PHOTO BY ALEX MACLEAN
Deadline approaching for
this design competition focusing on re-inventing the suburbs. I'm hoping for some really interesting results, especially from the scores of architects waiting out the recession.
What I think a lot of these suburb re-invention efforts miss — as forward-thinking as they are — is a serious consideration of the
culture of suburbs. We're now at a point where generations have lived their entire lives in the suburbs, thereby shaping the worldview and social relationship to landscape for millions. Why would we assume this can be 'un-done?' I'd be interested in seeing how architects might play on the bits of resistance (
suburban farming trends) and absurdity (a 'new' 7-11 built in the parking lot of an abandoned 7-11) that crop up in the suburbs, and leverage those as cues for re-inventing the suburban cultural landscape from the ground up.
From the site:
Dwell Magazine and Inhabitat.com are pleased to announce the first ever Reburbia competition: a design competition dedicated to re-envisioning the suburbs.
With the current housing crisis, the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, and rising energy costs, the future of suburbia looks bleak. Suburban communities in central California, Arizona and Florida are desolate and decaying, with for sale and foreclosure signs dotting many lawns. According to the US Census, about 90% of all metropolitan growth occurred in suburban communities in the last ten years. Urbanites who loathe the freeways, big box stores and bland aesthetics stereotypical of suburbia may secretly root for the end of sprawl, but demographic trends indicate that exurban growth is still on the rise.
In a future where limited natural resources will force us to find better solutions for density and efficiency, what will become of the cul-de-sacs, cookie-cutter tract houses and generic strip malls that have long upheld the diffuse infrastructure of suburbia? How can we redirect these existing spaces to promote sustainability, walkability, and community? It’s a problem that demands a visionary design solution and we want you to create the vision!
Calling all future-forward architects, urban designers, renegade planners and imaginative engineers:
Show us how you would re-invent the suburbs! What would a McMansion become if it weren’t a single-family dwelling? How could a vacant big box store be retrofitted for agriculture? What sort of design solutions can you come up with to facilitate car-free mobility, ‘burb-grown food, and local, renewable energy generation? We want to see how you’d design future-proof spaces and systems using the suburban structures of the present, from small-scale retrofits to large-scale restoration—the wilder the better!
