Van Alen and New York City Council Announce 'Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge' Winners

Van Alen Institute and the New York City Council today announced the winning proposals for Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge, an international design competition that aims to spark a new public conversation about New York City's infrastructure. As made even more clear by the COVID-19 pandemic, public spaces and transportation options must be designed with equity, health, and sustainability at their core. With this in mind, the competition's winning designs reclaim the bridge's roadways for expanded pedestrian and cyclist use. By centering climate action, social equity, and creative expression, they also put forth strategies that could improve wellbeing in public spaces across New York City.

The winning design in the Professional category is Brooklyn Bridge Forest by a multidisciplinary collective of architects, conservationists, designers, and engineers led by Scott Francisco of Pilot Projects Design Collective. Brooklyn Bridge Forest triples the capacity for active transit, brings biodiverse forest and green spaces into the city, and establishes a partnership to conserve 200,000 acres of tropical forest.

The winning design in the Young Adult category is Do Look Down by Shannon Hui, Kwans Kim, and Yujin Kim; Hong Kong, Bay Area, CA, and New York. Do Look Down installs a glass surface above the bridge's girders, creating a whimsical new pedestrian space brought to life by visuals that honor the city's cultures, histories, and identities.

Each winner was chosen by a combination of public vote and scores from the competition's interdisciplinary jury. Other finalists in the Professional category were Back to the Future by BIG + ARUP, New York; and Bridge X by ScenesLab + Minzi Long + Andrew Nash, New York, Boston, and Vienna. Other finalists in the Young Adult category were The Artery by Lukas Kugler, New Milford, CT; and The Cultural Current by Aubrey Bader and Maggie Redding, Knoxville, TN. To learn more about the competition and see all proposals, visit vanalen.org.

"With more than 200 submissions from 37 countries, we were incredibly heartened by the extraordinary outpouring of love for this New York icon. The Brooklyn Bridge is much more than transportation infrastructure; it's a symbol of New York City itself," said Deborah Marton, Executive Director, Van Alen Institute. "The competition's top proposals demonstrate the Brooklyn Bridge's potential to be a new kind of icon. The winning and finalist designs all contained excellent elements for us to consider as a city - such as Brooklyn Bridge Forest centering climate equity and biodiversity, Back to the Future considering the East River crossings as a unified system, or Bridge X introducing new modes of community engagement."

"Congratulations to the well-deserved winners of the Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge competition. I'm encouraged by all the bold ideas we received on how to re-envision this world-famous walkway, which has become difficult for pedestrians and tourists to navigate over the years," said New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. "The winning ideas inspire us to think differently about the city's infrastructure. They are a crucial first step to get New Yorkers thinking about how to adapt not only the bridge but also our streets and public spaces for future generations and stay true to our goal of creating an environmentally sensitive, bike friendly city that prioritizes pedestrians over cars. While we review these bold long-term visions for the Brooklyn Bridge, the DOT should act with urgency to implement changes on the Brooklyn Bridge and on other East River crossings to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians as soon as possible."

"Congratulations to the winning submissions in the Professional and Young Adult categories as the City Council and Van Alen Institute look to reimagine the Brooklyn Bridge," said NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. "We are working to identify more space for pedestrians and cyclists and we always welcome new and innovative ideas to make this a reality, and thank the Council for their ongoing partnership."