NYC - Olympic Village Design Finalists

New Yorkled has had the fine pleasure of visiting Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall to view the Olympic Village Competition Display in which the five finalists' designs are on view. Yours truly found a couple of the designs to be quite impressive in depth and vision, 'but of course it's all a matter of personal opinion. Personal Opinion mind you is what they'd like. One and all are welcomed to pass by and view the designs up until March 26, 2004. So if you're in the area then definitely pay this exhibition a visit. Take a look at the links above through which you'll find New Yorkled's coverage through photographs on each subsequent page. Also included is text borrowed, WITH PERMISSION, from NYC 2012.

So take a look and enjoy!...Also, look below for the press release of this special event.

New York, NY (March 10, 2004) – Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, and NYC2012, the committee leading New York’s bid for the Olympic Games in 2012, today made public the five finalist designs for the proposed Olympic Village. Today’s event, including presentations by each of the five architects, launched a two-week exhibit, at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal, and public review period, which is part of the selection process before a winning design is announced in May.

The finalists are: Henning Larsens Tegnestue A/S – HLT (Copenhagen, Denmark), MVRDV (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), Morphosis (Santa Monica, CA, USA), Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects (New York, NY, USA) and Zaha Hadid Architects (London, United Kingdom). They were picked from more than 130 entries from all over the world.

“The 2012 Olympic Games would have an unprecedented and enduring impact on New York City, and the benefits would be felt in all five boroughs,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The Olympic Games would create 125,000 jobs, and pump $11 billion into our economy. It would spur the largest investment in parks and recreation facilities in the City’s history - all privately paid for. And it would give us the once in a lifetime opportunity to transform what is now a largely abandoned and blighted stretch of the East River waterfront in Queens into a stunning new residential community. Designing the Olympic Village is a breathtaking project, and Queens will provide a spectacular home away from home for thousands of the world’s greatest athletes. I want to thank the five finalists for their stunning effort and NYC2012 and Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff for all their hard work towards making our Olympic dreams a reality.”

“These five designs represent the best from an international search to create the best possible Olympic Village for athletes and housing for New Yorkers when the Olympians go home,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. “I urge the public to express their comments and ideas on these designs that give us a working knowledge of what the Olympic Village will look like when it rises on one of the prime real estate sites in Queens and the City of New York.”

“These spectacular designs put the athletes at the center of a New York Games and uphold the true spirit of the Olympic Movement while forming the model for future urban housing,” said Daniel L. Doctoroff, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding and Founder of NYC2012. “With the exhibit and public review period, the people of New York will continue their opportunity to share in the Olympic dream and preview the city’s future, as well.”

The proposed site of the Olympic Village is Queens West, directly across the East River from the United Nations. The Village would house 16,000 athletes and members of the Olympic Family in the center of New York’s Olympic X plan and, following the event, would provide world-class residential housing for up to 18,000 New Yorkers. The winning design will be the basis of NYC2012’s Olympic Village proposal in the Candidature File to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on November 15, 2004.

Queens West is a joint project of the State, City and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, overseen by the Queens West Development Corporation. The full Queens West project (in an area formerly called Hunters Point) is 73 acres. The Olympic Village site occupies the southern portion of Queens West.

First announced in September 2003, the Design Study began with the issuance of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), which was open to all designers and architects, regardless of nationality. An 8-member Design Review Panel evaluated all entries in terms of qualifications and design concepts. The review was intended to identify creative and varied ideas for the design of an outstanding Olympic Village for New York. The panel’s members include experts in architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, environmental planning, and housing, as well as an Olympian: Gary Hack, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts; Con Howe, Planning Director for the City of Los Angeles; Ronay Menschel, Chairperson of Phipps Houses; Laurie D. Olin, Landscape Architect; Will Rogers, President of Trust for Public Land; Moshe Safdie, Architect; Dejan Sudjic, Architecture Critic; and Cristina Teuscher, Olympian (Swimming, 1996: Gold, 2000: Bronze).

The five finalists participated in a 14-week planning and design study, overseen by Alexander Garvin, NYC2012’s Director of Planning. The current evaluation and public review comment period is an integral part of the final round of the process. The public is urged to comment on the designs online (www.nyc2012.com) beginning on March 10th. Concurrently, NYC2012 staff will assess the viability of the plans. The winner will be announced in May 2004.

The host city for the 2012 Olympic Games will be selected by the IOC on July 6, 2005 in Singapore. Other competing cities are Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.