Collective–LOK Wins Van Alen Institute's Ground/Work Competition

Earlier this morning, Ground/Work, the design competition for Van Alen Institute’s new street-level space in NYC, announced Collective–LOK as the overall competition winner. The victorious design team was formed as a collaboration of Jon Lott (PARA-Project), William O’Brien Jr. (WOJR), and Michael Kubo (over,under).

Collective–LOK's winning proposal, titled Screen Play, was selected from a group of three finalist projects. In case you had missed the competition's progress, click here to get all the updates.

Screen Play, presents a highly flexible space utilizing a subtle interplay of surfaces nnd screens to allow for the diverse range of uses demanded by the activities of the Institute, from multimedia exhibitions and lectures to workshops and private meetings.

The two other Ground/Work finalists were EFGH (Hayley Eber, Frank Gesualdi, Spencer Lapp, Pat Ruggiero, and Ani Ivanova – see finalist entry), and Of Possible Architectures (Vincent Appel, Ethan Lay-Sleeper, Jaime Magaliff, Paul Miller, Heather Murtagh, Franklin Romero Jr., and Emily Ruopp, in collaboration with Jay Atherton – see finalist entry).

Following the competition’s launch in May, over 120 teams submitted entries representing designers in more than 20 countries. The three finalists revealed their visions for the space in early September, and the Institute launched an online vote to invite the public to weigh in. Over a thousand people shared their pick for the winner, with Collective–LOK prevailing as the public choice. The full competition jury convened in mid-September to determine the competition winner, and the selected team now has four months to complete design work and develop construction documents for an expected groundbreaking in winter 2013.

“Collective–LOK’s proposal offers a vision that is both sophisticated and sensitive to the needs of Van Alen as an evolving cultural organization,” said David van der Leer, Executive Director of Van Alen Institute. “As we refocus the Institute on research and programs that also explore cities, we are fortunate to collaborate with this inspiring design team.”

The members of Collective–LOK said in a statement, “We’re thrilled to participate in building a new institutional home for Van Alen. The opportunity to shape one of the major cultural spaces for architecture and design in New York City is unique, and one that we look forward to given our shared background as architects, curators, critics, and educators. The competition process was a strong reflection of the Institute’s desire to create public dialogue on the role of architecture and design in the city, and we are proud to provide a setting that will support and enable that mission."

Stephen Cassell, Chair of Van Alen Institute’s Board of Trustees, said, “The competition jury was impressed by the depth of all three proposals from the finalists, and we have already benefited from their fresh approaches, thoughtful design strategies, and practical insights. We all look forward to working with Collective–LOK on the Institute’s future home.”

In addition to the public vote, the finalists’ proposals were evaluated by the competition jury composed of Stephen Cassell (Architecture Research Office, and Board of Trustees, Van Alen Institute), Winka Dubbeldam (Archi-tectonics, and University of Pennsylvania), Mark Gardner (Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects), Mark Robbins (International Center of Photography, and Board of Trustees, Van Alen Institute), Ada Tolla (LOT-EK), Marc Tsurumaki (LTL Architects), David van der Leer (Van Alen Institute), with the addition of Marc Kushner (Hollwich Kushner, and Architizer).

All images by Collective-LOK via Van Alen Institute.