CCA News
CCA Architecture Faculty Makes History Channel's "City of the Future" Competition
Posted on Monday, February 4, 2008, by Sarah Owens
Faculty members of California College of the Arts Architecture Program shared their visions of what San Francisco might look like 100 years from now in a nationwide "City of the Future" design competition. CCA faculty were involved in five of the eight teams, with IwamotoScott, a firm co-owned by CCA associate professor Craig Scott, placing first.
Also, Pfau Architecture, owned by CCA adjunct professor Peter Pfau, received the IBM Innovation and Technology award, as well as an honorable mention.
The "City of the Future" competition is sponsored by The History Channel, IBM, and Infiniti with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as partners. The annual competition takes place in three U.S. cities. This year featured Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Atlanta. Each city has eight design firms that compete regionally for a $10,000 first prize, including the chance to advance to the national level of the competition (decided by online vote). Successful teams were invited to participate following an initial competition jury's selection of their design portfolios.
While several of the firms were robust enough to handle the extra workload the competition created, intensified by its one-week time limit, others recruited additional assistance from CCA students. The pressure accelerated as the teams had only three hours to assemble their 3D models and set up their public presentations at the San Francisco Ferry Building. The event was filmed for The History Channel.
The featured design work, including last year's competition that included New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, will likely be presented in a forthcoming book supported by the event's sponsors.
Honorable mention recipient and CCA adjunct professor Peter Pfau found this a refreshing experience to step back from routine architectural design and explore the future of San Francisco's makeup was refreshing: "Speculating on the possible future allowed us to leave behind our usual world of complex approvals processes, codes issues and tight budgets . . . and focus on broader thinking about the city."
The competition had a few stipulations that required competitors take into account such issues as infrastructure, transportation, commerce, housing, security, and the environment. CCA's newly appointed Chair of Architecture, Ila Berman, says, "The proposals were innovative, provocative, and extremely compelling, allowing us to imagine the future of San Francisco at the juncture of ecology, technology, and urbanism."
IwamotoScott united ecology, technology, and urbanism in its winning design that addressed the problems of the whole, with a specific focus on water and energy collection and distribution. IwanmotoScott's vision of the future presents a new nano-tube system, called "HYDRO-NET," featuring an underground network for hydrogen-powered cars, energy-producing algae ponds, and fog harvesters. Iwanmotoscott co-owner and CCA professor Craig Scott explains: "At key waterfront and neighborhood locales, HYDRO-NET emerges to form linkages between the terrestrial and subterranean worlds.
The eight San Francisco entries will be on display at CCA San Francisco campus February 4–15, 2008. An opening reception and panel discussion is scheduled for Wednesday, February 6 from 7–9:30 p.m.
The work of the competing teams and competition winners will be on view on the History Channel's website on February 4, 2008. The national-level competition will be decided online later in February.
To vote in the national competition visit The History Channel's website.