Architecture for Humanity - New York

• Please see this page for the competition results.

Architecture for Humanity New York (AFHny) announces a month-long ideas competition in search of innovative concepts for a new market place for the Red Hook Food Vendors in Red Hook Park, Brooklyn.

The Red Hook Food Vendors have been a staple of Brooklyn summers for the past 33 years. The Vendors have provided incredible cuisine and a unique market atmosphere in Red Hook Park, selling empanadas, pupusas, grilled corn and other Latin American dishes from tents at the northwest corner of the park.

Earlier this year the Vendors were awarded a six-year permit to continue this tradition. However, due to health code restrictions they were required to prepare and serve from concession trailers parked along Bay Street at the northern edge of the park. While concession trailers provided a solution that allowed business to continue, the cost associated with renting the trailers was prohibitive for some vendors. Also, the trailers detracted from the charm and appeal of the former open-air market environment.

Competition entrants are asked to generate concepts that create healthful cooking and vending spaces in a vibrant marketplace. The Vendors are very interested in solutions which address both the City’s concerns for clean and sanitary vending spaces and reflect the desire by the Vendors and their patrons to create a great public market space.

Selected entires will be invited to continue developing their concepts in collaboration with AFHny and the Red Hook Park Vendors.

• Allow space for 12-20 food vendors.
• Address how additional vendors might be added in the future.
• Create areas for patrons to sit and eat.
• Include sanitary food preparation areas.
• Consider temporal nature of the market.
• Address the relationship of the Vendors’ Market to the surrounding context of Red Hook Park. Designers must clearly show the proposed siting of their design.

Entrants must register through the Open Architecture Network:

1. Register for an OAN account (or log in if you already have an account).
2. Visit our competition page on the OAN, and click the Enter This Competition button.

(Account registration and competition entry are both at no cost).

Also, if you have not already, please signup for our Meetup list, so that you will receive email updates about this competition and other AFHny projects and events.

Entrants are to create one (1) 11 x 17 presentation board (landscape format). Boards must include (at minimum):

• a plan of the proposed design
• a site plan
• a perspective view
• any other drawing or text necessary to explain the design concept
• the phone # of designer (or one of the designers) in the lower left hand corner of the board. Phone number will be used for identification of the entries.
• DO NOT include any names, firm names, school names, etc. on the board.

Entrants must submit both a mounted board and a digital file:

• the mounted board must be delivered to the Center for Architecture, 534 LaGuardia Place, between 9am- 7pm on November 6. Boards will not be accepted by mail.

• the digital file (pdf, tif, or png; 200 dpi minimum) must be submitted via the Open Architecture Network.

• Registration Begins: October 7, 2008
• Submission Deadline: November 6, 2008
• Jury Begins: November 15, 2008 December 5, 2008
• Selections Announced: December 2, 2008 December 11, 2008

This competition is open to architects, landscape architects, designers, artists and students residing in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.

Participants may participate in multiple teams. For jurying purposes, each design is considered as a separate entry. Multiple designs will not be considered as a single entry.

See the competition brief for competition rules and other information.

• Competition Brief (650 KB PDF)

• Site Plan (85 KB DWG)

• Photos (8.5 MB ZIP)

• Red Hook Food Vendors - MySpace Page
• Red Hook Day Trip (Brooklyn Based)
• Red Hook Vendors: A Quick Guide for the Uninitiated (Serious Eats)

Added 10/11/2008:

1) Are we still required to use the “sanitary trailers”? Or are they going back to using just tables and barbeques?

• There is no competition requirement to use or not use the current food trucks. Designs must include clean and sanitary spaces for food preparation, but entrants may choose whether or not to use the trucks in their designs.

2) Are we supposed to design another method of their cooking and vending spaces, or is it more about designing the layout of these vending spaces (tables and barbeques) to include sitting areas and circulation and landscaping?

• The competition asks entrants to generate innovative vending spaces which create a festive open air marketplace. This is a concept ideas competition and is intended to generate the “big idea” for this site.

3) Do you have any additional information on what is typically required, the average size space for each vendor, and sanitary regulations?

• Competition entrants are encouraged to visit the Red Hook Parks Vendors to see their current operations. We ask that designers provide the vending areas with running water and electicity. It is expected that entries which are selected by the jury to move forward will require further development in specific regard to the City's health code.

Added 10/15/08:

4) Please clarify the submittal requirements – are we to submit just one board?

• Yes, each entry is to consist of a single 11”x17” board.

Added 10/20/08:

5a) If you are not accepting boards via mail, how can I get them there? I am not from New York.

5b) I am interested in participating in the competition, but I am not a New Yorker. Can I participate with a collegue who lives in New York?

5c) Do all member of the team have to reside in NYC, or can we work with a collaborator in another city?

• This competition is aimed primarily at designers in the New York City area, as it is our goal that entries selected by the jury will continue to be developed in collaboration with the Vendors and our organization. For this reason, we ask that entrants be from the New York City area. If you are entering as a team, we ask that the majority of your team members be from New York.

6) Should we include our entry number from the OAN website in the printed 11×17 board, to make it easier to match digital and physical entries?

• Yes, please include your OAN entry number in the lower left-hand corner of your board, below your phone number. (As this was not a part of the original competition brief, this is a recommendation, not a requirement).

Added 10/30/08:

7) Are the vending spaces permanent on the site, or do they have to be taken away by the vendors each day?

• The vending spaces could be either permanent or temporary. Competition participants should take into account the fact that the vendors typically are on site for approximately 6-7 months each year. Designers are encouraged to think of how the site would be utilized throughout the year, whether or not the vending spaces are permanent or temporary.

8) Can we only design in the rectangle on the site map, or can we add design features on other areas of the park?

• Designs can incorporate any area of the block shown on the competition site map. The vendors currently are set up along Bay Street, and have previously utilized the area under the trees just south of Bay Street for their market place.

9) Do we have to understand and know how to bring electrical and water to each vendor?

• The specifics of how water and electricity are brought to the vending stations will be developed after this competition. Entrants should simply be cognizant that the vendors need access to electricity and water at each vending space.

10) Is there an estimated budget analysis for this project or should we only be concerned with this in the later stages of design?

• There is no set budget, but competition entrants should consider general feasibility of their designs.

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