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SIGAL Gallery

Opening Reception

Monday, September 29, 6 – 7:30 PM

The District Architecture Center is pleased to present "The 11th Street Bridge Park: A New Civic Space," an exhibition of visionary designs from the 11th Street Bridge Park design competition, a contest recently held to envision DC's first elevated public park over the Anacostia River.

In a public-private collaboration between the District of Columbia government and the Ward 8-based non-profit known as “Building Bridges Across the River,” funds were raised for the nationwide design competition. The competition challenged design teams – comprised of architects, landscape architects, engineers, design specialists, consultants, and advisors – to re-use existing piers from one of the old bridges to create a new civic space that would support the community’s environmental, physical, cultural and economic health.

Of the more than 80 entries, four design teams were selected to envision the new civic space for the competition’s ‘Stage III’ phase:

• Balmori Associates / Cooper, Robertson & Partners

• OLIN / OMA

• Stoss Landscape Urbanism / Höweler + Yoon Architecture

• Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) / NEXT Architects / Magnusson Klemencic Associates

Explore each team’s community-inspired design proposal presented with imaginative renderings and detailed drawings. Discover ideas for new activities in the park connecting Anacostia and Capitol Hill: café and restaurant, environmental education center, kayak and canoe launches, performance space, and play space.

Consider that park visitors might also be able to explore the region’s history through interpretive public art displays, attend outdoor festivals, and buy produce from nearby farmers markets. The possibilities are widespread, but also driven by community input from over 300 meetings to date.

The competition was judged by a group of distinguished experts in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, public health, and community engagement:

• Howard Frumkin, M.D., Dr.P.H. Dean, School of Public Health, University of Washington

• Toni L. Griffin, Founding Director of the J. Max Bond Center for the Just City, Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York

• Carol Mayer-Reed, FASLA, Partner in Charge of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, Mayer/Reed

• Michaele Pride, AIA, NOMA, Associate Dean for Public Outreach and Engagement, School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico

• Harry Robinson III, FAIA, AICP, NOMA, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Urban Design, School of Architecture and Design, Howard University

• Patricia Zingsheim, AIA, CPM, Associate Director of Revitalization and Design, D.C. Office of Planning (Alternate Juror)

• Donald J. Stastny FAIA, FAICP, FCIP, Design Competition Advisor

A complete exhibition is presented at the District Architecture Center with abbreviated exhibitions at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum and the THEARC.

Discover more about this project at: http://www.bridgepark.org/.

Credits

Organized by Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC in cooperation with AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery.

Generous support provided by Corporate Office Properties Trust, District of Columbia Office of Planning, Goulston & Storrs, Horning Family Foundation, LISC, Prince Charitable Trusts, and The Educational Foundation of America.

Additional support generously provided by ABC Imaging.