The History Channel kicked off its second annual “City of the Future: A Design and Engineering Challenge” on Tuesday at Washington’s Union Station. The first of three competitions—with one in San Francisco on January 20 and the other in Atlanta on January 29—the event posed the question: What will D.C. look like in 100 years?
“We wanted to get some visionary thinking for Washington, and it challenges designers to be proactive about some of the design issues that we might face in the coming years,” said the competition’s advisor, Casey Jones, principal of the Michigan-based architectural advisory firm Jones Kroloff, which has worked on other contests including New York’s High Line project. Jones partnered with History Channel senior vice president of marketing Chris Moselely to produce the event.The History Channel, along with sponsors Infiniti and I.B.M. and partners the American Institute of Architects and the American Society for Civil Engineers, launched this challenge to promote the second season of its “Cities of the Underworld” series, which delves into the foundations of ancient and modern urban life. The network also wants to change its image, Jones said, to show that it’s “not just about history as an artifact, but how you use history to look toward the future.”
At Union Station, eight competing architecture firms—from OBRA Architects in New York to the Charlottesville collaborative GROW:DC—had from 9 a.m. to noon to set up their creations of what they think the city will look like in 100 years; the exhibits stayed open until 5 p.m. for visitors to peruse. “The crowd was a huge mix, because that building is such a majestic space, with lots of people coming through every day,” Jones said. “We really got a wonderful cross section, with 100 onlookers at any given point.”
The judges, including D.C. Office of Planning director Harriet Tregoning; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's David Childs; and Jess Wendover of the mayor's Institute on City Design, selected Washington firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP as the winner, with the mayor on hand to deliver the $10,000 prize. The winning design presented a more sustainable Washington, with soaring towers used for the production of wind and solar energy, hydroponic farms arranged throughout the city, and an expanded Metro line, which would turn some of D.C.'s grand, diagonal avenues into green, pedestrian-friendly promenades.
Beyer Blinder Belle's design will be entered into a national online competition, competing against the San Francisco and Atlanta winners.
“We wanted to get some visionary thinking for Washington, and it challenges designers to be proactive about some of the design issues that we might face in the coming years,” said the competition’s advisor, Casey Jones, principal of the Michigan-based architectural advisory firm Jones Kroloff, which has worked on other contests including New York’s High Line project. Jones partnered with History Channel senior vice president of marketing Chris Moselely to produce the event.The History Channel, along with sponsors Infiniti and I.B.M. and partners the American Institute of Architects and the American Society for Civil Engineers, launched this challenge to promote the second season of its “Cities of the Underworld” series, which delves into the foundations of ancient and modern urban life. The network also wants to change its image, Jones said, to show that it’s “not just about history as an artifact, but how you use history to look toward the future.”
At Union Station, eight competing architecture firms—from OBRA Architects in New York to the Charlottesville collaborative GROW:DC—had from 9 a.m. to noon to set up their creations of what they think the city will look like in 100 years; the exhibits stayed open until 5 p.m. for visitors to peruse. “The crowd was a huge mix, because that building is such a majestic space, with lots of people coming through every day,” Jones said. “We really got a wonderful cross section, with 100 onlookers at any given point.”
The judges, including D.C. Office of Planning director Harriet Tregoning; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's David Childs; and Jess Wendover of the mayor's Institute on City Design, selected Washington firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP as the winner, with the mayor on hand to deliver the $10,000 prize. The winning design presented a more sustainable Washington, with soaring towers used for the production of wind and solar energy, hydroponic farms arranged throughout the city, and an expanded Metro line, which would turn some of D.C.'s grand, diagonal avenues into green, pedestrian-friendly promenades.
Beyer Blinder Belle's design will be entered into a national online competition, competing against the San Francisco and Atlanta winners.
The event took place at Union Station.
Photo: Courtesy of the History Channel
The History Channel's "City of the Future" event took place at Union Station.
Photo: Courtesy of the History Channel
Part of Beyer Blinder Belle's winning entry included expanding the underground Metro system to make way for more green spaces in the city.
Photo: Courtesy of the History Channel
The eight competing firms, including Beyer Blinder Belle (pictured), had from 9 a.m. to noon to construct their three-dimensional visions.
Photo: Courtesy of the History Channel
Washington mayor Adrien Fenty presented the Beyer Blinder Belle designers with a $10,000 check.
Photo: Courtesy of the History Channel
