Queensway Connection: Elevating the Public Realm
This competition emphasizes the importance of the park’s access points and questions whether they can be programmed and designed so that they extend the street activity onto the railway.
| Category | Idea Competition / Open to Students |
| Type | International, Idea, Age Restriction , Single-Stage, Anonymous |
| Genre | Public |
| Country | New York, United States |
| RegDeadline | 6 January 2014 GoogleCal iCal |
| 6 January 2014 (via Online) | |
| Eligibility | The undergraduate or graduate level within the past 10 years of the competition announcement (August 22nd, 2013) |
Description
Queensway Connection: Elevating the Public Realm will support Friends of the Queensway and Trust for Public Land in their efforts to transform an abandoned rail right-of-way into a greenway that serves diverse neighborhoods in central and southern Queens. This conversion shares many similarities to the Bloomingdale trail conversion in Chicago, whose surrounding urban context is a significantly lower density than that of the High Line. ENYA is seeking to supplement the ongoing feasibility study for the railway’s transformation by envisioning ways the future park can be activated beyond a means of recreation and leisure. This competition emphasizes the importance of the park’s access points and questions whether they can be programmed and designed so that they extend the street activity onto the railway.
ENYA believes that the key to making the Queensway a success is to engage the local community and to empower them to take ownership of the disused infrastructure. If nearby community groups, businesses and residents were allowed to “adopt” portions of the railway, the result would be a park whose usefulness was truly defined by the will of the community. Many portions of the QueensWay are already primed for such a transformation, however there also are locations which aren’t. The southern end of the railway will be most difficult to engage with the community because it is a narrow elevated viaduct isolated from the neighborhood. However, this portion is the most important to activate because it is very well connected to the City’s transportation network. ENYA is looking for ideas in how the future vertical connection to the viaduct can overcome the specific challenges of this site and contribute towards the activation of the overall QueensWay.
Jury
Claire Weisz (a founding partner of WXY)
Lisa Switkin (an Associate Partner and Managing Director at James Corner Field Operations)
Matthew Johnson (Diller Scofidio + Renfro)
Margaret Newman (Chief of Staff to Commissioner Sadik-Khan)
Ting Chin or Yan Wang (co-founders of Linearscape)
Susan Chin (the Executive Director of the Design Trust for Public Space)
Prize
ENYA PRIZE: $5,000
2ND PRIZE-: $2,500
3RD PRIZE: $1,000
STUDENT PRIZE: $1,000
Entry Fee
Student: $35
Single Entry: $65
Team (2-4 People): $130
Team (5-10 People): $300
Academic Lab: $35 (includes 1 Student Entry)
Entries
One 42″ x 30″ PDF and Project description, 4-5 images
Timetable
Winners Announced: March 2014
Exhibition Opening: July 2014
Links
Past winners
Organizer
Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA), AIA New York Chapter, The Center for Architecture