We are beyond elated to host our annual design competition this Saturday.
The challenge was designed to make architects, designers, urban planners, landscape planners, and the Dallas community members rethink the average bus stop. Participants have been challenged to build their designs with limited, digitally fabricated supplies, a tight budget, and attention to DART’s specs.
This year’s bus stop design competition was influenced by the concerns of local activists who’ve noticed the problem of poor air-quality at bus stops.
“There are a couple things that led us to this,” says Better Block Director Krista Nightengale, “1. Downwinders at Risk brought to our attention a recent study that showed that you could cut PM exposure by 30-40 percent by simply rethinking the bus stop. So we want to think about how to reposition the bus stop to better protect people as they wait. 2. This is something we’ve seen/felt as we wait for the bus: many times, the stop is literally a pole in the ground. So how can we use what we do to give folks a place to sit and give them shade? And how can we make bus stops fun?”
City Lab High School, recent grads from UTA, creatives/makers/doers from the neighborhood of all ages and interests, two architecture firms, two landscape architecture firms, and even a team from Boston will be showcasing their designs at the event. The nine participating teams include Studio Outside, Novaré Studio, CityLab HS, Motion Studio at Fitzpatrick Architects, TBG & Boka Powell, Harkensback, Culture House, Crum Collaboration, and OmniPlan.
The Better Block has implemented similar design projects in the past including a pavilion and pop-up retail stand competition. All projects use creative design to assemble a structure that can enhance a place in the community. One of FD18’s previous winners from the Harkensback team, Julie McCullough says, “We took away a lot of support and feedback from our peers, a lot of insight as to how others might use this same set up as painters or cobblers, etc, which we had hoped we would, and always the sense of community and design that Better Block helps bring together.”
We are hosting the competition May 4 from 6-9 pm at 700 West Davis Street. Come out to watch the teams assemble their designs, enjoy outdoor music, browse vendors curated by Little D Markets, and vote for the best bus stop design. Judges Mark Lamster, architect critic at the Dallas Morning News, Dominique Torres from the DART Board of Directors, and Ben Reavis from the DDI Transportation Committee, will determine the winner of the FD19 trophy and prize money.
FD19 is made possible by the following sponsors: Nunzio Marc DeSantis Architects, Downwinders at Risk, OmniPlan, Schenkel Properties, 3Headed Monster, and Oddfellows.
See you there!
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