Earlier this year, the AIANY Emerging New York Architects (ENYA) Committee revealed the winners of its biennial design ideas competition QueensWay Connection: Elevating the Public Realm (previously on Archinect). Now the public is invited to take a closer look at the winning entries at the upcoming competition exhibition opening on Thursday July 17 at 6:00 PM at New York's Center for Architecture.

The exhibition is accompanied by a symposium hosted by ENYA at the CFA on Saturday, July 19 from 12:00 - 4:00 PM to highlight the winning entries’ visions for future development of the site and neighborhood.

ENYA Prize, $5000: The Queensway Steps by Carrie Wilbert and Eleonore Levieux of Paris, France

2nd Prize, $2500: Queens Billboard by Nikolay Martynov of Basel, Switzerland

3rd Prize, $1000: Make It! Grow It! by Song Deng and Rene Biberstein of Toronto, Canada

Student Prize, $1000: EBB & Flow by Jessica Shoemaker, Paul Crespo and Jessica Johnson of Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Honorable Mention: Upside Down Bridge by Hyuntek Yoon of Queens, New York, USA

"The exhibition showcases winners of the 2014 ENYA Biennial Design Ideas Competition, which challenged entrants to design a vertical gateway for the elevated viaduct portion of a 3.5 mile stretch of abandoned railway in Central Queens. The QueensWay is currently under study for conversion into an urban greenway by The Trust for Public Land, Friends of the Queensway, and their design consultants.

Four Prize Winners, one Honorable Mention, and a slide show of the 120 entries from 28 countries will be shown, along with progress and background information on the community development process. The exhibition is presented as part of the 2014 AIA New York Chapter Presidential Theme “Civic Spirit: Civic Vision.”

The Competition

Formerly a portion of the Long Island Railroad’s Rockaway Beach Branch, the QueensWay was abandoned in 1962. Design consultants retained by the Trust for Public Land and Friends of the QueensWay are currently studying how to transform a stretch of this industrial relic into a public green space that would connect a series of diverse neighborhoods currently fragmented by major roadways and railways. A conversion would also improve pedestrian and bicycle access to Forest Park, which lies in the middle of the abandoned rail line. The goal of the 2014 ENYA Competition QueensWay Connection: Elevating the Public Realm was to support and inspire this transformation.

QueensWay Connection garnered 120 entries from 28 countries. Four winning entries and one Honorable Mention were selected by a distinguished jury which included experts in architecture, landscape architecture, public space, transportation infrastructure, and other related fields. Jurors evaluated each proposal based on the design’s ability to provide an effective and welcoming transition between the street and future greenway. Additional credit was given to how creatively and effectively entrants programmed the space to encourage community involvement, the economical use of the existing infrastructure, and the incorporation of ecologically sustainable elements.

Although QueensWay Connection is a design ideas competition rather than a design-build competition, the potential redevelopment of the Queensway into a greenway is a reality. ENYA believes that engaging the local community and empowering community members to take ownership of the disused infrastructure is key to a successful redevelopment of the QueensWay. We hope that these ideas will serve as catalysts for the incremental redevelopment of the railway.

The jury convened on January 18, 2014 at the Center for Architecture. An exhibition of these proposals and other exemplary entries will be unveiled at an opening party on July 17, 2014 at the Center for Architecture. A symposium on Saturday, July 19 from 12:00 – 4:00 PM will include an overview of the competition process, presentations from the winners, and a moderated discussion on the jury deliberation and the process of community outreach for public projects."

Jury:

• Claire Weisz, FAIA, Co-founding Partner, WXY (part of the QueensWay feasibility study team)
• Lisa Switkin, Associate Partner and Managing Director, James Corner Field Operations
• Matthew Johnson, Senior Associate and Project Manager of the High Line project, Diller Scofidio + Renfro
• Margaret Newman, FAIA, LEED AP, former Chief of Staff to the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation
• Ting Chin, Co-founder, Linearscape (2012 ENYA prize winners)
• Susan Chin, FAIA, Executive Director, Design Trust for Public Space
• Frank Lupo, FAIA, Steering Committee Member, Friends of the QueensWay
• Andy Stone, New York City Director, The Trust for Public Land