ULI Competition Finalists Presentation on Friday

A few weeks ago the four finalists in the 2006 ULI Urban Design Competition were selected by the jury. I reviewed these on March 6th (read review). At the time I voiced my approval for the Berkley proposal and my complete shock at how un-urban the Columbia University proposal was.

This Friday all four teams will be in St. Louis to present their projects to the jury. Here is the official announcement:

THE CHALLENGE – PLANNING, DESIGN, AND DEVELOPMENT AT GRAND BOULEVARD ALONG THE CHOUTEAU GREENWAY ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

Teams representing Columbia University, Harvard University (two), and the University of California, Berkeley have been selected as the finalists for the fourth annual ULI (Urban Land Institute) Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. The finalist teams are charged with the design of a development site in the city of St. Louis. The competition is open to graduate students who are pursuing real estate-related studies at a North American university, including programs in real estate development, city planning, urban design, architecture and landscape architecture. The four finalists were chosen from 81 teams comprised of more than 400 students representing 30 universities in the U.S. and Canada. The competition is designed as an exercise; there is no guarantee that the students’ plans will be implemented as part of any development of the site.

This year’s competition site intersects with part of the proposed Chouteau Greenway, a development project spearheaded by McCormack Baron Salazar in St. Louis on behalf of a coalition of public and private sponsors in the city. It involves creating a greenway from Memorial Park on the Mississippi River westward to the city’s 1,300-acre Forest Park, over a course set to include 195 acres of public space and 2,000 acres of mixed-use redeveloped space adjoining the greenway.

The schedule for the final competition is as follows:

Friday, March 31, 2006

8:30 am to 12:45 pm Team Presentations

12:45 to 2:00pm Break

2:00pm Announcement of Winner

Location:
Pere Marquette Gallery
Dubourg Hall
Saint Louis University
221 North Grand Blvd.

Here’s the link to the website http://udcompetition.uli.org/.

I’ll let you know Friday which team won the competition.

– Steve