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OKLAHOMA CITY BUS STOP DESIGN COMPETITION

WHAT IT IS

The American Institute of Architects Central Oklahoma Chapter, in partnership with Metro Transit, is sponsoring a bus stop design competition for The City of Oklahoma City.

The competition is open to all Students enrolled in NAAB Accredited Schools of Architecture, Intern Architects, and AIA Associate Members.

BACKGROUND

Metro Transit, Oklahoma City’s only mass transit system, operates a fleet of busses and shuttles that transverse hundreds of miles per day. However, only a handful of functional shelters currently exist and many are in need of modernization and repair giving the system a poor public image. Additionally, the system is rarely used by the general public as an alternative to commuting by car which is an emerging environmental threat due to Oklahoma City’s 640+ square mile area, and the overwhelming tendency for sprawl.

INTENT

The intent is to provide a prototypical bus stop design solution that can be implemented anywhere in Oklahoma City by the Metro Transit System. We invite all eligible registrants to participate in this competition of ideas in order to present proposals for the best prototypical bus stop design solution for the community of Oklahoma City. Please see the Project Requirements section for further details about the competition entries.

It is our belief that this endeavor will inspire our city to become more aware of public transportation and its potential as well as embrace public architecture as a form of art.

PARTNERSHIPS

In order to make this competition as realistic as possible we have engaged the community in order to gain support for our efforts, and assist us in pursuing a completed built work. We cannot guarantee a commission for construction at this time, but will rely on the public response to the award winning submissions to compel city leaders to act upon your creative energy.

REGISTRATION

To register complete the registration form and mail with payment (check or money order) to the address on the form. See Schedule for registration deadlines.

Registration Fees:

Student: $15.00 Late: $25.00

Intern Architect; AIA Associate Member: $25.00 Late: $35.00

Intern Architect; Non-AIA Member: $35.00 Late: $45.00

SCHEDULE

Official competition announcement 16 September

Registration deadline 14 October (received by)

Late registration and submission deadline 7 November (received by)

Jury deliberation 7-12 November

Award ceremony 18 November

Questions about the competition will be accepted by the Bus Stop Competition Committee until 14 October. Please send your questions to busstop@oksac.com. All question and answers will be posted to the official competition website. The answers to the competitor's questions are considered as addenda or revisions to the Competition regulations.

AWARDS

Grand Prize $1071 (the cost of taking all nine Architectural Registration Exams), Award Certificate, Entry featured on official competition website

First Runner Up $300, Award Certificate, Entry featured on official competition website

Second Runner Up $100, Award Certificate, Entry featured on official competition website

Top Ten Finalists Award Certificate, Entry featured on official competition website

Honorable Mentions Award Certificate, Entry featured on official competition website

Specific Honorable Mentions will be awarded based upon the exceptional use of the following criteria:

▪ Lighting

▪ Technology

▪ Sustainability

▪ Innovative use of Materials

▪ Social Impact

▪ Site Adaptability

▪ Artistic Intent

▪ People’s Choice (to be voted upon by public)

No fewer than the top ten designs will be on display in Oklahoma City during The American Institute of Architects Central Oklahoma Chapter’s Architecture Week scheduled for 13-19 November, 2005. The GRAND PRIZE entry will be announced and displayed at the American Institute of Architects Central Oklahoma Chapter’s annual awards ceremony. All entries will be posted on the competition’s official website with the finalists specially featured.

JURY

A panel of design professionals, artists, and relevant community leaders will jury this competition. Jurors will assess the submissions and determine the finalists. Jurors will base their judgment on their own expertise, the work submitted by the competitors, the information contained in the competition document, and any questions and answers that arise during the judging process.

SITE

Oklahoma City covers 640+ square miles and therefore bus stop sites vary from downtown urban settings to grassy patches of field directly adjacent to the roadway. The bus stop design shall be such that it can be implemented anywhere within Oklahoma City. If the Bus Stop Committee is successful in constructing the winning entry it will be placed Downtown to ensure maximum public visibility. The target location will be the intersection of Hudson and Couch Drive just east of The Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

▪ Design should be able to support its own power requirements and be fully independent from Oklahoma City’s power supply

▪ Design should take constructability issues into consideration including construction cost. The typical bus stop in Oklahoma City costs approximately $6,000.

▪ Design should have no horizontal seating surface larger than 20” to prevent vagrant sleeping

▪ Horizontal surfaces should discourage the collection of waste

▪ Design is allowed to extend upward any distance within reason

▪ Design should take Oklahoma’s temperate climate into consideration

▪ Design should be safe with no enclosed spaces in which a person could become hidden from view of an approaching bus

▪ Design should incorporate modern technology that alerts waiting passengers for the approaching bus

▪ Design should attempt to contribute solutions in social, technological, aesthetic, environmental, and any other categories that the designer may identify

▪ Design should include any images that the designer sees fit to illustrate their design intent, one unique construction detail, and a brief written description of concept, materials, and any special technologies incorporated in design

Note: We will not accept any previously published or constructed concepts/projects.

FORMAT

The following must be included in each submission:

▪Compact Disc containing:

One 24”X36” submission image at 300 pixels/inch in JPEG format saved as “your name.jpg”

4” X 6” duplicate of the same submission image at 72 pixels/inch in JPEG format (web ready)

▪Copy of the registration form

Your name as it appears on the registration form must be written on the CD. The submission image itself cannot contain any mark, logo, insignia, or any other element that identifies authorship.

Each submission must be mailed or delivered to:

Bus Stop Design Competition

AIA Central Oklahoma Chapter

3535 N. Classen Blvd

Oklahoma City, OK 73118

All submissions must be received by close of business on 7 November, 2005

Submissions will not be returned.

It is the responsibility of the entering individual(s) to ship design submissions so that they arrive on time and intact. AIA Central Oklahoma is not responsible for loss or damage of designs in transit. AIA Central Oklahoma reserved the right to use the competition entries for any promotional or public relations purposes.

POST FACTO

In order to make an obvious attempt to save our natural resources, we issue this competition announcement and subsequent supporting materials in an “online only’ format. Each design professional is encouraged to search our website for FAQs and updated information that might direct your design to completion. We strongly discourage you from printing this material unless absolutely necessary but to forward links, emails, and supplementary information to all individuals that you feel might be interested in this design competition. Understanding the creative nature of Architecture is not reason enough to make waste of our by-products. We must recognize in every aspect of life how our personal consumption habits effect the whole of society, and how we can be stewards of a greater good in making use of the most advanced technologies available to us.

POINTS OF INTEREST

If you are not a participant in Public Transportation in your city, please take the time to explore your local mass transit options before beginning this project. It may often seem outside of your social responsibility to confront the complex issues of a particular project before creating a design solution, but make yourself aware of the intricacies of public transportation so that you may produce the most informed and responsible design solution possible. Think less of yourself, and more of those you will serve by your creative endeavor…and have fun doing so!

DISQUALIFICATION

Any registrant directly related professionally to any of the judges is excluded from participation in the competition.

Only one proposal can be sent per registration. Should a participant wish to send in more than one entry, they must send it separately with a new registration form and payment.

Entries can be disqualified if they do not meet the submission requirements as stated in this document.