Professional Practice
Urban Confluence Silicon Valley International Open Ideas Competition
Date: 7/25/2019 - 4/3/2020
Type: Competitions / Awards
Description:
A New Iconic Landmark for Silicon Valley
Urban Confluence Silicon Valley, a worldwide open ideas competition, has extended the entry deadline to April 3, 2020. Urban Confluence Silicon Valley invites artists, architects, urban planners, landscape architects, lighting designers, students, designers, engineers, and anyone with a passion for place-making to submit ideas for activating the most critical urban park in the City of San José. The site, which rests at the confluence of the Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek, is in a central park and will be across from the future 6-8 million square foot Google Downtown West Mixed-Use Plan and two blocks from Diridon and the new BART Stations, soon to be transformed into one of the most prominent transportation hubs in the United States.
The competition goal is to provide a spectacular landmark design in the heart of Silicon Valley. Conceived as a gift to the City of San José, which is the 10th most populous city in the United States and the 3rd most populous city in California, the landmark will be an enduring, visible, interactive, and unique presence. Its design should demonstrate the City’s position as the economic, cultural and political center of Silicon Valley, and create a must-see landmark that will enhance community life and reflect the extraordinary legacy of this remarkable global center. The competition seeks a transformative design complete with dramatic lighting, a net-zero energy approach, and an impressive physical presence that will become a powerful and enduring symbol of how Silicon Valley operates as a bridge from past to present to future. Urban Confluence Silicon Valley can be a structure, an object, a sculpture, a work of architecture—with an activated landscape enjoyed both day and night. Its design will be an iconic destination that embodies the culture of innovation in Silicon Valley and advances humanity by building civic pride and welcoming diverse communities from around the world.
The three finalist teams will each be given a $150,000 stipend to refine their ideas AND the project will be realized.