The City of Dreams Pavilion Competition

The City of Dreams Pavilion Competition
January 15, 2010, NEW YORK, NY. FIGMENT, one of Governors Island’s key cultural partners, has joined forces with The Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) to sponsor a competition to design and construct an architectural pavilion for the 2010 summer season on Governors Island, the City of Dreams Pavilion. The registration deadline is February 8, and the deadline for entries is February 16.

Since Governors Island first opened to the public in 2004, the attention and interest that this new public place has received has increased exponentially. In 2009, more than 275,000 people visited the island through its summer season (late May to mid October) to engage in a variety of arts and cultural programs, as well as to enjoy summertime activities like picnicking and bike riding on the island.

The City of Dreams Pavilion will be a gathering place for people to meet, learn about the arts programs on the island, be able to enjoy a planned or impromptu performance or lecture, and experience the interaction of art and the historic context of Governors Island.

Our theme for the pavilion, the City of Dreams, points toward the future. The current state of the world is such that both the economy and natural resources are limited in ways we have never experienced in our lifetimes. Inevitably, the result will be a change in harmful habits that have driven the world to its current state. One place to start to activate and energize these changes in within the architecture and design community, where the movement toward sustainable design has only scratched the surface of what is possible and necessary.

Instead of a typical design competition, the City of Dreams Pavilion asks entrants to consider how they will construct this temporary structure in the most efficient and sustainable way possible. Entrants will consider the entire lifecycle of building materials in their submission, from pre-construction through disassembly.

In the end, the goals is to create a pavilion that has net zero impact and that serves as a prototype for a new, truly sustainable, way of thinking about design and construction.

General information about the City of Dreams Pavilion follows:
Website and Registration: http://figmentproject.org/pavilion
Type: International Design Competition
Registration: January 15 – February 08, 2010
Submission Deadline: February 16, 2010
Open to: All design enthusiasts
Entry Fee: $20 Student, $50 Individual, $80 Group
Award: The winning design will be constructed on Governors Island for the Summer 2010 season.

About FIGMENT

FIGMENT is a forum for the creation and display of participatory and interactive art by emerging artists across disciplines. FIGMENT began in July 2007 as a free, one-day participatory arts event on Governors Island in New York Harbor with over 2,600 participants. Since then, FIGMENT has grown significantly each year—in number of projects, duration, participants, volunteers, fundraising capability, exhibitions, locations, overall level of commitment and participation, and public support.

In 2009, the FIGMENT event on Governors Island had over 13,000 participants, over 400 works of interactive art, and a volunteer team of over 300. In addition, FIGMENT created a season-long exhibition on the island of 16 large-scale interactive sculptures and an artist-designed 18-hole minigolf course.

FIGMENT is a project of Action Arts League, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and is created and produced by a coalition of volunteers. FIGMENT is made possible by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s SwingSpace program, which was created with lead support from the September 11th Fund. FIGMENT is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

About ENYA, AIA New York Chapter

The Emerging New York Architects (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Chapter is one of the most active young architect groups in the country. At the national level, ENYA falls under the umbrella of the Young Architects Forum, an AIA Knowledge Community that provides national advocacy and leadership for the group. In conjunction with the AIA New York Chapter, ENYA develops its own programming that addresses issues specific to the New York City audience.

AIA National defines membership in young architects groups as open to “all professionals ten years or less from licensure.” However, ENYA is an equal-opportunity committee and welcomes participation from anyone willing to promote the positive development of the profession and its practitioners. ENYA strives to meet all skill levels, scholastic backgrounds and professional interests, and hosts programs of general interest to all architects. In this way, ENYA will continue to educate, expand and improve the understanding and interpretation of New York City’s architectural environment with a focus on topics of interest to young architects.
Founded in 1857, the AIA New York Chapter is the oldest and largest chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The Chapter’s members include more than 4,600 practicing architects, allied professionals, students, and public members interested in architecture and design. The AIA New York Chapter is dedicated to three goals: design excellence, public outreach, and professional development.

About SEAoNY

SEAoNY is a member organization of the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations. Presently, 39 states and the District of Columbia have structural engineers’ associations, the largest of which is SEAOC, Structural Engineers Association of California, which was founded in 1930 and presently has approximately 4000 members.

The association sponsors workshops, panel discussions, lectures and seminars with the aim of addressing topics of interest and concern to structural engineers. Our membership, which is over 500 members, includes individuals from most major structural engineering design firms in New York State.

SEAoNY also reaches out to other professionals, outside the engineering community, who work in related fields with common interests. Currently, 10% of our membership are affiliate members who come from a variety of disciplines such as geotechnical, civil, construction management and architecture.

The purpose of SEAoNY is to advance the art of structural engineering in New York by improving the flow of ideas and building the community of colleagues.

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