Request for Proposals: QueensWay Project
The New York office of The Trust for Public Land recently issued an RFP for a feasibility study, framework plan, and conceptual design for the QueensWay–a potentially transformative 3.5-mile project which will enhance quality of life in central and southern Queens, New York by reclaiming the abandoned Rockaway Rail Line, a largely elevated rail corridor. The project, which includes a pedestrian and bicycle pathway connecting the communities of Rego Park, Forest Hills, Richmond Hill, and Ozone Park, will provide a new public green space, celebrating the cultural diversity of Queens with art, sculpture, and food from around the world.
There is a mandatory Pre-Submittal Meeting March 28, and the proposal submittal deadline is April 23. For more information, please visit here.
Bloomberg Breaks Ground at Post-Sandy Housing Development in Queens
Despite NYC’s recent bout with nature, Mayor Bloomberg is undeterred from developing housing along NYC’s long stretch of waterfront, taking into account that proper measures are taken for storm and flooding mitigation. The latest in large scale developments comes to Hunter’s Point South in the neighborhood of Long Island City in Queens. The first of such a scale since the 1970s development of Co-Op City in the Bronx, plans will include two phases of design and construction. The first phase, designed by SHoP Architects with Ismael Leyva Architects will bring two residential towers with 925 permanently affordable apartments, 17,000 square feet of retail space, infrastructural installations, a five-acre waterfront park, and a 1,100-seat school.
Join us after the break for more on this large scale development in Long Island City.
Queens Museum of Art Expansion / Grimshaw Architects
Originally constructed for the 1939 World’s Fair, the resilient structure of New York’s Queens Museum of Art has been undergoing its fourth and most ambitious renovation since April 2011. This $68 million renovation, designed by Grimshaw Architects, will double the institution’s size, expanding the museum to a total of 105,000 square feet upon its completion in October 2013.
High Line-Inspired Park proposed in Queens
When plans for the High Line were first revealed it made quite an impression on the design community. The converted elevated rail line, long abandoned by New York City, was threatened by demolition until a group of activists fought for its revival and helped transform it into one of the most renowned public spaces in Manhattan. Now Queens, a borough with its own abandoned infrastructure is on its way to redeveloping the land for its own version of the High Line, to be known as the Queensway Cultural Gateway.
In late December, the Trust for Public Land announced that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has awarded a $467,000 grant to the organization to begin a feasibility study on the 3.5 mile Long Island rail line. Early proposals reveal a new pedestrian and bike path, public green space and a cultural gateway that will celebrate Queens’ diversity in art, sculpture and food, serving the 250,000 residents that live in the neighborhoods along the route, which include Rego Park, Forest Hills, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Forest Park.
Join us after the break for more.
2013 Folly Competition
The Architectural League and Socrates Sculpture Park is currently inviting architects to submit proposals for the 2013 Folly Competition, a design/build studio residency, and chance to build an installation at Socrates Sculpture Park, a unique urban waterfront park in Queens, NY. Socrates and the League welcome proposals from all emerging architects and designers for large-scale projects and installations that explore contemporary interpretations of the architectural folly. The deadline for submissions is January 7. For more information, please visit here.
A Bright Future for Willets Point – Redevelopment on an Environmentally Marred Peninsula
The New York Economic Development Corporation and Mayor Bloomberg of NYC announced the completion of the final plan for Willets Point - a peninsula on the Flushing River in Northern Queens, New York. The development of Willets Point is part of the urban renewal project associated with Citi Field – the Mets’ new stadium. Nicknamed the Iron Triangle, the project will include housing for mixed incomes, retail and entertainment amenities, a hotel, a convention center, office space, parks and open space, and a new public school, all of which falls under the umbrella of LEED-certified buildings and infrastructure. As with every redevelopment plan, there are positives and negatives to restructuring the community.
Read on for more after the break.
Omonia Bakery / bluarch
This bakery is a brand new project for the family behind the renowned Omonia brand famous for its Greek pastries. It sells pastries and breads prepared on premises in the see-through kitchen.
Architect: bluarch
Location: Queens, New York City, New York, USA
Project Area: 1,200 sqf
Photographs: Courtesy of bluarch
Long Island Cinema Competition / Afsarmanesh Architects
Afsarmanesh Architects has recently won the suckerPUNCH Long Island Cinema Competition with their unique design process and approach of the theoretical. Further images and a brief breakdown of their design process can be viewed after the break. Additionally, you find a brief interview of the architects at their winning entry domain on suckerPUNCH.
Conversations: Continued / PRAXIS + PS1 MoMA Symposium
The symposium marks the release of the 11 Architects + 12 Conversations issue of PRAXIS: a journal of writing and building. The moderated discussion will invite audience participation in an open dialogue that explores shared and contested territory among this emerging generation of practices.
The symposium, “Conversations: Continued”, brings together 10 Young Architectural Practices: MOS, NArchitects, WORKac, PATTERNS, Aranda/Lasch, Productora, FAR, Ciro Najle, The Living, and Howeler +Yoon with two critics, Timothy Hyde and Lucia Allais. The event continues the more formal discussion begun in PRAXIS 11, 11 Architects/12 Conversations, by bringing the firms together in a shared conversation, broadening the issues at stake, and sharing the material with a wider architectural and public audience.
The symposium will take place next Friday, June 25, from 12:30 till 6 pm at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Queens. For further information and schedule, go to http://www.praxisjournal.net/home.htm.
