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Places: Design Observer and EDRA, the Environmental Design Research Association, in cooperation with Metropolis Magazine announce the twelfth annual Great Places Awards for Place Design, Planning and Research. The deadline for entries for the 2010 Great Places Awards is February 10, 2010. This document serves as the official submission rules.
Unique in the ever-expanding universe of award programs, our concern is for good places and how people inhabit them.
We seek entries of exemplary work, inviting participation from a range of design and research disciplines, recognizing projects whose significance extends beyond any one profession or field. Projects should emphasize a link between research and practice, demonstrating how an understanding of human interaction with place can inspire design.
The awards jury will be held February 24-26, 2010 at the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with winners announced the week following. Official presentations will be made in June 2010 at the annual EDRA conference, to be held this year in Washington, DC (see edra.org for more details). Winning projects will be reported in Metropolis and by Places journal (http://places.designobserver.com/). These projects will also be exhibited in the National Building Museum during the Annual EDRA conference.
2010 Jury
- Ralph E. Johnson, Perkins & Will Architects
- Laura J. Lawson, Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois−Urbana Champaign
- David Miller, Miller/Hull Partnership and Architecture, University of Washington
- Lynda Schneekloth, Architecture and Planning, State University of New York−Buffalo
- Kathleen L. Wolf, College of the Environment, University of Washington−Seattle
The Program
The Great Places Awards are unique among programs that recognize professional and scholarly excellence in environmental design. They are distinguished by their interdisciplinary focus, concern for human factors in the design of the built environment, and a commitment to promoting links between design research and practice.
We invite participation from the full breadth of environmental design and related research activities, including architecture, landscape architecture, planning, urban design, interior design, lighting design, graphic design, environmental psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography and the physical sciences.
Each year we assemble a jury with diverse backgrounds in design, research, teaching and practice. The jury evaluates how each project, no matter what the discipline, addresses the human experience of well-designed places. Special attention is paid to the transferability of research about human experience of place into design and planning practice. The jury will select six winners from three categories: place design, place planning, place research, and a book prize.
Submissions are accepted in the following categories:
Place Research. All types of research about the design and use of places can be entered, including (but not limited to) projects that document the form or perception of places or landscapes; evaluate the use or management of recent projects or established settings; or provide background for specific designs, plans or sustainable practices
Place Planning. Any plan that makes proposals for the future use, management or design of a place can be entered — including master plans, specific plans or elements, management plans, vision documents, or charrette proposals. Plans must have been sponsored by an organized entity (such as a public agency, community group, or private business or institution), though they need not have received official approval.
Place Design. Any design project completed within the last five years (but long enough to assess how well it functions for its users) can be entered. Projects can consist of individual structures, spaces or elements, or groups that work together as a unit. They can involve the design of something new or the reuse of existing resources. The scale may be large or small. Each project should account for its relation to the larger environment of which it is a part.
Book Award. Any recently published book advancing the critical understanding of place and design of exceptional environments may be entered. The book may be primarily scholarly, practical, literary or visual. However, it must be currently available to the public through bookstores, commercial websites, or direct purchase from a publisher, Books may not be self-published. They must have been published for the first time in the last two years. They may not be re-edited or be re-released versions of older works.
Questions to Consider
Place Planning
What kinds of plans qualify?
Any plan that makes proposals for the future use, management or design of a place can be nominated—including master plans, specific plans or elements, management plans, vision documents or charrette proposals. Plans can operate at a range of scales, from a specific area, such as a campus or neighborhood, to a region. They can consider a variety of issues, such as urban design, preservation, environmental management, transportation and accessibility, community development, facilities programming, and community visioning. Plans must have been sponsored by an organized entity— such as a public agency, community group, or private business or institution. Plans should be available for public review, but they need not have received official approval.
What issues does the jury consider?
Plans should address how specific places or activities operate within a larger fabric of spatial, functional and cultural relationships. Plans should involve places of public or social significance, consider issues of social importance, or be configured to expand the constituency for a place. Plans should have a clear methodology. They should have effective strategies for participation and communication, involving affected constituencies in formulating the plan and conveying the plan’s significance to those whose involvement and commitment will be necessary. Plans should have demonstrable impacts that are sustainable They should result in specific design, management or policy initiatives; broaden or strengthen the constituency for the place; attract additional resources to the place; or shift the discussion about or perception of the place.
Submission requirements
Please submit a written statement—no more than 500 words long— addressing these questions:
1. Please describe the following aspects of the plan:
(a) The place involved
(b) The client for and/or sponsor of the plan
(c) The planning methodology and process, including the time frame in which the planning took place
(d) Strategies for involving people in forming the plan
(e) Strategies for helping people understand the significance of the proposals
(f) Proposals for implementation
2. What impact has the plan had?
3. What research was useful in creating this plan, would be pertinent in evaluating it, or would help make future plans of this sort even more effective?
Place Design
What kinds of designs qualify?
Nominations can consist of an individual element, or groups that work together as a unit. They can involve the design of something new or the reuse of existing resources. Projects can be of any scale, from a local street to a civic boulevard, a community park to a regional greenway, a room to a cluster of buildings and spaces. Projects must have been completed within the last five years, but long enough ago to assess how well they function for inhabitants and/or users.
What issues does the jury consider?
Places must be recognizable as distinct within a larger fabric of relationships—they should help improve their setting by advancing a larger plan, repair an unsatisfactory relationship, or add something that a previous design failed to provide. Submissions should involve a place that is meaningful to a community, consider an issue of social importance, or demonstrate how the design is configured to serve a broader constituency and provide enduring benefits Submissions should address the relationship between design research and design outcomes.
Submission requirements
Please submit a written statement—no more than 500 words long—addressing
these questions:
1. Describe the place and its surroundings, the design process and the outcome.
2. How does this specific project contribute to the ongoing transformation of a larger fabric of places?
3. What evidence is there that this place is important to its inhabitants or users, or that the project has broadened or strengthened the constituency for this place?
4. What issues of social importance does the project consider?
5. What research was useful in designing this project, would be pertinent in evaluating it, or would help make future projects even more successful?
Place Research
What kinds of research qualify?
All types of research about the design and use of places can be nominated—including (but not limited to) projects that document the form or perception of places or landscapes; evaluate the use or management of recent projects or established settings; or provide background for specific designs or plans.
What issues does the jury consider?
Research projects should consider the relationship between physical form and human activity or experience. They should enrich our understanding of how people interact with places from a behavioral, social, cultural or ecological perspective; how people experience places; or processes through which places are designed, occupied and managed. Projects should consider places of public or social importance— such as streets, parks and squares; campuses, religious or commercial facilities; or offices, special housing facilities or extended development patterns. Projects should have broad applicability, informing design practice or teaching. The research methods, findings and implications should be clearly documented and communicated. Projects should be clearly grounded in the context of recent literature and practice; they can revisit previous research, confirming, extending or challenging earlier findings.
Submission requirements
Please submit a written statement—no more than 500 words long—addressing
these questions:
1. Describe the place involved and the client for the study.
2. Describe the research question, methodology and findings; explain how the project relates to recent literature and practice.
3. How does this research address our understanding of human interaction with or experience of the physical environment?
4. What issues and places of social importance does this research consider?
5. How can the research findings be used in designing places or teaching about place?
Book Award
What kinds of books qualify?
Any book published in the last two years advancing the critical understanding of place and design of exceptional environments may be entered. The book may be primarily scholarly, practical, literary or visual. However, it must be currently available to the public through bookstores, commercial websites, or direct purchase from a publisher. Books may not be self-published. They must have been published for the first time in the last two years. They may not be re-edited or be re-released versions of older works.
What issues does the jury consider?
Books should be primarily about the experience, design or understanding of place. They may be analytic, descriptive, or practice oriented. They may be about particular places or about the qualities of place as a general category of study. They may be edited volumes or individually authored works. However, they must demonstrate the mature realization of a stated research agenda, with findings that may be applied in practice, and they must engage with and contribute to existing themes in the literature on place.
Submission requirements
Please submit a written statement—no more than 500 words long—addressing these questions:
- Describe the theme of the book, its research premises, and the circumstances under which it was written and produced.
- Describe the questions, methodologies and findings behind the book and how it relates to recent literature and practice.
- Why is this book significant? How does it address our understanding of human interaction with or experience of the physical environment?
- What issues and places of social importance does the book consider?
- How can the book be used in designing places or teaching about place?
Entry Form
2010 Great Places Awards Program
Name of Project____________________________________________
Signature of Nominator*______________________________________
Name of Nominator__________________________________________
Organization_______________________________________________
Firm/School________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________
City, State, Zip_____________________________________________
Telephone_______________________ Fax______________________
E-mail____________________________________________________
Please enclose an entry fee of $150 for each submission (please make checks payable to EDRA):
___Entry for Place Design Award
___Entry for Place Planning Award
___Entry for Place Research Award
___Entry for Place Book Award
___Yes, I would like to also join EDRA, and support research to improve the understanding of the relationships between people and their environments, $175/year. [Institutional memberships with additional benefits also available, contact EDRA for information]
Total Enclosed: EDRA $____
For payment to EDRA:
Visa/Mastercard Number:________________________
Expiration Date:___/___
Send all entries to the Environmental Design Research Association by February 10, 2010, to:
Janet Singer
Environmental Design Research Association
833 Fox Run Trail
Edmond OK 73034
For further information, please contact EDRA at 405-330-4863
*Nominators may be participants or authors of the project that is submitted.
Rules
- Each entry must follow the specific submission requirements for its category, as described below.
- Submissions must be RECEIVED no later than February 10, 2010.
- Each submission must be accompanied by the official entry form above. Reproductions of the form are acceptable.
- Entrants are encouraged to submit any additional materials (documents, drawings, slides, letters of support, articles and reviews) they feel necessary to explain the project fully. Supplemental material must be placed in a standard binder no more than one-inch thick. If books are submitted, any reviews should be included.
- Written material must be submitted in English.
- Submissions must be accompanied by the registration fee.
- To maintain anonymity in judging, no names of entrants or collaborating parties may appear on any part of the submissions except on the entry form. Elsewhere, credits must be concealed by tape or other simple means. Do not conceal the location or identity of projects. Provide all project credits in a separate sealed envelope in binder.
- Judging will take place in February 20010, and winners will be notified in March 2010.
- Public announcement of the award will be made at a special event during EDRA’s annual meeting in June 2010. Winning entries will be reported in Places and Metropolis, and will be exhibited in the National Building Museum during the annual EDRA conference at Washington DC. Winners are strongly encouraged to attend the award ceremony at the EDRA conference in Washington DC in June 2010.
- Nominators of winning entries agree to make available further information and graphic material as requested.
- Drawings, photographs and other materials submitted for winning projects will be used for unrestricted publicity. Each entrant must clear all drawings, photographs and slides included in submission for future reuse and reproduction by EDRA/Places. Entrants are responsible for any royalties or copyright fees.
- Entrants who want their material returned must enclose a Federal Express airbill with account number indicated. Otherwise, EDRA and Places cannot accept responsibility for the return of any materials submitted.
Please send entries to:
Janet Singer,
Environmental Design Research Association,
833 Fox Run Trail
Edmond OK 73034
For further information, please contact EDRA at 405-330-4863
The deadline for receipt of submissions is February 10, 2010.
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