Provided below are introductory answers to frequently asked questions about the competition. Please browse through the subjects below to view questions and answers relating to your inquiry. Links throughout the answers will guide you to further information on the competition website. Should you have any further questions, please submit them via email before 5:00pm on Friday, March 23, 2007.
Please note that you will not receive a direct response to this email. Answers will be posted on this page by Friday March 30, 2007.
Why do I need to register?
To ensure fairness, the competition jury will examine the submitted proposals anonymously. To make this anonymity possible, competitors will receive a unique registration ID number upon completion of the registration process. Registration also helps Van Alen Institute manage the juried competition more efficiently.
What additional information will I receive after I register?
After registering and submitting payment, you will receive an email confirmation with a Registration Number and Password that has been automatically generated and assigned to you. This Registration Number and Password will allow you access to all high-resolution Site Brief materials including the Research Report, Gateway Atlas, site photographs, maps, images, AutoCAD site plans, supporting primary source documents and webcasts from the Nature Now Conference. (See All Downloadable Files.)
Why is the registration fee higher than previous Van Alen Institute competitions?
In previous competitions, entrants were required to print, mount and ship their entries to our office; for this competition, entrants will submit all files digitally. The two boards per entrant will be printed, mounted and laminated by Van Alen Institute to be used for the jury and for future public exhibition. Printing the boards at the same time guarantees uniformity and quality while preventing damage caused by shipping. This process eliminates all printing and shipping time and expenses for the registrant. The higher registration fee helps cover this cost.
Can competitors submit more than one entry to the competition?
Only one entry is permitted per registration ID number. Competitors who wish to submit more than one entry must register for each submission.
I am not a landscape architect, nor do I have a professional design degree. Am I eligible to enter?
Yes! Anyone who has a point of view about Gateway National Recreation Area is invited to submit an entry. We are committed to generating innovative dialogue about Gateway and thus open the competition to anyone who wants to participate.
Are there any tours scheduled of the competition site?
Yes. The National Park Service has generously agreed to lead two tours of Floyd Bennett Field in April. The tours will take place Friday April 13, 2007 at 3:00pm and Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 2:00pm. Each tour will begin at the Ryan Visitor’s Center and will be 2 hours in length; these tours are intended to inform competitors about existing conditions and facilities at Floyd Bennett Field. To make a reservation for a tour, please email competitions@vanalen.org at least 24 hours in advance with your name and Registration ID number. We will do our best to accommodate everyone. Please contact Van Alen Institute – not the National Park Service – if you have additional questions.
Is Gateway a National Recreation Area or a National Park? What’s the difference?
Gateway is a “National Recreation Area” – one of many types of sites within the U.S. National Park System. (Other designations include National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Parkways, etc. See Section 5.0 of the Research Report for a complete list with definitions.) On October 27, 1972, both Gateway National Recreation Area and Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco became the first parks of this type, established specifically “to preserve and protect for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations an area possessing outstanding natural and recreational features.” National Recreation Areas are most often located in urban regions, and for these sites it is as much of a priority to provide recreational opportunities as it is to conserve natural and cultural features.
For the purpose of naming this public design competition, we have intentionally referred to Gateway as a national "park" in order to raise awareness of the fact that Gateway, first and foremost, belongs to the U.S. National Park System. We additionally would like to encourage competitors to think about Gateway as a unified park, rather than as a collection of disparate sites or areas. Gateway’s technical designation, however, is "National Recreation Area" – we have therefore used this term throughout the remainder of the website.
What is the site for this competition? Will registered entrants receive maps for a specific site?
There are TWO SITES for this competition. One is the entire 26,607 acre Gateway National Recreation Area, located in the outer New York-New Jersey harbor. The other is Floyd Bennett Field (and its surrounding waters), located within the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway. Competitors may propose interventions on as much or as little of the site(s) as they choose. (See Programme.) Registered competitors will be provided with two maps: a regional site plan of Gateway (1":2miles), and a site plan of Floyd Bennett Field (1":500'). Both site plans are available in AutoCAD and Illustrator-importable PDF formats. (See Site Maps.)
Are the drawings for hangars and/or other buildings at Floyd Bennett Field available?
Basic building footprints are included in the AutoCAD drawings for competitors. The hangars are standard warehouse type buildings of masonry walls with deep steel box trusses to create large open volumes. Most are one story, like Hangar 3, but there are also two-storied hangars. Additional information regarding the buildings at Floyd Bennett Field can be determined from the collection of photographs available in the image section however no additional drawings are available at this time.
What is the topography of the site like?
Floyd Bennett Field was created from a series of fill and dredge projects at what was once Barren Island, therefore the site is virtually flat. You will find a USGS Topographic Map in the Gateway Atlas, Section 6.5: Jamaica Bay Unit Fig 6.5.13 (page 179). For a Floyd Bennett Field USGS Topographic Map see Section 6.6: Floyd Bennett Field Fig 6.6.10 (page 209).
Floyd Bennett Field is a very large site. Does my park proposal have to take up all 1,358 acres?
No. Competitors may propose interventions on as much or as little of the site as they choose and are encouraged to explore the relationship between Floyd Bennett Field and other sites within Jamaica Bay. We anticipate that competitors' design concepts and park programs at Floyd Bennett Field will vary greatly.
Can design proposals incorporate the existing buildings on the site?
Competitors are welcome to incorporate existing structures, facilities and site conditions into their proposals, however such proposals should include a strategy for renovation (in the case of abandoned buildings) or relocation of functions/uses (in the case of buildings that are currently occupied).
I do not live in New York and would like to get a better sense of Gateway National Recreation Area. Are there photos available of the current site conditions?
Annotated site photographs are located in the Site Brief section of the competition website, under Images. Anyone can view these photographs. High-resolution copies of these photographs are available to registered competitors only on the All Downloadable Files page.
Can I access the site brief and the high-resolution images before registering?
No. Only registered competitors can access these protected files using their password.
As a competitor, am I permitted to use the website images on my boards?
Yes. The photographs provided in the All Downloadable Files section of the website are provided for use on presentation boards if competitors so choose. A caption list accompanies each set of photographs and, where required, includes specific crediting instructions. If you incorporate an image taken by Don Riepe into your submission (background, rendering, collage, etc.), you must properly credit the photographer by including, “Photo: Don Riepe/American Littoral Society” or “Original Photograph: Don Riepe/American Littoral Society.” Please note that competitors do not have permission to include photographs by Travis Roozeé on their competition boards; Roozeé’s photographs were therefore not included in the high-resolution images provided on the website. All other high-resolution images made available to competitors are © Envisioning Gateway and are available for use by competitors without specific crediting instructions. Images and materials found in other sources throughout the Envisioning Gateway website should be credited according to copyright instructions outlined within each source. Please review the “Ownership” section of the competition Rules and Regulations for further information.
Could you please provide more details about the printing?
Submitted PDFs will be printed using a large-format digital inkjet printer at 300 dpi using CMYK inks on heavy-weight paper. The boards will be mounted on foam core and laminated with a semi-gloss finish to protect the boards from wrinkles and fading.
Will I receive additional information in the mail?
No, all information is available on this website. There is no additional print information.
What scale should my submitted drawings be?
All submissions must include one site plan of Gateway scaled to 1 inch = 2 miles, and one site plan of Floyd Bennett Field scaled to 1 inch = 500 feet. The site plans available for download on the competition website are provided at these scales. Perspectives can be submitted at any scale. Additional drawings, photographs, montages, diagrams and illustrations are encouraged but not required.
Is there a budget for the project?
At this stage of the competition, design proposals are not limited by the restrictions of a budget.
How technically developed must my proposal be?
We recognize the incredibly complex nature of Gateway's ecosystem and infrastructure, and encourage competitors to partner with engineers, scientists and experts from other technical professions in order to generate the most informed proposals possible. Successful proposals will strike a balance between innovation and practicality.
Can I write more than 250 words for the project description?
Competitors may include text beyond 250 words on their boards, however the required text document MUST NOT EXCEED 250 words. Your 250 word description will be used as an abstract that accompanies your submission when presented to the jury and/or in an exhibition.
Please note that you will not receive a direct response to this email. Answers will be posted on this page by Friday March 30, 2007.
| Registration |
Why do I need to register?
To ensure fairness, the competition jury will examine the submitted proposals anonymously. To make this anonymity possible, competitors will receive a unique registration ID number upon completion of the registration process. Registration also helps Van Alen Institute manage the juried competition more efficiently.
What additional information will I receive after I register?
After registering and submitting payment, you will receive an email confirmation with a Registration Number and Password that has been automatically generated and assigned to you. This Registration Number and Password will allow you access to all high-resolution Site Brief materials including the Research Report, Gateway Atlas, site photographs, maps, images, AutoCAD site plans, supporting primary source documents and webcasts from the Nature Now Conference. (See All Downloadable Files.)
Why is the registration fee higher than previous Van Alen Institute competitions?
In previous competitions, entrants were required to print, mount and ship their entries to our office; for this competition, entrants will submit all files digitally. The two boards per entrant will be printed, mounted and laminated by Van Alen Institute to be used for the jury and for future public exhibition. Printing the boards at the same time guarantees uniformity and quality while preventing damage caused by shipping. This process eliminates all printing and shipping time and expenses for the registrant. The higher registration fee helps cover this cost.
Can competitors submit more than one entry to the competition?
Only one entry is permitted per registration ID number. Competitors who wish to submit more than one entry must register for each submission.
| Eligibility |
I am not a landscape architect, nor do I have a professional design degree. Am I eligible to enter?
Yes! Anyone who has a point of view about Gateway National Recreation Area is invited to submit an entry. We are committed to generating innovative dialogue about Gateway and thus open the competition to anyone who wants to participate.
| Site |
Are there any tours scheduled of the competition site?
Yes. The National Park Service has generously agreed to lead two tours of Floyd Bennett Field in April. The tours will take place Friday April 13, 2007 at 3:00pm and Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 2:00pm. Each tour will begin at the Ryan Visitor’s Center and will be 2 hours in length; these tours are intended to inform competitors about existing conditions and facilities at Floyd Bennett Field. To make a reservation for a tour, please email competitions@vanalen.org at least 24 hours in advance with your name and Registration ID number. We will do our best to accommodate everyone. Please contact Van Alen Institute – not the National Park Service – if you have additional questions.
Is Gateway a National Recreation Area or a National Park? What’s the difference?
Gateway is a “National Recreation Area” – one of many types of sites within the U.S. National Park System. (Other designations include National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Parkways, etc. See Section 5.0 of the Research Report for a complete list with definitions.) On October 27, 1972, both Gateway National Recreation Area and Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco became the first parks of this type, established specifically “to preserve and protect for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations an area possessing outstanding natural and recreational features.” National Recreation Areas are most often located in urban regions, and for these sites it is as much of a priority to provide recreational opportunities as it is to conserve natural and cultural features.
For the purpose of naming this public design competition, we have intentionally referred to Gateway as a national "park" in order to raise awareness of the fact that Gateway, first and foremost, belongs to the U.S. National Park System. We additionally would like to encourage competitors to think about Gateway as a unified park, rather than as a collection of disparate sites or areas. Gateway’s technical designation, however, is "National Recreation Area" – we have therefore used this term throughout the remainder of the website.
What is the site for this competition? Will registered entrants receive maps for a specific site?
There are TWO SITES for this competition. One is the entire 26,607 acre Gateway National Recreation Area, located in the outer New York-New Jersey harbor. The other is Floyd Bennett Field (and its surrounding waters), located within the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway. Competitors may propose interventions on as much or as little of the site(s) as they choose. (See Programme.) Registered competitors will be provided with two maps: a regional site plan of Gateway (1":2miles), and a site plan of Floyd Bennett Field (1":500'). Both site plans are available in AutoCAD and Illustrator-importable PDF formats. (See Site Maps.)
Are the drawings for hangars and/or other buildings at Floyd Bennett Field available?
Basic building footprints are included in the AutoCAD drawings for competitors. The hangars are standard warehouse type buildings of masonry walls with deep steel box trusses to create large open volumes. Most are one story, like Hangar 3, but there are also two-storied hangars. Additional information regarding the buildings at Floyd Bennett Field can be determined from the collection of photographs available in the image section however no additional drawings are available at this time.
What is the topography of the site like?
Floyd Bennett Field was created from a series of fill and dredge projects at what was once Barren Island, therefore the site is virtually flat. You will find a USGS Topographic Map in the Gateway Atlas, Section 6.5: Jamaica Bay Unit Fig 6.5.13 (page 179). For a Floyd Bennett Field USGS Topographic Map see Section 6.6: Floyd Bennett Field Fig 6.6.10 (page 209).
Floyd Bennett Field is a very large site. Does my park proposal have to take up all 1,358 acres?
No. Competitors may propose interventions on as much or as little of the site as they choose and are encouraged to explore the relationship between Floyd Bennett Field and other sites within Jamaica Bay. We anticipate that competitors' design concepts and park programs at Floyd Bennett Field will vary greatly.
Can design proposals incorporate the existing buildings on the site?
Competitors are welcome to incorporate existing structures, facilities and site conditions into their proposals, however such proposals should include a strategy for renovation (in the case of abandoned buildings) or relocation of functions/uses (in the case of buildings that are currently occupied).
| Images |
I do not live in New York and would like to get a better sense of Gateway National Recreation Area. Are there photos available of the current site conditions?
Annotated site photographs are located in the Site Brief section of the competition website, under Images. Anyone can view these photographs. High-resolution copies of these photographs are available to registered competitors only on the All Downloadable Files page.
Can I access the site brief and the high-resolution images before registering?
No. Only registered competitors can access these protected files using their password.
As a competitor, am I permitted to use the website images on my boards?
Yes. The photographs provided in the All Downloadable Files section of the website are provided for use on presentation boards if competitors so choose. A caption list accompanies each set of photographs and, where required, includes specific crediting instructions. If you incorporate an image taken by Don Riepe into your submission (background, rendering, collage, etc.), you must properly credit the photographer by including, “Photo: Don Riepe/American Littoral Society” or “Original Photograph: Don Riepe/American Littoral Society.” Please note that competitors do not have permission to include photographs by Travis Roozeé on their competition boards; Roozeé’s photographs were therefore not included in the high-resolution images provided on the website. All other high-resolution images made available to competitors are © Envisioning Gateway and are available for use by competitors without specific crediting instructions. Images and materials found in other sources throughout the Envisioning Gateway website should be credited according to copyright instructions outlined within each source. Please review the “Ownership” section of the competition Rules and Regulations for further information.
| Other |
Could you please provide more details about the printing?
Submitted PDFs will be printed using a large-format digital inkjet printer at 300 dpi using CMYK inks on heavy-weight paper. The boards will be mounted on foam core and laminated with a semi-gloss finish to protect the boards from wrinkles and fading.
Will I receive additional information in the mail?
No, all information is available on this website. There is no additional print information.
What scale should my submitted drawings be?
All submissions must include one site plan of Gateway scaled to 1 inch = 2 miles, and one site plan of Floyd Bennett Field scaled to 1 inch = 500 feet. The site plans available for download on the competition website are provided at these scales. Perspectives can be submitted at any scale. Additional drawings, photographs, montages, diagrams and illustrations are encouraged but not required.
Is there a budget for the project?
At this stage of the competition, design proposals are not limited by the restrictions of a budget.
How technically developed must my proposal be?
We recognize the incredibly complex nature of Gateway's ecosystem and infrastructure, and encourage competitors to partner with engineers, scientists and experts from other technical professions in order to generate the most informed proposals possible. Successful proposals will strike a balance between innovation and practicality.
Can I write more than 250 words for the project description?
Competitors may include text beyond 250 words on their boards, however the required text document MUST NOT EXCEED 250 words. Your 250 word description will be used as an abstract that accompanies your submission when presented to the jury and/or in an exhibition.