Urban Lab Design Competition 2016: Off The Rails
Urban Lab Design Competition 2016: Off The Rails now is over!
Urban Lab is has recently opened the call for entries for a three-stage public design competition called ’Off the Rails’ for 2016 opened to artists, landscape architects, architects, urban planners, designers, and students looking for bold, visionary ideas that will transform largely neglected strip into a downtown destination.
About Competition
Fort Collins, Colorado is a city on the rise, with a rapidly-growing population, a thriving local arts, music and craft brewing scene, and a stunning natural setting at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. But the BNSF railway has left behind a legacy that is a nuisance to many: a right-of-way that shares Mason Street, a major downtown route, with automobile, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Diesel freight trains rumble down the street multiple times a day, causing traffic delays, safety concerns and prompting patrons at nearby sidewalk cafes to plug their ears in dismay. How can the design of the public realm be improved for the residents and businesses of Mason Street? How can we mitigate the impacts of the train traffic, while acknowledging and celebrating its place in Fort Collins history and the unique urban condition it creates?
Teams and individuals are invited to submit visionary designs which address the interface between the BNSF Railroad right-of-way the public streetscape along the Mason Street Downtown Corridor in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The purpose of this design competition is to provide designers, planners, and citizens an opportunity to create compelling design concepts for this unique urban condition that enhance the streetscape and address the aesthetic, social, multi-modal transportation, and related safety issues for the segment of the Mason Street corridor along the BNSF Railroad that runs from Laurel Street to Mulberry Street (approximately a quarter mile). Individuals and teams are invited to offer their solutions for the improvement of the streetscape from sidewalk to sidewalk – excluding the railroad easement.
The three winners will be selected from six finalists by a distinguished panel of judges that includes Hansy Better Barraza, Ed Goodman, Walter Hood, and Fort Collins Mayor Wade Troxell.
Entry fee for this competition are:
- Professional – individual or team ($75)
- Student – individual or team ($25)
Eligibility
This design competition is opened to artists, landscape architects, architects, urban planners, designers, and students.