New York Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff announced the launch of an international design competition for the Olympic Village to be part of the New York 2012 Olympic bid.
Rick Bell, Executive Director of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects told the media that the competition idea was buoyed by the success of the recent design competition for the new World Trade Center and the need for public input.
A request-for-qualifications will be posted on the NYC 2012 Web site asking for nine-page responses with information about past projects that will become a statement of applicant qualifications. There will be question-and-answer sessions until October 18 and final applications are due by November 17, 2003.
A panel, including two Olympians, will choose five finalists on December 4 who will work with the bid committee to build Olympic Village designs. Public forums will be utilized to evaluate the final designs sometime near March 2004 and the winning design will be announced on May 3.
Panelists will be looking for applicants’ experience with risk, inspiration and sustainability.
The contest will cost bid organizers $400,000 with $50,000 honorariums going to the finalists and a total of $100,000 going to the winner. Doctoroff said the costs will be funded privately.
The Olympic Village is expected to cost $1.5 billion dollars to be funded by developers with up to $100 million coming from the NYC 2012 Olympic organizing committee if the bid is successful.
If the New York 2012 bid is not successful, the design could be used as part of the development of Queens West, although according to Doctoroff “there are no guarantees”.
