The New York City Department of Buildings has announced the eight finalists for the Urbancanvas Design Competition, a competition that was first launched back in June in an attempt to decorate the city’s construction sites. Participants were asked to create artwork that could be installed on fences, sheds, and other support systems such as scaffolds and cocoons while complementing the city’s varied streetscapes and promoting safety.
Selected from over 100 design submissions, the eight finalists are: “Breathing Wall,” by Monika Bravo; “Bang,” by Jiyoun Lee-Lodge; “Color Mesh,” by Mauricio Lopez and Jess T. Ross; “My Urban Sky,” by Jen Magathan; “Untitled,” by Jordan Seiler; “…of Special Concern,” by Chris Shelley; “Green Screen,” by Corinne Ulmann; and “JazzLine,” by Philip Michael Wolfson, Chris Ridout and Maxim Nilov. The designs were submitted from 17 states including California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington State and were evaluated by the Urbancanvas jury based on artistic merit and flexibility to adapt to various temporary structures. They were then submitted to the Public Design Commission of the City of New York for review and approval.
The Urbancanvas jury consisted of Polly Apfelbaum, artist; Dan Brodsky, Senior Partner of the Brodsky Organization and of the Real Estate Board of New York; Ignacio Ciocchini, Director of Design and Streetscape Development, Bryant Park Corporation; Carl Galioto, Senior Principal, HOK and of the New York Building Congress; Sagi Haviv, Partner, Chermayeff & Geismar; Jennifer McGregor, Director of Arts & Senior Curator, Wave Hill; Sara Reisman, Director, Percent for Art Program, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; Eddie Torres, Associate Director, the Rockefeller Foundation; and NYC DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri. The Public Design Commission of the City of New York was represented by Paula Scher, Principal, Pentagram Design and Susanna Sirefman of Dovetail Design Strategists served as the competition advisor.
New Yorkers were able to visit www.nyc.gov/urbancanvas up until October 1, 2010 to vote for four winners who will be awarded $7,500 courtesy of the Rockefeller Foundation’s grant to the Mayor’s fund. Following the announcement of the winners, the DOB will then launch the Urbancanvas Pilot Program where members of the building and construction community will select one of the winning designs to feature on a temporary protective structure. Winners will be announced later this year.
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