Citywide call — Design Trust seeks proposals for “Rethinking Shared Space in NYC” initiative

In their latest effort to strengthen the voices of local communities and enrich neighborhoods as demands evolve, the non-profit Design Trust for Public Space has launched Public for All: Rethinking Shared Space in NYC. The call for proposals invites design firms, communities, agencies, and individuals based in any of New York City's five boroughs to send their most innovative project ideas for creating public spaces that are more accessible, resourceful, and can be sustainably maintained and operated.

“In today’s political climate, we must affirm and ensure that New York City’s public realm provides places of refuge and play, congregation and demonstration, and dialogue and exchange,” the Design Trust, who most notably jumpstarted NYC's infamous High Line, writes in a statement.

A short online expression of interest is due June 6, 2017. Full proposals will be due June 20, 2017. The independent jury (members listed below) is expected to select up to two proposals in mid-July that will be developed and executed with the Design Trust.

Read on for more details from the Design Trust:

Proposals must be research, design, and planning projects that will unlock the potential of NYC’s shared spaces, including underutilized and under-resourced community assets. Projects may be site-specific but must potentially change the way NYC develops and manages public space citywide. 

Although Design Trust efforts may eventually lead to built work, projects should, first and foremost, demonstrate broad policy or programming goals, with potential for further development. The Design Trust encourages entrants to consider the following questions:

• How can we design with and for all people, regardless of age, ability/disability, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language, sexuality, and geographic location? 
• How can we ensure that all who use public space—especially those who lack access to other places of rest, recreation, and connection—have substantial roles in decision- making and clear, readily accessible paths to civic participation? 
• How can public space and related processes adapt as needs and communities change? 
• How do we alter our perception of collective responsibility and broaden our understanding of the term ‘resource’ to explore new models for partnership, stewardship, governance, management, and maintenance of public space? 
• How can atypical shared spaces (i.e. privately owned, virtual, or unused space) be claimed and developed as community assets? 
• How do we meaningfully and realistically evaluate public space performance?

The jury includes: Kitty Hawks, Kitty Hawks Interiors, Design Trust Founder’s Circle; Walter Hood, Hood Design Studio; Patti S. Lubin, Office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; Kerry A. McLean, Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation; Zack McKown, Tsao & McKown Architects, Design Trust Board [non-voting]; Justin Garrett Moore, NYC Public Design Commission; José Serrano-McClain, NYC Mayor’s Office of Tech + Innovation; Claire Weisz, WXY Architecture + Urban Design, Design Trust Founder’s Circle; and Andrea Woodner, Design Trust Founder and President Emeritus. 

Click here for application guidelines. Further details can also be found in the link below.