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Rebuild by Design

Hurricane Katrina Flooding and Response
Photo credit: NyxoLyno Cangemi

In an effort to promote resilience for the Sandy-affected region, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, who also chairs the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force has launched a multi-stage regional design competition named Rebuild by Design. The competition hopes to attract world-class talent and gives us the dynamic opportunity to uncover the innovative collaboration and connections that will allow us to strengthen our resilience as a city, a region, and a nation.

The Rockefeller Foundation is the lead funding partner for Rebuild by Design, and we’ll also provide support for the analysis and design process. We’ve worked closely with HUD following several catastrophic events including Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Our work on the competition builds upon our commitment to promote urban resilience, including the recent launch of 100 Resilient Cities.

Rebuild by Design will center on four focus areas: coastal communities, high-density urban environments, ecological networks and a fourth category that will include other innovative questions and proposals.

The competition will have a region-wide focus to help provide solutions to problems that are larger or more complex than individual towns have the capacity to solve themselves. The regional focus will also help provide a better understanding of the many interconnected systems (infrastructure, ecological, climate, economic and others) in the Sandy-affected region. Design teams will start with regional analyses to understand major vulnerabilities and then, through the collaborative design process begin to focus on local implementation and key projects for improving the region’s resilience.

The competition will have four stages:

Stage 1: Call for concept proposals and selection of 5-10 teams

June 2013 – July 2013

Attract and form 5-10 teams with world-class expertise in infrastructure engineering, landscape design, urban design, architecture, land use planning, industrial design, communication, and other fields.

Stage 2: Analysis of the region through collaborative process

August 2013 – October 2013

The teams will interact with a wide-range of stakeholders to develop a comprehensive understanding of the region, its interdependencies, key players, and areas that warrant integrated design thinking and solutions.

Stage 3: Development of design solutions and selection of key projects

November 2013 – February 2014

Teams will submit their designs in the beginning of February. A jury will select the winners.

Stage 4: Implementation of winning designs and projects

Will commence March 2014

Winning design solutions, having been developed in close collaboration with government and stakeholders, will be implemented using public and private funds.

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