LI Index Announces 'Build a Better Burb' Ideas Competition

In order to generate the best and boldest ideas for building on Long Island, the Long Island Index announced today that it is hosting a "Build a Better Burb" ideas competition for retrofitting Long Island's downtowns. The competition is open to anyone interested in shaping the future of Long Island; architects, urban designers, planners, students, and visionaries are all encouraged to participate.

Competitors are encouraged to work in collaborative teams and must register on the index's Web site, www.buildabetterburb.org before June 21. At least 20 finalists will be selected by a blue-ribbon panel of jurors who will award a guaranteed first prize of $10,000 and $10,000 in additional prizes. The public will be invited to vote for a Long Island Index People's Choice Award and there will be a $2,500 prize awarded to the top project submitted by a student currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program. Finalists will be announced on July 6, and the winners will be announced in September.

This competition, contest officials said, is an open call for bold new ideas, not an awards program for actual Long Island projects in progress. Contestants should consider creatively retrofitting or redeveloping existing downtowns that are economically productive, environmentally sensitive, socially sustainable and aesthetically appealing. Proposals may be prototypical or customized to a particular downtown. 

The best ideas, designs, images and videos will be selected as finalists by a diverse jury of distinguished academics and professionals. Some of the judges are:

• Allison Arieff, design journalist, contributor to the New York Times "Opinionator" blog and GOOD Magazine
• Teddy Cruz, principal of Estudio Teddy Cruz, San Diego
• Daniel D'Oca, partner at Interboro, New York, and assistant professor, Maryland College of Art
• Walter Hood, professor of landscape architecture, UC Berkeley, and principal of Hood Design*
• Rob Lane, director of the Design Program at the Regional Plan Association
• Paul Lukez, principal of Paul Lukez Architecture, Boston, and author of Suburban Transformations

There is no fee to enter the competition. Finalists' projects will be publicized in a broad media campaign over the summer to encourage the public to vote and comment on a Long Island Index People's Choice Award. Other exciting initiatives to disseminate the work of the finalists and winners may include a publication, museum exhibition and a traveling video exhibition to be shown in libraries, schools and other public forums throughout Long Island. The instructions for submitting your next great idea can be downloaded at www.buildabetterburb.org.

The Long Island Index is funded by the Rauch Foundation, a family foundation headquartered in Garden City. In addition to funding the Long Island Index for seven years, the Rauch Foundation commissioned The Long Island Profile Report and a series of polls on Long Island to determine how the region is faring. For more information, go to www.longislandindex.org.