HB:BX Building Cultural Infrastructure The High Bridge International Ideas Competition

EMERGING NY ARCHITECTS LAUNCH INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

HB:BX Building Cultural Infrastructure
The High Bridge International Ideas Competition

Launch Party
September 10 | 6:00-8:00 pm
Trespa Design Centre
62 Greene Street NY, NY 10012
FREE Admission
RSVP: Please e-mail [email protected]

September 10, 2009, NEW YORK, NY. The Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA), AIA New York Chapter, is pleased to announce its fourth biennial international ideas competition, High Bridge: Bronx, Building Cultural Infrastructure (HB:BX). Please join us at the Trespa Design Centre in SoHo, September 10 at 6:00 pm to help us celebrate its launch.

This competition is open to all emerging professionals, including, but not limited to, architects, artists, engineers, landscape architects, urban designers, and planners who have completed their education at the undergraduate or graduate level within 10 years of the competition announcement (September 10, 2009). The registration deadline is November 18, 2009, and the submission deadline is January 18, 2010. An online gallery will feature all submitted design entries. In addition, cash prizes and inclusion in an exhibition and publication will be awarded to the winning designs.

HB:BX is an open ideas competition to design an arts center that culturally reinforces the physical connection between the Manhattan and Bronx High Bridge communities of New York City. Working in cooperation with the arts organizations Artists Unite and the Bronx Museum of the Arts, ENYA means to draw awareness to the current efforts to restore and reopen the historic High Bridge. This competition is a forum to explore the urban and community improvement opportunities that may come with the achievement of such a momentous milestone. Thus, ENYA challenges designers to explore how disused structures can be reprogrammed into elements of a vibrant urban cultural center. Entrants are also challenged to rethink the relationship between existing infrastructure (aqueduct, railway, highway) and the contemporary urban context. These issues, universally relevant to any growing city, take on a more site-specific nature when considering the importance of the High Bridge and the topographic challenges posed by the steep riverbanks of the Harlem River. Also defining this competition are the unique clients who ask entrants to reconsider architecture’s role in the creation, display, and experience of viewing art in one of the world’s most culturally vibrant cities.

General information about HB:BX follows:
Type: International Ideas Competition.
[Note: The competition results are intended to generate ideas for the site and will not result in actual development by ENYA or other parties involved.]

Registration Begins: Sept 10, 2009
Early Registration Ends: Nov 15, 2009
Late Registration Ends: Dec 15, 2009
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2010 (postmarked)
Open to: Emerging Designers
Entry Fee: $35 Student, $65 Individual, $110 Team (2-4), $300 Group(5+)
Awards: $5,000 (ENYA prize), $2,000 (2nd Place), $1,000 (3rd Place), $1,000 (Student)

About ENYA, AIA New York Chapter
ENYA (Emerging New York Architects) is a forum for the interests and activities of students, interns, associates, and new architects. The committee, which is part of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, establishes networking, mentoring, technical, and public advocacy initiatives to foster the professional development of architecture students and young professionals and to strengthen the quality of the built environment.

About the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter
Founded in 1857 by seven visionary architects, the AIA New York Chapter is the first and largest chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Today, the AIA New York Chapter is a membership-based organization comprised of licensed architects and professional affiliates in real estate, construction, engineering, and facilities management, and currently has 4,300 members. Operating out of the Center for Architecture, a storefront space in Greenwich Village, the Chapter is dedicated to three primary goals: public outreach, professional development, and design excellence.

The AIA New York Chapter is guided by the work of its dedicated committees. Over two-dozen committees, open to all interested, are continually exploring such vital issues as housing, planning, urban design, community development, historical preservation, and environmental sustainability. The AIA New York Chapter also serves as an advocate in public policy discussions with governmental decision-makers and other civic and professional associations.