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 2013, over 400,000 people visited the island through its summer season 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.
FIGMENT has teamed with the Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects NY Chapter (AIANY) and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) to host a competition to design and construct an architectural pavilion on Governors Island, the City of Dreams Pavilion. The 2015 pavilion will be our fifth City of Dreams Pavilion.
The City of Dreams Pavilion will be a gathering place for people to meet, learn about the arts programs on the island, enjoy a 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. If we imagine a future New York City where anything is possible, what would it look like? In our wildest and most optimistic dreams, what is the future of the city?
The current state of the world is such that both economic and natural resources are extremely limited. A new way of thinking is necessary to solve the problems that the world faces. Inevitably, the result will be a change in the basic practices that have driven the world to its current state. One place to start to activate and energize these changes is within the architecture and design community, where the movement toward sustainable design has only scratched the surface of what is possible and necessary.
The Selection Process
The City of Dreams 2015 Pavilion Design Competition will be a two-stage process, in which a jury of leading architects and other industry professionals will review initial submissions and select a number of finalists. These finalists will receive comments and will have the opportunity to revise their proposals. The jury will meet again and select the competition winner in November 2014.
Entries are encouraged from individuals or teams of architects and non-architects of any age or experience level, provided they are prepared to carry out the project. Attribution of the winner and finalists will be given based on the names of the individuals who enter, rather than to any firm with whom they are affiliated.
Proposal Criteria
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 should consider the entire lifecycle of building materials in their submission. Whether they do this by identifying companies that produce “cradle to cradle” products, garnering sponsorships from environmental or socially conscious groups, or re-using waste from construction sites, the materials used and the installation process should have as little impact as possible on the environment.
Entrants should submit where their materials are to come from, how their structures will be transported to the site, how they will eliminate waste during installation, and how they plan to disassemble and reuse the materials after the island closes for the season. In other words, entrants are being asked to consider using "borrowed" materials—from existing construction sites and from places where the materials can be returned after the season is over and the temporary structure is disassembled.
In the end, the goal is to create a pavilion that has a net zero impact and that serves as a prototype for a new, truly sustainable, way of thinking about design and construction.
We anticipate that the pavilion will be installed on the South Parade Grounds on Governors Island. However, this placement is pending approval and is subject to change.
Essential requirements of the proposal are as follows
- Create a gathering place for 50 or more people, providing shade and rain cover
- Provide an integrated performance area/stage for small dance performances, music ensembles, and/or spoken word productions
- Consider the full lifecycle of the materials used—where they come from and where they will go after the island closes for the 2015 season
- Provide for the design and installation of the project, including sourcing all materials
- All materials must be able to be transported on the Coursen Ferry (12’ clearance)
- The structure must be freestanding, and cannot penetrate the ground to a depth greater than 6”
- The design will require approval from a number of public agencies prior to installation, which may include the Trust for Governors Island, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), and the NYC Department of Buildings
- Include a budget that anticipates all costs of fabrication, transportation, installation, and de-installation
Optional considerations
- How will the pavilion support educating the public about arts programs on the island?
- How will the pavilion support informal performances or lectures?
- What other kinds of activities could take place in the pavilion?
Selection criteria that the jury will consider
- Proposal feasibility and buildability
- Lifecycle considerations and overall environmental impact
- Adherence to theme
- Design impact
- Innovative use of materials
- Visitor safety: the design should not give visitors the opportunity to climb or hang on the pavilion, or do anything that would be a risk to their safety
Jurors
Kathy Creutzburg, Multi-Media Artist/Sculptor
Jason Klimoski, AIA, Co-Founder at STUDIOKCA
Nat Oppenheimer, Executive Vice President at Robert Silman Associates
Eva Perez de Vega, Partner at e+i studio
Alexander Levi, AIA, Principal at SLO Architecture
Lori Zimmer, Writer for Inhabitat
Mentor: Marc Bailly, AIA, Architect at Bailly & Bailly
About The City of Dreams Pavilion
The City of Dreams Pavilion is a gathering place for people to meet, learn about the arts programs on the island, be able to enjoy a 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. If we imagine a future New York City where anything is possible, what would it look like? In our wildest and most optimistic dreams, what is the future of the city?
About the Competition
Instead of a typical design competition, the City of Dreams Pavilion asked entrants to consider how they will construct this temporary structure in the most efficient and sustainable way possible. Entrants considered the entire life cycle of building materials in their submission; the materials used and the installation process should have as little impact as possible on the environment. Entrants were asked to consider using “borrowed” materials—from existing construction sites and from places where the materials can be returned after the season is over and the temporary structure is disassembled.
The goal was 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.
Entries were encouraged from individuals or teams of architects and non-architects of any age or experience level, provided they were prepared to carry out the project. Attribution of the finalists have been given based on the names of the individuals who entered, rather than to any firm with whom they are affiliated.
The Competition Jury
The confirmed jurors for the 2013-2014 City of Dreams Pavilion competition are: John Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA, Editor-in-Chief, Contract; Susannah C. Drake, ASLA, AIA, Principal, dlandstudio; Mark L. Gardner, AIA, NOMA, Principal, Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects; Marc Leff, AIA, Partner at Deborah Berke & Partners; and Scott Lomax, Vice President, Thornton Tomasetti. Aleksey Lukyanov-Cherny, Partner, Situ Studio, will serve as a design mentor to the finalists and winning design team.
About FIGMENT
FIGMENT catalyzes and celebrates an abundance of creativity and passion, challenging artists and our communities to find new ways to create, share, think, and dream. FIGMENT’s annual participatory arts event began in New York City in 2007 and has expanded to include events in nine cities in three countries on two continents. In New York, FIGMENT hosts an annual summer-long exhibition on Governors Island that includes an interactive sculpture garden, an artist-designed minigolf course, and an architectural pavilion co-presented with ENYA and SEAoNY.
FIGMENT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization entirely funded by grants and individual donations. FIGMENT accepts no corporate sponsorship of any kind. FIGMENT is supported by public funds from the National Endowment of the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, as well as by the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. FIGMENT Boston is produced with support from the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the designated stewards of the Rose Kennedy Greenway and site of FIGMENT Boston. FIGMENT Jackson is produced with support from the Greater Jackson Arts Council. FIGMENT Geelong is produced in partnership with Diversitat, our local auspice agency, and is supported by the City of Greater Geelong through its Community Festivals Grant Program.
ABOUT ENYA, AIA New York Chapter
It is the goal of the Emerging New York Architects Committee to encourage membership, participation, and leadership in the AIANY Chapter among intern architects, young architects (licensed 10 years or less), and emerging professionals in the fields of design and construction. The committee engages NYC’s diverse emerging design professionals through lectures, design competitions, and networking opportunities, with a focus on Professional Development, Design Excellence, and Public Outreach.
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 over 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.
Main page photo ©2014 Trenchcoat77. Governor's Cup by CDR Studio / City of Dream Pavilion, FIGMENT NYC