustrating initial thoughts about their design approach to an active public street. The sketchpad should feature ideas your team might explore if selected to participate in the design competition. Sketches (hand drawn, collaged, or digitally generated) and annotations should reflect the team’s best thinking on the subject. The sketchbook is limited to five double-sided pages (ten page fronts). - Team Overview
Provide a review of the team’s members and their respective expertise. Team members do not need to have worked together before, but must demonstrate the ability to form a compatible, complementary partnership. - Team Composition
The organizers encourage interdisciplinary teams as the entrants see fit. Multi-disciplinary teams may include a landscape architect, architect, urban designer, lighting expert and civil engineer. Faculty-led student teams are also encouraged. Team descriptions should start with an overview of the firms involved and how the team is organized, followed by a brief resume of each of the key individuals participating on the team. Be sure to cite each person’s anticipated responsibility on the project. At least one team member must be licensed to sign and seal construction documents for streetscapes in the State of New York. Please identify a team leader to which all correspondence should be addressed.
- Portfolio
Present three projects from the team’s body of work. At least one project must be built. Include:
a general description of project goals;
the design approach or philosophy driving the project;
the total project cost and whether it was completed within the budget;
any awards or peer recognition.
- Contact Information
The last page of the submission should list the name, telephone number, and email address for the team’s primary. - Disc
The submission should include a separate disc with a high-quality digital copy of the entire booklet in either PDF or JPG format.
SUBMISSION
Submit three (3) copies of the booklet and one (1) copy of the disc along with the entry fee, a check or money order for $75 made out to “NWSI Streetscape Competition” to:
NWSI Streetscape Competition
UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate
Syracuse University School of Architecture, the Warehouse
350 West Fayette Street, Suite 130
Syracuse, New York 13202
Telephone: (315) 443-2110
Fax: (315) 443-2742
All materials must be received by 4:00 PM Eastern EST, 12/10/12. Please note that we will not be able to return submissions. Competition organizers suggest you utilize a postal carrier that will guarantee delivery. Syracuse University will not be responsible for any submissions that arrive late or are lost or damaged in transit.
This solicitation does not commit the University to enter into a contract or award any services related to this document; nor does it obligate the University to pay any costs incurred in preparation or submission of a team’s qualifications or in anticipation of a contract.
SCHEDULE
Competition Submission Booklets Due 12/10/2012
Short-listed Teams Notified 1/8/2013
Competition Brief Issued 1/15/2012
Information Session in Syracuse 1/24/2013
Competition Entries Due 3/15/2013
Winner Announced 4/15/2013
JURY
Alvenas Bell
Near Westside Resident
Jennifer Colacicco
Rich & Gardner Construction Company
Thomas Dennison
Professor of Practice, Public Administration and International Affairs
Director, Program in Health Services Management and Policy
Maxwell School of Syracuse University
Marilyn Higgins
Vice President, Community Engagement & Economic Development
Syracuse University
Maarten Jacobs
Director, The Near Westside Initiative
Syracuse University
Brian Lonsway
Associate Professor, Syracuse University School of Architecture
Paul Nojaim
Chair, Near Westside Initiative
Marc Norman
Director, UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate
Syracuse University School of Architecture
Andrew Maxwell
Director of Planning and Sustainability
City of Syracuse
Matthew Millea
Deputy County Executive for Physical Services
Onondaga County
Jeffrey Pauline
Assistant Professor
Syracuse University, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
Richard Weller
Winthrop Professor of Landscape Architecture
Director of the Australian Urban Design Research Centre
University of Western Australia
PRE-SELECTED TEAMS:
Marpillero Pollak Architects
New York, New York
peg office of landscape + architecture
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
For more information or to ask a question, please visit the Competition Website at http://movementonmain.com
Competition Advisor: CLEAR Julia Czerniak
Presented by
Syracuse University Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development
UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research and Real Estate at Syracuse University School of Architecture
Sponsored by
The Educational Foundation of America
The Near Westside Initiative, Inc.
Onondaga County “Save the Rain” Program
With additional support provided by
The Syracuse University School of Architecture
The Syracuse Housing Authority
The City of Syracuse
Marc Norman 