Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Barry / By the Way The Cure for Brentwood: Reburbia!
Posted by Bruce Barry on Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Tired of suburbs? Well get out that drawing board and sharpen those pencils because it's time for Reburbia: the first-ever design competition aimed at re-envisioning the suburbs. Here's how the contest sponsors explain it (excessive use of exclamation points theirs):
In a future where limited natural resources will force us to find better solutions for density and efficiency, what will become of the cul-de-sacs, cookie-cutter tract houses and generic strip malls that have long upheld the diffuse infrastructure of suburbia? How can we redirect these existing spaces to promote sustainability, walkability, and community? It's a problem that demands a visionary design solution and we want you to create the vision! Calling all future-forward architects, urban designers, renegade planners and imaginative engineers: Show us how you would re-invent the suburbs! What would a McMansion become if it weren't a single-family dwelling? How could a vacant big box store be retrofitted for agriculture? What sort of design solutions can you come up with to facilitate car-free mobility, 'burb-grown food, and local, renewable energy generation? We want to see how you'd design future-proof spaces and systems using the suburban structures of the present, from small-scale retrofits to large-scale restoration--the wilder the better!The grand prize is $1,000 cash and the winning idea will get feature treatment from content sponsors Dwell Magazine and Inhabitat.com. (h/t BLDGBLOG)
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