Fargo’s Urban-infill Design Competition

by Stanley Collyer

As the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota, Fargo can afford to speculate about a redesign of its downtown core. Considering the state of the U.S. economy, one might question the planning of such an ambitious venture. But, in contrast to the rest of the nation, North Dakota’s economy is experiencing boom-like symptoms, supported mainly by the energy and agricultural sectors. Until recently, most outsiders regarded Fargo as a sleepy, northern, small city. Now, with a metropolitan population of 200,000 and growing, the community can think bigger and better. Choosing a design competition for a downtown plan is an interesting move in this direction, even though this was only an ideas competition, and there is no guarantee any of the ideas from this event will be used.

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The Gowanus Lowline Ideas Competition

by Dan Madryga

The landscape of waste: it is a common feature in any big city. Left in the wake of decentralized cities and waning industry, the neglected postindustrial terrain is an unavoidable blemish on the built environment. The desolate, ugly, contaminated vestiges of abandoned factories, overstuffed trash dumps and discontinued mills were pushed out of site and out of mind for decades as Americans sought refuge in suburbia. Yet as urban centers are gradually redeveloped and society expresses increased concern about environmental crises, these harmful, marginalized sites are becoming more difficult to ignore. On Brooklyn’s doorstep lies one such wastescape: the dormant and noxious Gowanus Canal. With help from the recent Gowanus Lowline ideas competition, locals are beginning to seriously contemplate a restorative future for this type of ailing urban environment.

Laval University School of Architecture “Emblematic Addition” Ideas Competition

by Stanley Collyer

Addressing an addition to a centuries-old seminary building in the heart of historic Québec—designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site— would represent a unique challenge to any architect. To probe the boundaries of this scenario, the Laval University School of Architecture, celebrating the 50^th anniversary of its founding, sponsored a one-stage ideas competition, open to professionals and students alike for an “emblematic addition” to the heritage building where it resides.

The Centre for the Promotion of Science

by Ted Sandstra

In the process of reinventing itself, the Serbian capital of Belgrade, once the political center of Yugoslavia before its dissolution into a number of smaller nation states, is steering away from its obsession with its nationalist past, and, with its application for entry into the European Community, is promoting cultural as well as economic progress as its top priorities. As part of this new direction, the City staged recent competitions for two city projects, bringing attention to the needs of Belgrade as a large city that not only continues to grow, but is soliciting ideas that speak to a civic and national identity that is intended to redefine significant historical locales within its geography. Thus, in the tradition of the Grande Projets, the Serbian administration announced competitions for a Center for the Promotion of Science; and also the Hala Beton Waterfront Centre 2011 and Kalemegdan Park on the Danube, the former located in Block 39 of the New Belgrade plan, the latter located just across the Sava River from it.