ONE Prize 2014: Smart Dock Competition

Brendon and I have decided to enter the One Prize 2014: Smart Dock International Design Competition! The competition involves renovating a Brooklyn Navy Yard into a green technology and sustainable manufacturing complex for Terreform ONE.  In this location ONE lab will create a new school for design and science, along with a public collaborative teaching facility with a public outreach center focused on socio-ecological design. The competition is open to anyone. There is a registration fee L but the grand prize is $5000 to the winning idea/design AND that idea/design will be used to create the actual space.

The project is quite complex, and asks for a pretty large program to fit into a relatively small area of space. What makes this project interesting though is that you can go above their listed program, as they are looking for ideas, not just an architectural design.

The project calls for the ONE Lab smart dock area to include spaces for lectures, events, individual design studios for 30 graduate students, as well as faculty offices and flexible areas.

Brendon and I started brainstorming for the competition the other night in studio. We went into one of the empty classroom spaces with some white board markers and started to break down the information given on the competitions website, http://oneprize.org/  . We also set up the projector in the room to view the building documentation, which you can find here http://www.mediafire.com/folder/2arpauf52oha9/ONEPRIZE-RefBaseFiles

 

This may look like a mess but this is actually how we both like to start off our projects when we work in studio. By writing everything out and sketching some ideas, we were able to begin understanding the project and its complexities. We decided that our best approach would be to fulfill all the program requirements, in an area slightly larger than what the designated spaces calls for as we will focusing more on the idea of what the space will be, not just its layout. We plan on going back into studio tonight and come up with some more focused ideas and concepts that we can form a design off of.

 

If you have some free time this summer you should consider entering! Entering a design competition is a great way to add to your resume and portfolio. Some of history’s most famous architects got their start by entering and winning design competitions, so it’s a great way to get your name out there! We’ll keep you posted on our progress working on the design as we go along. Submissions are due August 31^st, and we hope to complete everything a week before so we have time to fine tune and perfect the presentation boards. Feel free to ask any questions, we’ll keep you posted!

-A