Urban Voids: Grounds for Change
Competition Launch: January 2006
Competition Website: Urban Voids
In January 2006, Van Alen Institute and City Parks Association of Philadelphia invited participants from around the world to suggest compelling ideas for Philadelphia's vacant land and to imagine long-term solutions that inspire change and reshape urban and natural forms throughout the city. The fundamental premise of the competition was rooted in the question: How can a city respond to the crisis of vacancy? Philadelphia, with over 40,000 vacant properties representing nearly 1,000 acres, had become one of the nation's foremost examples of urban abandonment and extensive sprawl.
Phase One of the competition was explicitly an ideas-generating exercise, seeking long-term visions for developing Philadelphia's vacant lots and strategies that would transform vacancies from obstacles into assets. The jury sought proposals that had potential for further development and realization, and ideas that were specific enough to take advantage of Philadelphia's unique attributes yet broad enough to be applied to neighborhoods in other cities facing similar challenges.
Of the 219 submissions in Phase One, five finalists were awarded funding to further develop their proposals in a second phase of the competition. In June 2006 a grand winner was selected for a design strategy that converted vacant sites throughout Philadelphia into "public green filters" by capturing and redirecting water flow. The winning proposal developed both recreational and filtration solutions for the use of naturally cleaned storm-water run-off, and illustrated groundbreaking and poetic ideas that add social and economic value to urban watersheds.
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