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
| Jan 17, 2012
Capital Engineering joins AECOM
With 160 employees based in Taipei and Kaohsiung, CEC specializes in environmental, water, hydraulic and land development engineering consulting services for clients in Taiwan's public and private sectors.
| Jan 17, 2012
SOM launches Los Angeles design studio
Expert team to join the firm's West Coast practice, focusing on innovative urban and environmentally sustainable design in Southern California
| Jan 16, 2012
2012 40 Under 40 applications due Friday, Jan. 20
Building Design+Construction's 40 Under 40 is open to AEC professionals from around the world who are under 40 years old, as of January 1, 2012.
| Jan 16, 2012
Mid-Continent Tower wins 25 Year Award from AIA Eastern Oklahoma
Designed by Dewberry, iconic tower defines Tulsa’s skyline.
| Jan 16, 2012
Suffolk completes construction on progressive operating suite
5,700 square-foot operating suite to be test bed for next generation of imaged-guided operating techniques.
| Jan 15, 2012
Hollister Construction Services oversees interior office fit-out for Harding Loevner
The work includes constructing open space areas, new conference, trading and training rooms, along with multiple kitchenettes.
| Jan 15, 2012
Smith Consulting Architects designs Flower Hill Promenade expansion in Del Mar, Calif.
The $22 million expansion includes a 75,000-square-foot, two-story retail/office building and a 397-car parking structure, along with parking and circulation improvements and new landscaping throughout.
| Jan 15, 2012
535 Madison Avenue achieves LEED Gold certification
Class-A commercial building meets sustainability requirements of LEED Program.
| Jan 12, 2012
CSHQA receives AIA Northwest & Pacific Region Merit Award for Idaho State Capitol restoration
After a century of service, use, and countless modifications which eroded the historical character of the building and grounds, the restoration brought the 200,000-sf building back to its former grandeur by restoring historical elements, preserving existing materials, and rehabilitating spaces for contemporary uses.
| Jan 12, 2012
Stellar earns construction industry's most prestigious safety award
Now widely accepted as the construction industry's standard measure of safety performance, the STEP awards were established in 1989 to evaluate and improve safety practices and recognize outstanding safety efforts.