Arquitectum 2nd Urban Architecture Competition : New York 2007

The Location: Manhattan Island
In the 17th century the Dutch founded a commercial establishment on the island of Manhattan which became the nucleus of the first economic population on the site. The colonists did not fully establish themselves, however, until 1625, when the number of inhabitants reached 200, and in 1626 the Dutch bought Manhattan Island from the Algonquins and Peter Minuit founded Fort Amsterdam. The English had begun to establish colonies in 1640, and in 1664 New Amsterdam fell into English hands and was included in that nation’s dominions under the name of New York. Recovered briefly by the Dutch in 1673, it passed definitively into English hands in 1674. English rule meant a temporary loss of rights until in 1686 the city received its first charter. During the 17th and 18th centuries New York prospered through agricultural expansion in its hinterland and increased trade, including the African slave trade and trade in furs and other products of the colonies.

During the first decades of the 19th century New York experienced massive growth, with its population increasing to 205,000 by 1830. The construction of the Erie Canal in 1825 transformed New York into America’s first city and the obligatory port of call for those European immigrants heading west, thereby accentuating its cosmopolitan nature.

In the 1930s, the businesses gathered around Wall Street found themselves engaged in an intense struggle with the financial bourgeosie of Philadelphia. With the abolition of the Federal Bank New York became the financial capital of the United States and Wall Street became the country’s most important stock exchange and one of the most important in the world. The city’s population grew extraordinarily from the second half of the 19th century, reaching 1,500,000 inhabitants by 1890. By the beginning of the 21st century, the population of New York had risen to its current level of 8,008,278, and its continues to grow.

The Project, a Museum Tower
This architectural competition is being promoted by ARQUITECTUM to evaluate proposals for the construction of a new monument to the urban, cosmopolitan and “universal” character of New York City.

To that end, this project (a 100 metre tall tower), will house a museum which will display the belongings, memories and photos of the new generation of immigrants which - from the 1960s onwards - headed for a city they saw as the paradigm of the American Dream.

This museum tower - to be located at the tip of the island on a pier over Battery Park - will not only become an architectural landmark, but also serve as a space dedicated to the celebration of the new urban dynamic of global multiculturalism and interracial relations in the 21st century. The museum will occupy an area of approximately 1,000 square metres and include the following spaces: entrance hall, temporary exhibition room, permanent exhibition room, storerooms, bathrooms, maintenance department, security, offices and cafeteria.

Entry Requirements
Participants should send - via Internet - their proposal, which should include one (1) single 1 megabyte digital image.

1st Prize
• 2 plane tickets to New York to attend the awards ceremony and the NEW YORK 2006 competition exhibition to be held in Manhattan in October 2007.
• Accommodation for three nights at the Paramount Hotel.
• 200 issues of the exclusive publication of ARQUITECTUM -“New York 2007-Architecture Award of the Year” - que which will include all the competition winner projects (including honourable mentions) as well as a personal review of every architect personal trajectory
• The European design magazine Wettbewerbe Aktuell will dedicate an issue of its publication to the NEW YORK 2007 competition, particularly the winning project, as well as covering the career and work of the winning architect or architects in a special supplement.
• The Spanish architecture competition magazine FUTURE will dedicate an issue of its publication to the NEW YORK 2007 competition during the year.
• The European design publication Design Magazine will dedicate an issue to the NEW YORK 2007 competition, particularly the winning project, as well as covering the career and works of the winning architect or architects.
• The Latin American design magazine ENTRE RAYAS will dedicate an issue to the NEW YORK 2007 competition, particularly the winning project, as well as covering the career and works of the winning architect or architects.

Conditions for Participation
Architects from anywhere in the world may take part in the competition as long as they have completed their studies (including bachelors) as well as any “Architecture Workshop” of any Faculty, School or University which runs the “architecture career” which includes at least one professor with these attributes.

Fee
Early registration: US $ 100
Late registration: US $ 150

Exhibition and Publication
ARQUITECTUM will hold a physical exhibition of the projects in Manhattan, in October in New York City. There will also be a virtual display of all the projects presented, which will be posted on the ARQUITECTUM website in November 2007.

Itinerary
• Announcement of Competition: March 20th 2007
• Start of Competition: April 20th 2007
• Submission Date for Proposals: July 31th 2007
• Announcement of Winning Project: September 1st 2007
• Exhibition in New York: October 2007

Inscription and Purchase of Rules
The competition website - http://www.arquitectum.com - from which the files needed for participation in the competition (history, aerial photos and plans) can be downloaded free of charge will be operational from April 20th 2007.