Register by: September 28, 2017
Competition: September 29 - October 27, 2017
Submit Entry by: October 27, 2017 @ 11:59pm
Download the 2018 Competition Brief Here!
Registration is FREE and open to all. Registration does NOT obligate you to participate – the process simply ensures that you receive all competition-related materials as they are made public, including helpful resources and, on September 29th, the Official Competition Packet (with full rules and regulations). The competition is open to all undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students who are actively matriculating at a college or university during the run of the competition (September 29 - October 27, 2017).
Anyone may register, not only those planning to submit entries (teachers, administrators, journalists, etc. are all welcome to register)! Multiple people from each school, class, or team may register independently. You are not required to organize or inform us about any teams until you submit your entry online in late October, at which time we will ask you to share contact information for all of your final team members.
For more information about this year's challenge, visit www.PhiladelphiaCFA.org
The year 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway! This is the city’s grand, green boulevard linking the center of our city to Fairmount Park - the city’s largest (over 2,000 acres). The Parkway took 70 years to build, undergoing countless design changes due to conflicting visions and economic conditions, and is not considered “completed” compared with most of the plans. Construction of the Parkway required demolition of over 1,300 buildings as well as radical changes to Philadelphia’s street grid. Even with these challenges and limitations, the Parkway has been wildly successful in providing both a physical and psychological connector for generations of residents to Fairmount Park and the cultural institutions located along the Parkway.
Philadelphia has a wealth of other natural resources and cultural institutions which would similarly benefit from better linkages to their surrounding communities and with each other (perhaps with fewer demolitions than the Parkway required). This year’s challenge seeks creative and open interpretations of what a new ‘Parkway’ could be in a dense and developed 21st century city and invites teams to share your grand vision for how Philadelphia’s existing natural and cultural resources could be better linked with their neighboring communities - both physically and in the minds of residents and visitors.
About the Better Philadelphia Challenge
Founded in 2006 in memory of Philadelphia’s iconic 20th century city planner, Ed Bacon [1910-2005], this annual competition challenges university-level students (undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students) from around the world to address real-world urban design issues in Philadelphia that have application not only to our city, but to urban centers around the globe. This challenge is organized by the Ed Bacon Memorial Committee of the Center for Architecture and Design.