[deadline: 9/12/2009]
Friends of 339 invites architects, designers, artists, engineers and multi-disciplinary teams worldwide to participate in a competition to re-imagine and rebuild the Peace Pentagon, located at 339 Lafayette Street in New York City. This is an opportunity to give a physical form to a name in-use since this building became the center of peace-promoting activism in the 1960’s. We are seeking proposals that will support and expand the work of peace activists on several scales: as a financially and ecologically sustainable building, as a means of engaging with a neighborhood that has a rich history of activism and art, and as part of an influential city that can impact thinking in far away places. The 339 Building Community originally formed around a shared office in Lower Manhattan, which was re-located to the present site in 1969. The building is owned by the A.J Muste Memorial Institute. Part of the Muste Institute’s mission as a non-profit, is to provide low-cost space for a group of affiliated organizations, especially the original owner of the building, the War Resisters League. The 1st floor is currently rented to for-profit retail spaces and the two upper floors provide office space for peace and justice organizations at subsidized rents. The Peace Pentagon Competition is a project for a living community and has been shaped by its need to balance limited resources, values, and priorities. The current condition of the building requires that action must be taken, to protect the value of this asset. We are seeking proposals for the building’s future that provide for the needs of its users in a dynamic way. The challenge is to develop a visionary plan that can be accomplished on a limited budget. This competition requests the competitors to explore one of two alternatives: 1 - A new building | 2 - A renovation of the existing building | Eligibility. Open to all artists, architects, engineers & students. Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged. Prizes will be awarded as follows: - First Prize: US$ 5,000.00 | - Second Prize: US$ 2,000.00 | - Third Prize: to be determined | Info: www.peacepentagoncompetition.org