October 8, 2009
World Architecture News (WAN) has selected FXFOWLE Architects’ masterplan for a Copenhagen port site as the Best Urban Design Project in the unbuilt category.
"Winning this award is very gratifying for FXFOWLE and its urban studio," said senior partner and codirector of the urban studio Dan Kaplan (B.Arch. ‘84).
The first-place submission, entitled Nordhavnen: City Regenerative, is envisioned as a 200-hectare waterfront district that houses 40,000 residents, creates 40,000 jobs, and provides access for 40,000 bicycles.
The competition brief called for “urban planning and innovative architectural strategies to create a dynamic, unique, and sustainable city district poised for growth over the next 50 years” for the site which is currently a container port and cruise ship terminal. There was a record number of entry submissions received for the prestigious award juried by an international panel of industry experts.
The FXFOWLE plan connects “urban infrastructure, extends existing water networks, and weaves open space through a series of neighborhoods and commercial nodes. It establishes a sustainable pattern of development; including mixed-use transit-oriented development, GBM modular housing (global building modules), integration of natural systems with infrastructure, and a series of iconic urban farming towers powered by localized waste-water purification systems.”
The firm’s urban studio was established in 2008 to “bridge the realms of planning, urban design, architecture, and tectonic innovation, and saw this competition as an opportunity to test new ideas that meld our planning and architectural talents," says Kaplan.
FXFOWLE Architects has offices in New York, Washington, DC, and Dubai. They are an architectural, interior design, planning, and urban design firm “committed to design excellence, social responsibility, and sustainability. “
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