11.28.07 Request for Qualifications: Township of South Orange Village: Downtown Vision Plan
The Township of South Orange Village requests Letters of Interest and Qualifications from professional planning firms or teams for a Vision Plan for downtown South Orange, NJ. The plan will provide a comprehensive vision for the central business district, the Valley Street business corridor, and the Irvington Avenue business district. The winning team will require expertise in urban planning, design guidelines development, traffic and parking analysis, real estate market analysis, public process facilitation, and civil engineering/ecological analysis (related to a river redevelopment project within the CBD). Click here for a .pdf of the RFQ.

11.30.07 Submission: 2007 SBIC Beyond Green High Performance Building Awards
The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) is recognizing initiatives that shape, inform, and catalyze the high-performance building market and the real-world application of high performance design and construction practices. Award winners will present their projects at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. on 01.16.08 in conjunction with a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored lecture series. Winning projects will also be published on the Whole Building Design Guide website managed by the National Institute of Building Science. Additional recognition will include an announcement in SBIC’s newsletter, Buildings Inside & Out, a plaque, and posting on the council’s website.

12.03.07 Submission: Sudapan endless(s)trips
This international competition promotes the creation a new urban model in the “Mayan Riviera,” the east coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The area is experiencing massive tourism and may serve as a template from which new urban models can be conceived. Prize money totals $10,000 for first, second, and third place winners, as well as five special mentions. All prizes and mentions will be awarded a scholarship for the Summer Workshop taking place in Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), in Barcelona, July 2008.

12.12.07 Submission: CNU Charter Awards
The Congress for the New Urbanism’s (CNU) Charter Awards program recognizes work in urban design, architecture, development, and placemaking. Each year CNU convenes a jury of expert urbanists to select winning entries that best embody and advance the principles of the Charter of New Urbanism. Winners set urbanism’s gold standard and serve as powerful examples for future development.

01.15.08 Submission: Re:Vision
The third in a series of six architecture and design competitions designed to inspire ideas for a sustainable city block, participants are asked to envision a mixed-use neighborhood with a healthy, symbiotic relationship among land, people, and businesses. The intention is to create physical, social, and fiscal wealth for the community. Plans should propose an urban area with sustainable buildings and retailers selling different types of products, perhaps in new and different ways.

02.07.08 Submission: EDRA/Places Awards
Metropolis has teamed up with the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) and Places journal for their 10th annual awards program. The EDRA/Places Awards recognize professional and scholarly excellence in environmental design, focusing on the question of what makes places good and what makes them work for inhabitants. The awards recognize four categories: design; planning; research; and, new this year, is book — recently published books advancing the critical understanding of place and the design of exceptional environments.