Design Ideas for New York's Other River

Competition Launch: March 1998
Competition Website: East River Information Site

The 1998 Van Alen Prize in Public Architecture called for ideas to transform New York's East River. The design competition was part of Van Alen Institute's ongoing focus on the East River, which began in the summer of 1997 with the East River Design Workshop, continued that fall with the East River Studios, and into the spring of 1998 with the East River Symposium. The competition sought to draw attention to this often overlooked part of New York City's landscape, and to highlight its potential to become a vital public space in the 21st century.

To develop their schemes, designers were advised to consult Van Alen Institute's East River website, an extensive resource on the history, ecology, land use, access, existing conditions, and proposed development in areas along the river. Designers were free to choose to address the vast scale of the entire river or the localized conditions of a particular site.

The competition was organized in two parts. In the first part, the jury selected 13 finalists from the 214 submissions received. In July 1998, these selections comprised a three-day exhibition open to the press, all competition entrants, and the Institute's members, who were invited to comment on the designs. Members' comments, combined with feedback received through the Institute's website, a postcard survey, interviews with potential constituents, and design-specific questions posed by the jury, were returned to the finalists. The finalists in turn were asked to respond, using text or graphics, on a single 11" x 17" sheet, in order for the jury to make their final selections.

In November 1998, the winning designs were publicly exhibited at the VAI gallery, alongside a 25-foot model of the East River Corridor Project by Jess Reiser + Nanako Umemoto. Reiser + Umemoto were the recipients of the affiliated Van Alen Fellowship in Public Architecture that year; their project proposed submerging parts of FDR Drive in order to create a continuous, linear park where the East River meets Manhattan. The exhibition was accompanied by walking tours of the riverfront and discussion forums featuring designers, developers, and community activists engaged in shaping the future of the East River.