Sponsored by Dwell Magazine and Inhabitat, the ReBurbia competition is seeking to bring out forward-thinking architects, urban planners, and designers to re-conceive the sprawling, foreclosure-ridden suburbs of the America. The contest’s organizers see the competition as an urgent response to dire social and material circumstances in the US, not just an exercise in good thinking and design:
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.
The response needed, ReBurbia exhorts, is one that addresses aesthetic, infrastructural, and policy concerns. Suburban developments are running out of space, and should no longer be allowed to spread carelessly, as some sort of stucco bacteria. Density is now a large concern, as is efficiency of movement and rationality of design. The new suburb, ReBurbia hopes, will place new priority on “sustainability, walkability, and community.” And if it kills the McMansion in the process, all the better. Entrants should submit a design proposal along with five concept images by August 1st.
[via Core77]
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