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Design Competition

Design Competition

competition mosaic
What If New York City... competition entries

In 2008, NYC Emergency Management, in partnership with the Department of Design and Construction, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Architecture for Humanity, held a competition — the What If New York City... Design Competition for Post-Disaster Provisional Housing — challenging participants to propose innovative designs for temporary urban housing for use after a disaster.

To aid the competitors' understanding of the challenge, the sponsors illustrated the changing conditions of a hypothetical neighborhood, Prospect Shore, as it struggles through recovery after a catastrophic coastal storm hits New York City. The scenario unfolded on three parallel tracks: what happens at the scale of the city, what happens at the scale of the neighborhood, and what happens at the scale of a household.
View the competition materials

In January 2008, the What If New York City... design competition jury selected ten winners and ten honorable mentions from more than 100 submissions. The 10 winners received $10,000 each to enhance their designs.

The Jury

The jury of the competition, selected in 2007, was composed of individuals with backgrounds in emergency management, architecture, design, and city planning.
View the jurors' biographies