Parachute Pavilion

[Edward]

http://www.thecidc.org/PressRelease111504.htm

Coney Island Development Corporation and Van Alen Institute Join to Sponsor Design Competition for Parachute Pavilion

November 15, 2004, New York City - The Van Alen Institute, in cooperation with the Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC), is sponsoring an international design competition to help create a Parachute Pavilion in Coney Island. As envisioned, the new pavilion, at the base of the landmarked Parachute Jump, will feature a small concession for a restaurant, souvenir shop and multi-purpose exhibition and event space. The competition is open to all architects and designers and related fields.

"The Parachute Pavilion will be an all-season center of activity, drawing the public onto the Boardwalk, the beach and Surf Avenue, and to a new recreational destination," said Joshua J. Sirefman, President, Coney Island Development Corporation and COO, New York City Economic Development Corporation. "Coney Island was the world's playground at the turn of the 20th Century and enjoyed many roles in the imaginations of New Yorkers and people from around the world. The goal of this competition is to generate innovative design proposals that will contribute to a 21st Century vision for Coney Island to regain the area's prominence as a destination of choice."

The 7,800-square-foot Parachute Pavilion will be located between West 16th and West 17th Streets, at the intersection of the Riegelmann Boardwalk, KeySpan Park's Surf Avenue-to-Boardwalk path, the Parachute Jump and Steeplechase Pier.

Coney Island is in the middle of a revival. Last year the CIDC was established by Mayor Bloomberg with a mandate to make Coney Island a year-round, world-class recreational oceanfront destination through business development, job creation, new housing, neighborhood improvement, and unique cultural events. The CIDC is finalizing the Coney Island Strategic Development Plan, which is expected to be released in early 2005.

The competition calls for conceptual design proposals for the new pavilion from designers and design teams worldwide. Entries will be judged by an 11-member jury consisting of architectural and design professionals, as well as representatives of City agencies and the Coney Island community.

"During my campaign for Borough President, I enthusiastically presented the idea of finding new and creative uses for the legendary Parachute Jump on Coney Island," said Borough President Marty Markowitz. "This design contest for the Parachute Pavilion brings us one step closer to realizing Brooklyn's vision of our Eiffel Tower - the Parachute Jump - becoming an international symbol once again. From its beaches and the boardwalk to its restaurants and nightlife, the best days for Coney Island are yet to come."

The winner of the competition will receive $20,000 and the New York Prize, the opportunity to work with the Van Alen Institute to develop a program that further amplifies the goals of the competition and demonstrates the role of powerful design in improving the future of the area. Second prize will be $5,000 and third prize $3,000. Sponsors of the competition include Independence Community Foundation, Consolidated Edison and KeySpan Corporation. CIDC and Van Alen Institute are also working with New York City Economic Development Corporation, NYC Parks and Recreation and NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission on the project.

"The beautification of the Parachute Jump was a long awaited project," said Councilmember Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. "The Parachute Jump is the focal point of Coney Island and a beacon to the entire City. This competition is another step forward in making Coney Island once again the greatest playground in the world."

Ray Gastil of the Van Alen Institute said, "This design competition is an extraordinary opportunity for today's generation of designers. Designers will enter because the stakes are high and they will be striving to prove they have a design vision powerful enough to take its place at this legendary location."

Van Alen Institute is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving design in the public realm through a program of exhibitions, competitions, publications, workshops and forums. It is an advocate for active and accessible waterfronts. Based in New York City, the Institute's projects initiate interdisciplinary and international collaborations between practitioners, policy makers, students, educators and community leaders.

Submissions for the competition are due April 18, 2005. For complete information about The Parachute Pavilion: An Open Design Competition for Coney Island, please visit www.vanalen.org or www.thecidc.org. Entries will be exhibited at a venue to be determined in Coney Island when a winner is selected.

[Edward]

CONEY ISLAND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

AND VAN ALEN INSTITUTE ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF PARACHUTE PAVILION DESIGN COMPETITION

International Open Design Competition Attracted More than 850 Entries from 46 Countries

Coney Island, May 26, 2005 -- Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC) CEO Joshua J. Sirefman, and Van Alen Institute Chair Sherida E. Paulsen today announced the winners of the Parachute Pavilion Design Competition, an open international competition co-sponsored by CIDC and Van Alen Institute. The winning design team is Kevin Carmody, Andrew Groarke, Chris Hardie and Lewis Kinneir, of London. The competition, launched in November 2004, attracted more than 850 entries from 46 countries, including Poland, Russia, China, Australia, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States, including 54 enries from Brooklyn. The 7,800-square-foot Parachute Pavilion will be located at the base of the landmarked Parachute Jump in Coney Island.



“One of the foremost priorities of the Bloomberg Administration is to revitalize and bring quality development to neighborhoods in all five boroughs of our great City,” said Joshua Sirefman. “With its world-class waterfront location and rich history as an amusement center, Coney Island offers a tremendous base for us to build on. The overwhelming response for this design competition is testimony to the remarkable local and international interest in contributing to its very promising future. I congratulate the winning team for a truly innovative design and thank all the participants for their participation.”



“By promoting it as a year-round recreation, amusement and commercial center, and as a major tourist attraction, we will preserve and celebrate Coney Island’s magical personality – with a 21st Century incarnation of its heyday,” said Borough President Markowitz. “We don’t have to look any further than the winning design for the world-famous Parachute Pavilion for proof of the brighter days ahead – literally – for Coney Island.”





The competition sought innovative ideas to create an all-season center of activity that would draw the public to a new recreational destination. The winning design, a pavilion with a matrix of light bulbs rising 30 feet from the ground, relates directly to the towering Parachute Jump without competing with its scale or Coney Island’s skyline. A souvenir shop opens to double height exhibition space. An elevator and staircase lead to a bar and restaurant overlooking the exhibition space and an overhanging section of the pavilion provides shade in summer and protection in winter.



“The extraordinary results of this call for creative ideas, in terms of quantity and quality, are a direct response to the enduring significance of Coney Island,” said Sherida Paulsen. “The winning scheme’s beauty, both by day and night, through the use of shimmering modern materials and lighting, epitomizes the continuing attraction of the beach and boardwalk to a new audience. Expanding the uses of the Pavilion illustrates the broad approach to the Coney Island destination envisioned by the community, the Borough of Brooklyn and the City.”



The winning design team receives $10,000 and the opportunity to work with Van Alen Institute to develop a program and a publication that demonstrate the role of powerful design in improving the City. A panel of 11 architects and designers, Coney Island residents, and City officials served as judges for the competition.



Second prize of $5,000 was awarded to Ramon Knoester and Eckart Graeve of Brooklyn and the Netherlands, and the $3,000 third prize went to Roman Torres, Patrick Stinger, Mayva Marshall and Adam Montalbano of Philadelphia. There were nine Honorable Mentions representing entries from London, Paris, Copenhagen, Athens and the Netherlands, as well as the United States. In addition to CIDC and Van Alen Institute, other sponsors of the Competition were Independence Community Foundation, and KeySpan Corporation.


About CIDC

The Coney Island Development Corporation was established by Mayor Bloomberg with a mandate to create a comprehensive, viable plan to promote a more diversified business community and better employment opportunities. It consists of 13 members appointed by the Mayor, City Council and the Borough President. Each is serving a two-year term.


About Van Alen Institute

Van Alen Institute: Projects in Public Architecture is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving design in the public realm through a program of exhibition, competitions, publications, workshops and forums, and is an advocate for active and accessible waterfronts. Founded in 1894 as the Society Beaux-Arts the Institute was renamed in 1996 after William Van Alen, the architect of the Chrysler Building and the Institute’s largest benefactor, and reorganized to focus on the public realm. Based in New York, the Institute’s projects initiate interdisciplinary collaborations between practitioners,

policymakers, students, educators and community leaders.



All 864 competition entries can be viewed at www.vanalen.org.

[Edward]

The winning design, a pavilion with a matrix of light bulbs rising 30 feet from the ground, relates directly to the towering Parachute Jump without competing with its scale or Coney Island’s skyline. A souvenir shop opens to double height exhibition space. An elevator and staircase lead to a bar and restaurant overlooking the exhibition space and an overhanging section of the pavilion provides shade in summer and protection in winter.

[Gulcrapek]

Um... interesting.

[BrooklynRider]

The renderings certainly make it appear rather abstract. I think the expansive lighting willl create a new central boardwalk anchor for the area from Childs (to the West) to the Cyclone (to the East).

[billyblancoNYC]

I like it. CI would be reinvigorated with cutting edge, playful, and rather abstract architecture. Bright lights, while some may find kitschy, create the appropriate "carnival-like" feel. Good choice.

[Edward]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/21/arts/design/21para.html
July 21, 2005
Leaps of Imagination for the Parachute Jump
By SEWELL CHAN

Few would question that Coney Island is the quintessential American amusement area, the home of Nathan's frankfurters, the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel. So how did the commission to design a public pavilion around its celebrated Parachute Jump end up in the hands of an Australian, a Scot and two Englishmen?

The answer lies not only in the globe-spanning renown of Coney Island's faded glory but in the increasing cosmopolitanism of architectural competitions, in which designers from across the world can be invited over the Internet to reimagine public spaces many have never visited.

The Van Alen Institute, a nonprofit organization devoted to public architecture, joined with the New York City Economic Development Corporation last year to hold a contest to design a year-round pavilion at the base of the 262-foot-high Parachute Jump, a landmark built for the 1939 World's Fair that is known as the Eiffel Tower of Brooklyn.

All 864 proposals - including a model and renderings by the winning team, four young architects based in London - went on display yesterday in "The Parachute Pavilion: An Open Design Competition for Coney Island," an exhibition that runs through Oct. 31 at the institute's gallery at 30 West 22nd Street in Chelsea.

The 864 submissions came from 46 countries and involved more than 2,000 participants. New Yorkers were the main or only designers for 150 entries, and Brooklyn residents were behind 54 of them.

Proposals range from the fanciful to the mundane. They include advanced computer renderings and precise sketches drawn in felt-tip markers. Dozens of the most prominent proposal boards are arrayed along the long wall of the gallery, like leaves in a giant sketchbook, while the bulk of the entries are stacked in cubbyholes on the floor.

Chosen in May, the winning entry - by Kevin Carmody, Andrew Groarke, Chris Hardie and Lewis Kinneir - envisions a bowtie-shaped building, 30 feet high, composed of two uneven trapezoids joined at their shorter ends and occupying most of the 7,800-square-foot site.

Both trapezoids would be sheathed in pink-tinted glass interrupted by windows with ocean views and illuminated by scores of incandescent bulbs. Aglow around the clock, the structure would evoke the whimsy of Coney Island.

The larger trapezoid would rest on a sand-colored concrete base, while the smaller forms a giant cantilever that extends over a pathway connecting KeySpan Park, a minor-league baseball stadium at the northeast corner of the site, to the Riegelmann Boardwalk along the beach.

Inside the two-story trapezoid would be exhibition and office space, a restaurant and bar, and a small shopping area. A large triangular rooflight in one corner would allow views of the Parachute Jump's crown.

"We were heavily influenced by the mythology and the history of Coney Island, and the idea that it was literally brought to life through electric lights," said Mr. Groarke, 33, a London native. "That is our influence for the conceptual idea of the building - that it should be almost smothered in a matrix of electric light bulbs."

New York City, which owns the land and has signaled that it will help finance the project, hopes to construct the pavilion by 2008. The cost remains unclear.

Unlike many of the other entries, the winning design seems deliberately simple. "Whilst the parachute jump is very figurative, the pavilion becomes very abstract - a building made from extending lines," Mr. Groarke said.

Hundreds of other entrants placed a restaurant or pool atop the roof of the proposed pavilion, an idea that the winners considered but rejected.

While visitors might enjoy the views from a rooftop deck, such a design would have detracted from the towering amusement-park ride, said Mr. Hardie, 28, from Aberdeen, Scotland. "You're never going to be higher than the Parachute Jump," he said.

The second-place winners proposed a circular pavilion with a rooftop pool and seats coated in yellow polyurethane. The third-place winners would have made the entire pavilion a giant bleacher for outdoor performances. A few proposals jettisoned the design guidelines, using the site as a giant dispenser of drinking water or folding chairs.

Mr. Groarke and Mr. Carmody, a 31-year-old from Canberra, Australia, are trying to start their own architectural practice in London. They plan to work with Mr. Hardie and Mr. Kinneir, a 24-year-old Londoner, on other design competitions.

Sherida E. Paulsen, the chairwoman of the institute, said this competition was the largest it had ever sponsored. The institute was established in 1894 and renamed in 1996 for William Van Alen, who designed the Chrysler Building.

The origins of the project reach back into Coney Island's fabled history.

The Parachute Jump, modeled after Army training equipment, had two-person seats that dropped a stomach-turning 250 feet. After the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, it was moved in 1941 to Steeplechase Park, one of the three historic amusement parks within Coney Island.

It was an inauspicious time. "The fair was coming at a low point in terms of the development of Coney Island," said Michael Immerso, a cultural historian and author of "Coney Island: The People's Playground," who identifies the area's zenith as the first decade of the 20th century. In 1964 Steeplechase Park was demolished and the forlorn site became a symbol of blight, but the Parachute Jump remained a nostalgic touchstone. "There are countless images of sailors and other servicemen in uniform, taking their sweethearts for rides on the Parachute Jump," Mr. Immerso said.

The Van Alen Institute announced the competition in November. During two days in May the entries were winnowed down to three placing teams and nine honorable mentions. The judges included Joshua Sirefman, president of the Coney Island Development Corporation, a nonprofit group created by the city in 2003.

Several judges praised the process, even if they did not favor the outcome. "I wanted something that was a little warmer and in more of a human scale," said Charles R. Denson, the author of "Coney Island: Lost and Found," who said he voted for the second-place winner, by a pair of Dutch-born architects.

Mr. Sirefman said that he was committed to working with the architects to realize as much of their proposal as possible. "The next step is to understand how to make this achievable," he said.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/

Parachute Pavilion Inspires Delirious Designs

By Mason Currey
Posted October 17, 2005


"The Parachute Pavilion Exhibition: An Open Design Competition for Coney Island" at the Van Alen Institute in New York.

At the Van Alen Institute’s Parachute Pavilion exhibition, over 100 design proposals are mounted on boards jutting from the gallery wall like the pages of a giant sketchbook. Leafing through them reveals a dizzying array of ideas--ranging from the pragmatic to the fanciful to the bizarre--for a new pavilion that will sit in the shadow of Coney Island’s famous Parachute Jump.

The exhibition--on display through the end of October--is but a selection of the 864 proposals submitted to the Parachute Pavilion design competition earlier this year. Sponsored by the Van Alen Institute and the Coney Island Development Corporation, the competition invited designers from around the world to envision a vital new public space for a key piece of Coney Island real estate: the wedge of land connecting KeySpan Park--home of the Brooklyn Cyclones--to the boardwalk and the pier. Above the site looms the 262-foot-tall Parachute Jump, Coney Island’s tallest structure and a potent reminder of its amusement park heritage.

Designers were asked to engage the concept of the pavilion as a place where recreational and commercial spaces intersect; to that end, the pavilion had to be a year-round recreational attraction that also included space for a store, offices, and a restaurant. In addition, zoning restrictions limited the structure’s height to a maximum of 30 feet, giving designers a small space in which to realize big ambitions.

The competition succeeded in attracting a wealth of elegant, unexpected, and sometimes zany solutions to real-life design problems--a result that encourages optimism not just for the revitalization of Coney Island but for similar projects in the future. In fact, the Van Alen Institute has already launched a new international design competition: Urban Voids: Grounds for Change (http://www.vanalen.org/urbanvoids/), which is currently accepting registrants, invites ideas for solving the crisis of urban abandonment and extensive sprawl afflicting Philadelphia.

http://www.metropolismag.com/webimages/1611/gallery.jpg
The Parachute Pavilion Exhibition: An Open Design Competition for Coney Island" at the Van Alen Institute in New York.
http://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifhttp://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifKaterina Kampiti

http://www.metropolismag.com/webimages/1611/Winner1.jpg
The winning entry--by London designers Kevin Carmondy, Andrew Groarke, Chris Hardie, and Lewis Kinneir--proposes an angular pink pavilion, illuminated by a matrix of light bulbs and providing visitors with shifting views of the Parachute Jump, the sea, and the stadium through cut-out spaces in the roof and walls.
http://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifhttp://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifCourtesy Van Alen Institute

http://www.metropolismag.com/webimages/1611/2ndPrize.jpg
The second-place winner, by Ramon Knoester of the Netherlands and Eckart Graeve of Brooklyn, envisions a whimsical yellow pavilion, vaguely mushroom-shaped, with a rooftop terrace and elevators that react to the phrase "beam me up, Scotty!"
http://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifhttp://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifCourtesy Van Alen Institute

[ZippyTheChimp]

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http://www.metropolismag.com/webimages/1611/Liftoff.jpg
The Lift Off Pavilion by Canadian architects Jody Bielun and Pablo Leppe received an Honorable Mention. Its open-air wind tunnel provides nearby diners with the spectacle of thrill seekers hovering in mid-"bodyflight."
http://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifhttp://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifCourtesy Van Alen Institute
http://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifhttp://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gif

http://www.metropolismag.com/webimages/1611/Psychoscope.jpg
The Psychoplex, by Specht Harpman and Scott Specht of Austin, TX, is a surreal pavilion composed of among other things, a giant replica of a Jurassic-era Apatosaurus with a well-stocked humidor in its belly.
http://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifhttp://www.metropolismag.com/images_cms/spacer.gifCourtesy Van Alen Institute