Convocatoria al 2º Concurso de diseño de conversión de calles del World Carfree Network

2nd Annual Street Conversion Design Contest

http://www.worldcarfree.net/contest/

The value of human-scaled carfree areas is increasingly appreciated, both among urbanists and the general public. Yet how can we transform existing areas to create lively people-oriented spaces free of traffic? Through our 2nd Annual Street Conversion Design Contest, we will collect the best designs from architects and others from around the world. We'll also encourage people to implement the designs on the ground on September 21, the day before World Carfree Day.

The principle is that street space used to be for both transport and human interaction. But with the arrival of the automobile, street space has become monopolised by cars and other vehicles, resulting in a loss of community and livability. This competition aims to reintroduce a level of humanity to the streetscape, albeit on paper (for now).

We are asking participants to design carfree spaces from formerly car-oriented spaces, in three categories:

1. an on-street parking space (2.4 x 6 m)

2. a street segment of 100 m in length, with a width of 20 m from building to building

3. an intersection, including the street space that extends out 100 m in each of the four directions (street widths building to building: 20 m)

Submissions will be assessed by a panel of judges at the Towards Carfree Cities VII conference in Istanbul, Turkey in late August. Winning submissions will emphasise a shift in the role of street space from traffic and parking to interaction and exchange, by:

• concentrating destinations to reduce travel distances
  
• designing features that contribute to a sense of place and community
  
• choosing innovative, creative uses for space that increase quality of life
  
• minimising the amount of space devoted solely to transport purposes
  
• using space efficiently and eliminating wasted or ‘dead’ space
  

Designs may be based on either pure imagination or specific real-life places with similar dimensions, but the designs should be realisable. The positive effects of the transformation could be improved through changes to the buildings that border the design area. These changes may be included in the submitted designs but will not be a focus for the judges, as the competition focuses on the street space.

Submissions are to be in the form of a bird’s eye drawing, any necessary supporting drawings or sketches, and an explanatory text of up to 600 words. Submissions may be submitted for multiple categories.

Note: Please read the above guidelines thoroughly. Last year some people submitted designs that weren't carfree, or were otherwise dominated by vehicles. The focus of this contest is however on non-transport uses of public space.

Submission deadline: Wednesday, August 15, 2007
(or Thursday, August 30 for those bringing their submissions in person to Towards Carfree Cities VII)

Send your submission to rghentworldcarfree.net. Text can be in a TXT or DOC file. Images should be high-resolution (300-dpi) TIF or JPG files. Questions can be sent to Randall Ghent at the above e-mail address.

The winning submissions will be presented at the network's Towards Carfree Cities VII conference and featured in Carbusters magazine. Prizes to be announced.

For more on carfree street conversions, see Lloyd Wright's Car-Free Development guide for municipalites, pp. 107-109 (PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat). Also see the REBAR website for information on transforming parking spaces into parks. REBAR has announced a call for parking space conversions to be implemented on Sept. 21.