Tis’ the season for architectural competitions. The latest one that has piqued my interest is ReBurbia.
We now live in an era where the idea of building big and building everywhere no longer seems plausible. An environment dependent almost solely on driving one’s car to accomplish even the most simple tasks is becoming more absurd than ever.
For the last fifty years we have designed and built our communities to be more convenient to automobiles than to pedestrians. Our houses are designed to have the garage more prominent than the front porch (if one even exists). We drive on wide boulevards that are engineered to handle traffic driving at 200 miles per hour, yet are intimidating for pedestrians that try to safely cross ten lanes of traffic in a timely manner. And our stores are surrounded by parking that’s designed as if every day was going to experience the same number of shoppers as Black Friday.
If you live, work, or even drive through suburbia chances are you have found something to gripe about. (If you have nothing to gripe about might I suggest that you run all of your errands by walking or riding a bike) So if you have something to gripe about and you feel as though you may have a solution for your gripe, definitely submit your idea to this competition. I know sometimes these competitions come across as computer intensive exercises showcasing people’s abilities to create brain numbing virtual worlds, a good idea is still a good idea, even if that idea is drawn up with crayons and finger paints.
Blue Architecture 