The United States has 401 national parks, which are visited by over 275 million people every year. As the National Park Service (NPS) approaches its centennial anniversary in 2016, the agency is reevaluating how parks are used and maintained, Arch Daily reports.
To this end, NPS has joined with the Van Alen Institute and created the National Parks Now competition. This competition fits into the Institute's existing initiative, Elsewhere: Escape and the Urban Landscape, to investigate how built environments create a need for escape. The National Parks Now competition seeks to make parks relevant for a wider audience, especially smaller national parks near urban areas.
Four parks in the Northeast have been chosen as case studies for the competition:
- Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (Oyster Bay, NY) – President Theodore Roosevelt’s estate
- Steamtown National Historic Site (Scranton, PA) – a monument to the steam locomotive
- Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park (Paterson, NJ) – birthplace of American textile manufacturing
- Weir Farm National Historic Site (Ridgefield, CT) – summer estate of artist Julien Alden Weir
National Parks Now asks entrants to propose all types of interventions for these parks, including interactive installations, site-specific education and leisure opportunities, outreach and engagement campaigns, and self-led tours. Any ideas to expand the park-going public, especially those that can be used as a model for other parks, are welcome.
The competition is open to architects, designers, historians, communications professionals, and others.
After an initial phase of competition, four teams, one for each park site, will be selected to participate in a six-month, collaborative research and design process, and will receive $15,000.
A winning team will be chosen after this period and a prototype of their work will be implemented at their site in 2015. See more about the competition here.
Related Stories
BIM and Information Technology | Apr 24, 2017
Reconciling design energy models with real world results
Clark Nexsen’s Brian Turner explores the benefits and challenges of energy modeling and discusses how design firms can implement standards for the highest possible accuracy.
Higher Education | Apr 24, 2017
Small colleges face challenges — and opportunities
Moody’s Investor Service forecasts that closure rates for small institutions will triple in the coming years, and mergers will double.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 24, 2017
Treating the whole person: Designing modern mental health facilities
Mental health issues no longer carry the stigma that they once did. Awareness campaigns and new research have helped bring our understanding of the brain—and how to design for its heath—into the 21st century.
Architects | Apr 20, 2017
Design as a business strategy: Tapping data is easier than you think
We have been preaching “good design matters” for a long time, demonstrating the connection between the physical environment and employee satisfaction, individual and team performance, and an evolving organizational culture.
Architects | Apr 20, 2017
‘Gateways to Chinatown’ project seeks the creation of a new neighborhood landmark for NYC’s Chinatown
The winning team will have $900,000 to design and implement their proposal.
Architects | Apr 19, 2017
Tour Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry architecture with Google Earth
Google Earth’s new ‘Voyager’ feature allows people to take interactive guided tours.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 18, 2017
Three multifamily, three specialized housing projects among 14 recipients of the AIA’s 2017 Housing Awards
2017 marks the 17th year the AIA has rewarded projects and architects with the Housing Awards.
Projects | Apr 17, 2017
BD+C's 2017 Design Innovation Report
Façades that would make Dr. Seuss smile, living walls, and exterior wall space that doubles as gallery space are all represented in this year's BD+C Design Innovation Report.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 13, 2017
The rise of human performance facilities
A new medical facility in Chicago focuses on sustaining its customers’ human performance.
Laboratories | Apr 13, 2017
How to design transformative scientific spaces? Put people first
While most labs are designed to achieve that basic functionality, a transformational lab environment prioritizes a science organization’s most valuable assets: its people.
