Invitation to Exhibit: Successful Designs for Reshaping Suburbia

Urban designers, landscape architects, architects, planners, developers and cities are invited to submit proposals for an exhibit of Successful Designs for Reshaping Suburbia. Projects in design or construction phase (eligible for inclusion in the Exhibit) must be real projects commissioned with the intention to build. Completed projects (eligible for inclusion in the Exhibit, AND the Awards Program) must already exist and be in use, having been completed or restored within the last ten years.

Four categories of exhibits are eligible:

1. MIXED USE IN SUBURBIA: INFILL & RE-SHAPED
2. 10-MINUTE NEIGHBORHOODS
3. NEW & RESTORED NEIGHBORHOOD PLAZAS
4. NEW & RESTORED NATURE PLACES

Exhibit Criteria

To be accepted for the exhibit and to qualify for an award the following criteria must be fulfilled:

In the “Mixed Use in Suburbia” category:

• Infill building, or reconstruction of a single function building complex (e.g. shopping mall) into a multi-functional neighborhood center
• Buildings that are 3-6 stories, mixed-use including residential
• Buildings contain street level uses that add vitality to the street
• Designs that provide commercial or service facilities to support local inhabitants’ daily needs
• Reflect appropriate regional architectural styles

In the “10-Minute Neighborhoods” category:

• Walkable streets and a hospitable traffic-free or traffic calmed public realm
• A compact area within a 10 minute walking radius, with mixed use blocks at the heart
• Integrated commercial, work space, and services, with housing above in mixed use buildings
• Most or all daily needs can be fulfilled within the neighborhood
• Housing for varied population groups (old and young, singles and families, varied ethnic groups and income levels)
• Public transit to city center, additional workplaces, etc

In the “Neighborhood Plazas” category:

• A place (plaza, neighborhood square, marketplace, etc) designed for social life in public, bringing together varied groups
• Located in a mixed use area, surrounded by multi-functional buildings
• A substantial residential population within 10 minute walking distance
• A multifunctional space for varied activities & events
• Predominantly hard surfaced (stone, brick, etc)
• Hospitable for extended stay

In the “Nature Places” category:

• A park, nature playground, community garden etc designed to bring varied population groups in touch with nature
• A place that supports varied forms of interaction with nature (study, caring for, free play, exercise, recreation)
• A substantial residential population within 10 minute walking distance
• Predominantly green/earth surfaced, accommodating many species of fauna & flora
• Hospitable for extended stay

All selected projects in all categories will be exhibited at the conference. Awards will be made for outstanding completed projects already in use. Winning projects will be promoted on the IMCL website, www.LivableCities.org.

Application Deadlines

• Extended to December 20, 2012 - Deadline for application form, statement of project philosophy/design criteria, Electronic Exhibit, and application fee ($195)
• Extended to January 20, 2013 - Applicants notified of acceptance
• March 1, 2013 - Deadline for registration of representative at the 50th IMCL Conference, Portland
• April 1, 2013 - Deadline for final version of Electronic Exhibits of completed projects already in use (eligible for the Awards program). Beginning April 1 these Electronic Exhibits will be evaluated by the Awards Committee.
• June 23, 2013 - Exhibitors mount their Exhibit Boards in the Governor Hotel, where conference sessions will take place. Exhibits will be on display until noon, June 27
• June 25, 2013 - Awards will be announced and presented to representatives of completed projects at the Discussion Dinner/Awards Ceremony at the Governor Hotel

Please note exhibit space is limited. In case of over-subscription, early submissions will receive priority.

Application Guidelines

1. WHO CAN ENTER. Urban designers, landscape architects, architects, planners, developers and cities may enter one or more projects.

2. QUALIFYING PROJECTS. To quality for the Exhibit, projects may be already constructed, or in design, but must be real projects commissioned with the intention to build. To qualify for the Awards program, the project must be already constructed or restored within the last ten years. There are no restrictions as to where these projects may be located.

3. APPLICATION PROCEDURE. The review procedure will be conducted by blind peer review. Application form (basic information), statement of project philosophy, Electronic Exhibit, and application fee must be submitted before November 1, 2012. The Electronic Exhibit must be sent as a Presentation in PowerPoint, or as a Keynote file exported as a PDF (Maximum 6MB, 10 slides)
The following information is required:

1. Basic information: Project Title. Category of project. Name, location & address of project, contact information, etc (see Exhibit Application). This information will NOT be available to the blind peer review Awards Committee.
2. An explanation of the project philosophy and/or design criteria leading to the final design and design elements. This information WILL be available to the Awards Committee. It should contain the Project Title, (which can be the name of the place), but no information identifying who is submitting the exhibit, or firms responsible for the designs.

The Electronic Exhibit presentation file (max. 6MB, 10 slides). This information WILL be available to the blind peer review Awards Committee. It should contain the Project Title (which can be the name of the place), but no information identifying who is submitting the exhibit, or firms responsible for the designs.
The Electronic Exhibit PPT file should present:

For “Mixed Use in Suburbia” category:
• For projects that transform a single-function suburban development or building complex (e.g. shopping mall) into a multi-functional neighborhood center (e.g. with housing, offices, transit, etc) show before and after plans.
• Drawings or photographs of street facades, showing interaction between private and public, relationship of building to adjoining or adjacent buildings.
• Building plans identifying varied uses, variety of housing sizes and income levels, number of units of each housing size.
• Site plans, showing landscaping and traffic calming in adjacent streets, and how the development connects to adjacent neighborhood
• Location plan showing relationship to civic facilities, public transit, additional mixed use, health & educational resources.
• Examples of regional architecture that provided inspiration, or analysis of regional architectural characteristics that formed the DNA pattern for the design.

For “10-Minute Neighborhoods” category:
• Plan showing mixed use buildings, location of residential, workplaces, shops and services, schools, green places, urban plazas, cultural resources.
• Plans or street cross sections showing traffic calming, sidewalk widths, bike lanes, public transit routes, paving.
• Identification of liveliest streets and plazas, with explanation of why they are lively, and photographs showing social life in public
• Plan, cross sections or aerial view of neighborhood showing building heights
• Estimate of population size living within the 10-minute neighborhood. Ethnic and socioeconomic characteristics.
• Photographs of characteristics of the neighborhood that give it identity and sense of place.

For “Neighborhood Plazas” category:
• Drawings or photographs showing varied uses of the space, types of social life, activities, users, and how different groups interact. (For final Electronic Exhibit in the Awards Program, this must be shown in photographs, not drawings.)
• Site plans, showing detailed uses of surrounding buildings, and in adjacent blocks
• Size of catchment population living within 10-minute walking radius
• Plan showing adjacent blocks and conditions of access by foot, bike and transit within this catchment population
• Explanation of how urban space design, streetscaping, landscaping and surrounding architecture contribute to the sociability and liveliness of this urban plaza

For “Nature Places” category:
• Drawings or photographs showing varied uses of the space, ways of interacting with nature – studying, gardening, play, adventure, imagination, exercise, relaxation, etc. (For final Electronic Exhibit in the Awards Program, this must be shown in photographs, not drawings.)
• Site plan showing the landscape design of the nature place, variety of fauna and flora, and where varied activities take place
• Size of catchment population living within 10-minute walking radius
• Plan showing adjacent blocks and conditions of access by foot, bike and transit within this catchment population
• Explanation of how the landscape design contributes to the multiple ways people can interact with nature and with each other

4. REVISED ELECTRONIC EXHIBIT. Note: The preliminary Electronic Exhibit will be used to evaluate the eligibility of the project for the Exhibit program. For accepted projects that are eligible for an Award, the Electronic Exhibit may, if you wish, be modified until April 1 when the final (revised) Electronic Exhibit is due. The Exhibit Awards Committee will begin judging the revised Electronic Exhibits on April 1. Their decision will be finalized before June 15. Since this is a blind peer review, the revised Electronic Exhibit must contain the Project Title, but no information identifying who is submitting the exhibit, or firms responsible for the designs.

5. CONFERENCE REGISTRATION. If your project is selected for the Exhibit, one or more representatives must register for the Conference in order to mount Exhibit Boards at the Conference, and to discuss the project with conference delegates on Sunday, June 23rd and other appropriate times. Representatives of completed projects (eligible for Awards) must also be present at the Awards Ceremony on June 25th, in case your project receives an Award. Registration fee for all exhibitors is reduced to US$453. This includes Conference Luncheon, Discussion Dinner/Awards Ceremony, receptions, and full conference participation.

6. FORMAT FOR EXHIBIT BOARDS AT IMCL CONFERENCE. The project must be presented to Conference participants on three boards, each 20”x30”. Exhibits will be mounted on easels in the main conference hall. They will be visible throughout the conference. The following identifying information SHOULD be INCLUDED, since judging will have been completed before the conference takes place: Project title, name and logo of submitting agency or firm, contact name, address, telephone number and email address, client, urban designer, landscape architect, master planner, architect, developer.

7. CRITERIA FOR AWARDS. The Exhibit Awards Committee will pay special attention to projects where:

In the MIXED USE IN SUBURBIA category:
• Special attention will be paid to projects that have been transformed from single-function complexes (e.g. malls) into multi-functional neighborhood centers including housing
• Mixed-use buildings that contain 2-5 floors of residential over commercial, services and work uses. Maximum building height 6 floors
• Non-residential uses are supportive of everyday needs of local residents
• Varied population groups and varied incomes are accommodated in the residential portion (families, singles, elders)
• Interaction between the private realm and the public realm (eyes on the street) is enhanced by windows, doors, balconies, roof gardens, etc)
• Adjacent public places (streets) are traffic calmed and hospitable to pedestrians, with trees, benches, wide sidewalks, bike lanes, etc.
• Interior courtyards provide semi-public shared social facilities, primarily for residents
• Nature is visible from dwellings (e.g. street trees, courtyards, roof gardens)

In the 10-MINUTE NEIGHBORHOODS category:
• Diverse population groups live within the neighborhood and intermingle (adults and children, youth and seniors, varied socio-economic and ethnic groups)
• Neighborhood streets are safe, especially for children and elders. Children can walk or bike to school, friends, shops, green places, urban plazas, cultural resources within a 10 minute radius (wide sidewalks, traffic calmed or traffic free, bike lanes, eyes on the street.)
• Workplaces, schools, shops, housing and services are within walking, biking or public transit distance
• The neighborhood has a clear identity, a sense of place, and is easy to find your way around (characteristics of streets, landmarks, etc.)
• The urban fabric is human scale (3-6 stories), with contiguous mixed use buildings at the center
• The heart of the neighborhood is a lively, multi-functional plaza or main street enclosed with mixed use buildings

In the NEIGHBORHOOD PLAZAS category:
• Diverse population groups intermingle (adults and children, youth and seniors, varied socio-economic and ethnic groups representative of a 10 minute catchment area)
• Varied social interactions take place (e.g. conversation, sociability, business transactions, children’s play, exchange of information)
• Some community events take place (e.g. farmers market, occasional community festivals, community information)
• There are many functional reasons why people need to come to the plaza and walk through the plaza (e.g. surrounded by stores, services, and civic facilities needed on a frequent basis, nearby transit hub.)
• The place is hospitably designed to encourage people to linger (e.g. beauty, sun & shade, formal & informal seating, trees, fountains, public art.)
• Pedestrian access is safe, especially for children living within walking distance (e.g. plaza is traffic free, surrounding streets are traffic free or traffic calmed, with wide sidewalks, bike lanes, eyes on the street.)
• The plaza is safe, especially for elders, disabled, and for children’s free play because the plaza extends to building walls, and/or surrounding streets are traffic free (at least certain hours per day)
• The plaza requires little expense for events programming because it is enlivened by the buildings around it and the hospitable way it has been designed

In the NATURE PLACES category:
• Diverse population groups intermingle (adults and children, youth and seniors, varied socio-economic and ethnic groups representative of a 10 minute catchment area)
• There are varied ways of interacting with nature (e.g. studying, gardening, play, exercise, adventure, relaxation)
• A variety of fauna and flora can be found in the nature place
• There are many reasons why people come to the nature place as a destination, and walk or bike through to reach other places in the neighborhood
• The place is hospitably designed to encourage people to linger (e.g. beauty, sun & shade, formal & informal seating, trees, fountains, public art.)
• Pedestrian access is safe, especially for children living within walking distance (surrounding streets are traffic free or traffic calmed, with wide sidewalks, bike lanes, eyes on the street & public transit.)

8. WINNING EXHIBITS: The exhibits will be reviewed at the Awards Dinner on June 25, where Commendations and Awards will be presented to the Exhibit representatives. Winning Exhibits will be promoted on the IMCL website.

9. EXHIBIT AWARDS COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Sven von Ungern-Sternberg, Regierungspräsident (Governor), South Baden; Edoardo Salzano, Dean, School of Urban Planning, Venice University; Tom Martineau, Prof. Em. of Architecture, Florida A&M University; Ferd Johns, Prof. Em. of Architecture, Montana State University; Ettore Maria Mazzola, Prof. of Architecture & Urbanism, University of Notre Dame, Rome; Borzou Rahimi, Construction Supervisor, CRA/LA; Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard, Director, IMCL Conferences.

Exhibit Application