UPDATE: The NEW registration deadline is now 14 March 2007. Late registration period is 15-30 March 2007. See additional update for more information other than that posted below.

The partnership of Van Alen Institute, National Parks Conservation Association and Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation invites designers worldwide to play a vital role in Gateway National Recreation Area’s future by generating innovative, visionary and compelling proposals that celebrate the unique potential of the park as both a significant regional resource and a national environmental treasure.

Created in 1972, Gateway National Recreation Area (Gateway) stretches across 26,607 acres of the New York-New Jersey harbor and coast. It was one of the first units in the U.S. National Park System established to sustain both natural and urban ecologies while providing recreational opportunities for more than 22 million residents in the tri-state region. The park is a key sanctuary on the migratory flyway where more than 330 bird species have been observed, and it contains an array of estuarine wildlife habitats. Simultaneously, Gateway is home to public beaches, historic U.S. military forts and navigational facilities, New York City’s first municipal airport, and regional infrastructural systems.

Comprised of as much water and marsh as land and field, this urban national park stands as one of the region’s greatest opportunities. Gateway’s size and scope, however, present a set of fundamental challenges. The great number of visitors and diverse wildlife at the park attest to its undeniable potential, but because it lies in two different states and serves three different city boroughs it faces competing physical, cultural, and economic demands. Additionally, Gateway’s identity as part of the National Park System is not known to many of its surrounding communities. Waste and water treatment facilities historically sited at Gateway also warrant attention and reclamation.

Gateway thus has incredible potential to become a global model for re-conceptualizing the role of national parks relative to an increasingly urbanized landscape. We must acknowledge the growing urgency to bridge science, design and politics when addressing today’s built environment, and redefine environmental stewardship and cultural patronage to match the scale of contemporary urban development patterns and needs. Envisioning Gateway at this juncture will generate critical dialogue not only about the significance of national parks today, but about the ways in which thriving cities and complex ecosystems can co-exist.

Competition Structure

This is an open, international competition that requires the digital submission of anonymous design ideas for Gateway National Recreation Area. Members of a distinguished and diverse competition jury will evaluate the submissions in May 2007. The jury will select first ($15,000), second ($10,000) and third ($5,000) place winners as well as multiple honorable mention finalists ($500). Winning entries will be presented to the National Park Service for potential inclusion in the next planning phase of Gateway’s General Management Plan, which is scheduled for 2009.

The competition is being held in anticipation of the National Park Service Centennial in 2016, which will provide an opportunity to reinvest in Gateway by focusing on a renewed commitment to environmental education based on an understanding that “nature” in urban environments is complex, actively constructed, and dynamic.

The competition in its entirety is being presented and managed via this website. All essential information for competitors – including instructions, registration, guidelines, program details, background research, site plans, photographs and submission – can be found at the Envisioning Gateway site (http://www.vanalen.org/gateway/). No additional printed materials are available.