Synergistic Competition

This is my entry to the ICONOCLAST Design Competition organized by the LA+ Journal. The competition asked for a redesign of Central Park. Following is the text and the two boards that were submitted: 

In their second public statement the eco-terrorist organization “the Gaians” wholly rejected the parameters of the ICONOCLAST design competition announced by PennDesign’s LA+ Journal, calling it “totally regressive” and “the result of the same unilateral thinking that brought about the ecological crisis humans have created.” The Times received this statement on May 4th, ten days after the ICONOCLAST competition was announced. The Gaians also attached two diagrams and a short explanation of what they are describing as a “Synergistic Competition fit for the 21st Century.” Threatening to take further action against public parks in New York City, the Gaians demanded that Mayor Bill Di Blastoff initiate the new competition immediately. Excerpts of the Gaians’ statement follow:

“In nine stages and over the span of more than three years, our Synergistic Competition will unfold right in front of the public’s eye. Designers will not sit in their exclusive havens of self-congratulatory delusions and impose their will on the world and destroy its nature. This arrogance must stop! All designs will be displayed in Central Park and subjected to public critique, starting with 512 contestants from all backgrounds and specializations. The contestants will explain their designs to the people, who will in turn fulfill their civic duty by voting for their favorite schemes. Public presentations and debates will continue throughout the process to ensure that this competition does not only produce a good design but an entire ecological paradigm shift.”

They continue:

“After each stage, once the people choose the winners, half the contestants will be eliminated. The other half, the winners, will be expected to evolve their designs according to the comments they received from the public, and also incorporate successful ideas presented by other contestants in a process of co-evolution. Frivolous expressions of personal style are unacceptable! As the competition advances, the number of contestants will decline, but the required amount of design details and specificity will increase for those remaining. We recommend that those eliminated join the remaining to produce larger teams capable of meeting the increasing demands of the competition. The plot sizes where the contestants show their designs to the public will also quadruple with each consecutive stage. In the ninth stage of the competition, only two contestants will remain, but their designs will be the result of an evolutionary process that took advantage of the 1,020 potential Central Parks that were not selected. Only this inclusive and collaborative competition process is fit for the 21st century. Down with insular designers!”