February 26, 2019, New York, NY — Metals in Construction magazine and the Steel Institute of New York named the winner and five finalists for its 2019 Design Challenge yesterday at the TimesCenter in New York City. The “Create A New Urban Pathway” competition challenged architects and engineers to design a pedestrian bridge that connects the transportation hub of the newly adapted Moynihan Train Hall with New York’s largest development since Rockefeller Center, Hudson Yards, which is estimated to see 100,000 workers traveling from the rail station to offices there each day.
The Metals in Construction magazine 2019 Design Challenge was conceived to generate ideas for making foot travel a more attractive, engaging component of living and working in a city. With urban environments overly reliant on automobiles, creating elevated, landscaped thoroughfares that encourage foot travel can reduce congestion and improve the overall experience of urban life. One testament to this is the popularity of the High Line’s transformation of an abandoned railroad spur into a pedestrian walkway, stimulating development in adjacent neighborhoods along the way. The High Line captivates New Yorkers in a way that few projects do. It also demonstrates the potential such projects have to revolutionize urban landscapes by serving not just as places for public recreation, but also, when properly designed, as preferred modes of travel for commuters to use on a daily basis.
The magazine awarded a $15,000 grand prize to the design judged best at delivering this connectivity while becoming an iconic urban pathway unto itself. Titled “The Midtown Viaduct,” the winning proposal “employs forward-thinking approaches to form, fabrication, assembly, and urban solutions that mitigate/synthesize the complex forces of contemporary cities,” writes the team from DXA Studio (see full team information below). The jury praised the design for its structural and fabrication feasibility as well as for presenting a compelling idea for streamlined pedestrian transit that still offered opportunities for a unique urban experience. A full audio recording of the February 25 awards ceremony is available here.
This year’s winner was chosen from a field of 45 qualifying entries. The panel of four jurors who awarded the prize come from architecture and engineering fields and include experts in urban design and infrastructure: Benjamin Prosky, Assoc. AIA, Executive Director AIA New York Chapter; Claire Weisz, FAIA, Founding Principal, WXY architecture + urban design; Enrica Oliva, M.Sc. Struct. Eng., Partner and COO, Werner Sobek NY; Paul Bauer, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Dattner Architects. Jack Robbins, AIA, LEED AP, Principal and Director of Urban Design, FXCollaborative Architects, served as moderator for jury deliberations.
The grand prize was awarded at a half-day conference at the TimesCenter in New York City on February 25, 2019. The winner and finalists will be published in Metals in Construction magazine and its digital platforms. The competition is sponsored by the Steel Institute of New York.
The Metals in Construction magazine 2020 Design Challenge, themed “Create A New Urban Identity,” will be sponsored by the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York with the goal of reimagining the skin of an existing building in New York City. The full competition brief will be announced in September 2019.
The full conference program is available at https://metalsinconstruction.org/feb-25-the-urban-pathways-conference/
The competition Design Brief is available at https://metalsinconstruction.org/2019-design-brief/
Click project name to see the full design presentation by each team:
Winning Team:
THE MIDTOWN VIADUCT
DXA Studio Team
Jordan Rogove – DXA studio (Partner)
Wayne Norbeck – DXA studio (Partner)
Scott Hughes – Silman (Structural Engineer)
Shane Phelan – DXA studio
Sarah Keane – DXA studio
Sando Thordarson – DXA studio
Shahab Heidari Faroughi – DXA studio
Roman Falcon – DXA studio
Axelle Zemouli – DXA studio
Ryan Barnette – DXA studio
Brian Hellar – DXA studio
David Scurry – DXA studio
Finalist Teams:
HIGH LINES
Lissoni Architettura Team:
Piero Lissoni, Principal of Lissoni.inc & Lissoni Architettura
Joao Silva, Architect & Competitions Coordinator
Fulvio Capsoni, Architect
Structural engineering consultant:
B&C Associati, Antonio Capsoni
THE NEXUS
Lukstudio Team:
Christina Luk
Charis Nicolaou
Edoardo Nieri
Ng Mun Yee
3D visualization:
Milos Zivkovic from Bitscapes
SNAKE NY
Konrad Brzykcy
Bartlomiej Bogdanik
THE SPINE
Team:
Mr. Andreu Estany – Architect, working at ESTEYCO
Mr. Joan Bardy – Architect
Mr. Paul Greenway – Student, 2nd year of Architecture at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh
Advisor:
Mr. Luis Castro – MSc Civil Engineer – ESTEYCO
TRESTLE
Andrew Barwick, Cooper Robertson
Iris Kim, Cooper Robertson
Jason Fung, Cooper Robertson
Shamil Lallani, Werner Sobek
Michele Andaloro, Werner Sobek
Nicoletta Meloni, Werner Sobek
About Metals in Construction magazine
Metals in Construction magazine showcases noteworthy projects that feature innovative use of structural steel and architectural metal in New York City’s five boroughs and adjacent Nassau, Suffolk, and, Westchester counties. To see recent issues of the magazine, visit www.siny.org/publications.
About the Steel Institute of New York
The Steel Institute of New York is a not-for-profit association created to advance the interests of the steel construction industry. The Institute sponsors programs to help architects, engineers, developers, and construction managers in the New York building community develop engineering solutions using structural steel construction. www.siny.org
Contact:
Metals in Construction
Gary Higbee, AIA, editor
info@metalsinconstruction.org
