Snøhetta to Redesign Times Square in New York City

Norwegian architects Snøhetta seem to be on a winning spree in America: the firm that was just announced winner in the SFMOMA competition last week was also awarded the Times Square Reconstruction Project to create a series of pedestrian plazas along Broadway, including Times Square.

Construction on the permanent plazas is expected in 2012, and in the mean time, the art work "Cool Water, Hot Island" by artist Molly Dilworth is being installed in July as a large-scale surface treatment.

New York City's Department of Transportation and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City held a design competition to find temporary treatments that will refresh and revive the streetscape designs currently in place at the Times Square pedestrian plazas while the department moves forward with the separate design process for the area’s permanent capital reconstruction project which Snøhetta will be in charge off. Plans foresee a complete removal of vehicle traffic from Time Square.

The winning team led by Snøhetta also comprises WXY Architecture and Design, Weidlinger Associates (engineers), Matthew Nielsen (landscape), Billings Jackson Design (industrial) and Bexel (audio-visual). Snøhetta has offices in New York and Oslo.