The “What If New York City” Design Competition for Post-Disaster Provisional Housing is a two-part process consisting of an Open Competition followed by a Project Development Period.  The Competition is intended to generate innovative solutions for post-disaster Provisional Housing.  During the Open Competition, Competitors will register, read the Competition Materials, and submit the required submissions.

The Competition Jury will review all Submissions meeting requirements and select ten (10) Winning Submissions that best meet the Judging Criteria. The Winners of the Open Competition will be awarded $10,000 to further develop their Submissions in the Project Development Period.  The Competition Jury will also award ten (10) Honorable Mentions of $500.

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On February 20, 2008, the ten (10) Winners will be awarded $10,000 to develop their projects further and prepare Designs that will be delivered in May 2008.  At the beginning of Project Development Period the Winners will receive an initial payment of $5,000.  The balance of the Award shall be payable to Winners upon final submission of their Designs, judged complete by the Sponsor or agent thereof and based on the specifications outlined in the Submissions section of the Competition Materials.  In the event that a Winner is unable or unwilling to develop their project further, they will not receive the balance of their Award.

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The ten Winning Submissions will be reviewed by a Technical Advisory Committee. The advisors will represent City agencies and industry groups and will have expertise in design, construction, disaster recovery, urban planning, and public policy. At the beginning of the Project Development Period, the advisors will evaluate each Winning Submission in terms of feasibility and practicality with regard to existing technology and pertinent regulations. The Winners may use the committee’s evaluation as a guide for modifying their Winning Submissions. However, it is not required that a Competitor change any aspects of his or her Submission in reaction to the committee’s report unless they wish to do so.

Based upon its review of the Winning Submissions, as well as the expertise of its members in these matters, the Technical Advisory Committee may make recommendations to various public entities for regulatory, legislative, programmatic, or funding changes that may be needed to facilitate the fabrication and deployment of various types of post-disaster Provisional Housing in New York City.

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The Competition and the work produced by the Competitors will add to a public discourse about New York City’s vulnerability to major storms as well as other hazards.  The competition process gives several opportunities to increase public awareness on this issue. First, the public may visit the “What if New York City…” Website where they will have an opportunity to learn more about coastal storms in New York City and the challenges of disaster recovery. As well, OEM’s Ready New York campaign has preparedness information online. Second, certain Winning Submissions will be added to the catalog of housing strategies as part of the City’s Housing Recovery Plan. Third, the Winning Submissions will be available for public exhibition along with related publications, promotions, and programming.  Fourth, all Submissions submitted in conformance with the Submission requirements will be available for public viewing in an online gallery on the City’s official web site beginning in February 2008. Finally, the Competitors are invited to post their Submissions on Architecture for Humanity’s online database for humanitarian design, the Open Architecture Network.

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