Ideas at Work: TKTS2K

Join us as we continue our look at the legacy of design competitions and their impact on public architecture. As the third and final panel in our Ideas at Work series, we explore VAI’s 1999 competition TKTS2K, which sought ideas for the redesign of the iconic TKTS booth in Times Square and spurred a novel approach to the re-activation of public space at the busiest pedestrian intersection in New York City. The winning design, by Australian architects John Choi and Tai Ropiha, was completed in 2008 with Perkins Eastman and PKSB Architects, and its glowing red glass steps have become a fitting emblem for what’s been called New York’s “modern agora.” with: Victoria Bailey, Theatre Development Fund Marshall Berman, City College of New York Jack Goldstein, JLG Consultants Tim Tompkins, Times Square Alliance Claire Weisz, WXY Architecture + Urban Design RSVP by emailing us at [email protected] or by RSVPing to our Facebook event. About the series: After the juries have convened and the winners have been selected, what becomes of the ideas and designs generated by competitions? VAI presents an installation and series of events investigating the role of the competition in shaping the built environment. As part of our ongoing look back at nearly 120 years of projects in public architecture, this series features original material from our Design Archive exploring three important competitions of very different intention and scale: Urban Voids: Design for Change, Public Property: An Ideas Competition for Governors Island, and TKTS2K: A Competition to Design a New York Icon. http://www.vanalen.org/projects/events/IdeasAtWork