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‘Build a Better Burb’ Competition Revitalizes Suburban Areas
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Diane Pham
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Calling out to architects, urban designers, planners, students, visionaries, the Build a Better Burb competition seeks to find a bold new design proposal that can retrofit underutilized spaces in suburban downtowns with more effective uses, forms and practices in planning and design. More than an opportunity to tout conceptual ideas in flashy and unfeasible renderings, this competition aims to take hold of the pressing challenges these communities are facing and turn them into opportunities for economic productivity, environmental sensitivity, social sustainability, and beautification.
You can take a look at all the finalists here, and be sure to submit a vote for your favorite entry!
+ Build a Better Burb
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Manhattan may be a densely developed, well-oiled machine, but the neighboring suburbs of this bustling metropolitan paint another picture. These spaces are littered with vacant lots, barren asphalt parking, and other signs of poor urban planning — elements that continue to reap socio-economic havoc in the communities where they are located. “Build a Better Burb” is a new design competition that sets out to recover 8,300 acres (roughly equal to the area south of 50th Street in Manhattan) in the…
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“LIRR: Long Island Radically Rezoned – A Regenerative Vision for a Living Island” proposes applying closed-loop principles on a macro scale. The resulting plan finds water, energy and waste neutrality, 100% of food is locally-produced, and the overall condition results in a 50/50 balance between nature and man-made.
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The structures which sit at the bottom right of this image, dubbed “Bucky Domes,” represent glass-enclosed high-density hydroponic farms, which will be responsible for producing food for all of Long Island. Wind farms sit offshore, taking advantage of the natural air currents.
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Smart cells follow land use logic based on infrastructure – existing LIRR stations will be the focal point on which area subdivisions are made. Densification will occur within the downtown to more effectively utilize the man-made landscape, leaving open space in the surrounding area for agriculture and habitat restoration.
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Administrative re-organization based on the smart cells system brings forth a living island, with cells operating in tandem.
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The regenerative living island will draw upon its own renewable resources and replenish its finite ones as they are being depleted – water from rain, electricity from wind, food from compost generated through from organic waste, hot water from sun, and green open space from vacated built areas.
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Downtown Hicksville is the model for revitalization, which follows four strategies that will alter vacant spaces and achieve the required suburban density.
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The existing condition – downtown blocks have been given over to surface parking, there is no activity, and no spatial definition with respect to public space.
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To remedy the current situation the proposal suggests transformation through: covered parking, blocks wrapped with
retail destinations, building up to property lines, and forming high density residences within low-rise structures.
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In conjunction in conjunction with “Fix-A-Block.” the “Mall Chopper” plan will subdivide large underutilized surface parking around malls into small blocks that echo the small-scale grain of the surrounding context.
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The resulting typology.
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The central public space will be situated at the train station, where a new vibrant downtown center will be the extension of an eco-boulevard.
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The plan will give the community a new identity characterized by a folded landscape of public spaces that extend from the street level to the elevated train tracks.
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