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vision42design competition

vision42design competition

The four projects shown here are the result of the recently concluded vision42design competition that aimed to rethink one of the most iconic streets in the world—42nd street in Midtown Manhattan. The aim of the competition was to increase interest in and gain support for a river-to-river, auto-free light rail boulevard on 42nd Street. The competition intended to encourage architects, planners, and urban designers from around the world to develop creative proposals for remaking this important but noisy, traffic-clogged thoroughfare into an enhanced, world-class pedestrian environment served by a modern low-floor surface light rail tram. All entrants were asked to utilize the potential of the boulevard to inspire New Yorkers and its elected officials to transform the street into a model for a 21st century live/work space and transportation corridor. The Architect’s Newspaper and The Institute for Rational Urban Mobility organized the competition. You can

From Infrastructure to Urban Renewal
ateliergeorges studio
Paris and Nantes, France

This proposal integrates with the existing transportation network, both at a city and regional scale, allowing for easier access to Midtown, especially from working class residential areas. It involves local communities and organizations through the planning process and creates grounds for public expression, free speech, and world transformation through a large urban square in front of the United Nations. The proposal brings the Bryant Park green space into the urban streetscape and links existing green corridors and neighborhoods. It creates a new economy at a pedestrian level and allows up-zoning practices in particular locations in order to involve landlords in the planning process.


A Greenway Grows on 42nd Street
Paul Boyle
University of Western Australia

This proposal designates a particular indigenous plant species for each light rail station. The overall plan is informed by a sprouting tree, with the light rail line acting as a stem from which “leaf pods” sprout out into the street, injecting a sense of the natural environment into the hardscape concrete surfaces. The proposal addresses air pollution, the urban heat island affect, and storm water runoff. Each “leaf pod” allows plant matter to be grown in a protected area away from the thronging pedestrian traffic along the street. All of the station shelters and kiosk structures are covered with green walls and roofs to provide areas of interest along the street and showcase how these elements can improve the environmental functionality of a building.


Reactive Ground
Tiago Torres Campos, CNTXT Studio Landscape Architect
Edinburgh, Scotland

This proposal reflects on the importance of allowing the city to regain a relationship with its rocky foundation. It also refutes the idea of the street as road-channel, or even simply as a pedestrian channel with a light tram, in order to embrace a wider notion of the street as a gathering place, an urban and cultural stage, and an environmental facilitator. The proposal locates 42nd Street on the much wider space-time depth of Manhattan by positing three conceptual layers: the 200-year-old skyline, the 200,000-year-old ground line, and the 200-million-year-old rock line. By breaking up the grid’s sealing cap, the ground line is unleashed as a strategy and vision for Manhattan’s skyline and rock line reconnected.


The Light Rail Grand Passage, a Linear Garden
Alfred Peter, Charles Bové, and Karen Listowsky
Strasbourg, Marseille, France, and New York City

This project proposes a vibrant green promenade with eateries, bars, and coffee shops lined with open-air tables. Like a chameleon, the light rail channels the character of each section of its host neighborhood. Bicycle lane, light rail, and green pedestrian spaces are illuminated to ensure vibrancy day and night. The street layout is a continuation of the concept of the NYC grid plan with its grid streets and grid pattern facades. The light rail becomes the fifth facade of the city. Homogeneous pavement for the light rail and sidewalk facilitates the coexistence of the pedestrian with the loitering of the tourist and the local employee enjoying an outdoor lunch.

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