29 Kiosk Designs To Go On Display At Arts Council Of Princeton

PRINCETON, NJ — Twenty-nine entries from a competition to reimagine Princeton's beloved downtown bulletin boards will go on public display March 24-26 at the Arts Council of Princeton.

The Princeton Kiosk Design Competition, organized by the American Institute of Architects New Jersey, drew submissions from architecture students and professionals tasked with replacing the municipality's aging kiosks, which have anchored Nassau Street since 1988.

The competition was organized by Princeton architect Joshua Zinder, a 2021 past president of AIA New Jersey and founding principal of JZA+D, headquartered in Princeton.

The competition opened May 30 last year. A jury selected first-, second- and third-place winners in both the student and professional categories. The top six entries were also displayed at the Princeton Public Library, where residents cast votes for a People's Choice Award.

Zinder made a presentation to Council on the winning designs earlier this month.

In the professional category, Studio Hillier took first place with a design called "The Walk-Thru." HDR Architecture and SPG Architects tied for second with "The Vestige" and "Princeton Kiosk 25," respectively. Corporate Design of America P.C. won the People's Choice Award for "The Pivot Point."

In the student category, Jonathan Chu and Jonathan Fenton of the New Jersey Institute of Technology placed first with "Revolve." Fellow NJIT students Sofia Kolta, Aisha Awad and Mahum Azim earned second place with "Beacon Kiosk," and Gregory DeStefano of Kean University took third with "Waypoint."

The winning design, if built, would be sited at the corner of Nassau Street and Vandeventer Avenue. Competition guidelines called for a structure no larger than 14 feet by 8 feet and no taller than 12 feet, incorporating at least 50 square feet of bulletin board space, a digital touch screen, solar lighting and QR code connectivity.

During the presentation, Zinder said that selecting winners does not commit the municipality to any course of action.

"This competition was intended to be an ideas competition only," he said. "The town may do nothing, pursue one of these designs, or do something else completely different."

The competition is part of AIA New Jersey's 125th anniversary year. The Arts Council of Princeton showcase is free and open to the public.

“The Nassau Street kiosks are considered by many to support democratic expression and civic engagement, and while it remains to be seen whether the Town Council will approve one of the designs to be built, this contest demonstrates the enormous potential of design as a vehicle for the public good,” Zinder said in a statement.

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