///the COMPETITION
this open international ideas competition is for a new, larger home for the museum of cartoon and comic art [MoCCA]. the museum was established in 2001 and currently is based in the soho area of manhattan in new york city.
the mission of the institution is to:
“collect, preserve, educate, and display cartoon and comic art.
Every genre of the art is represented: animation, anime, cartoons, comic books, comic strips, gag cartoons, humorous illustration, illustration, political illustration, editorial cartoons, caricature, graphic novels, sports cartoons, and computer-generated art. Further, the museum’s rigid collection policy ensures that the art collections are maintained in an environment of the highest integrity.
It is the mission of the museum to promote the understanding and appreciation of comic and cartoon art as well as to detail and discuss the artistic, cultural, and historical impact of what is the world’s most popular art form. Comics and cartoons have been instrumental in effecting significant dialogue on issues involving society, culture, philosophy, and politics. History has shown them to be instrumental in documenting–and interpreting–historic events and social change. Artistically, comic and cartoon art is created at the highest levels by some of the world’s finest graphic illustrators.
The main goal of the museum is to educate the public about comic and cartoon art, how it is crafted, and how it reflects history.”
www.moccany.org
as evidenced in the mission statement, cartoon and comic art is an integral component of contemporary pop culture. the use of graphics and imagery to describe ideas and stories has existed throughout history and continues to be reinvented through new media. an architecture is desired for this project that celebrates pop culture through innovative forms, materials, fabrications and technologies. systems exploiting ideas of image, line, and color should be considered integral to the design.
the new museum will house the collection, office space, display galleries, classrooms, cafe, store, a theater, and a lecture hall. the design should take advantage of the highly visible site on the lower east side of manhattan with car traffic coming in across the williamsburg bridge and pedestrian traffic of the neighborhood. the site also allows for the building to be freestanding and take on a more experimental form rather than being forced into an infill condition. the building should be instrumental in displaying the museum’s holdings and fostering an environment which invites people to come in and engage screenings, lectures, and the archives. a series of flexible, modular gallery spaces is desired by the MoCCA in order to accomodate the diversity in scale and format of its collection.
///lower east side MANHATTAN
the site is located at the corner of norfolk and delancey streets in the lower east side [LES] of manhattan. the LES is a neighborhood along the eastern border of manhattan where the williamsburg bridge lands as it comes over from brooklyn. in the 1700’s the neighborhood had several large orchards including james delancey’s for whom delancey street is named. as the farms were parceled up the neighborhood became settled by working class immigrants new to the city. the neighborhood has housed many italian, irish, polish, german, puerto rican, japanese, and dominican immigrants. the area has seen dramatic shifts in the past century as it went from being defined by unhealthy tenement housing to being a run down drug zone to now being a thriving neighborhood with eclectic restaurants, boutiques, music venues, and nightlife. the restaurants of the LES run from new york institutions such as katz’s deli to experimental spots like wd-50 and new classics like schiller’s liquor bar. there are many places to see bands play and socialize at night including the bowery ballroom, pianos, mercury lounge, and the cake shop. in recent years the neighborhood has seen several large condo buildings and hotels pop up in its air space including bernard tschumi’s blue building, n architects switch building, and the hotel on rivington.
///site CONDITIONS
the site is a 10,000 square foot portion of one of [5] lots which have been vacant for 40 years. their current and future usage has been under great debate. the lots are known as the seward park urban renewal area and are currently being used for open air parking. the competition site is a flat corner lot with a one story brick building sharing its western edge. there is subway access to the block including the f and j lines. accessible parking is next door in the existing parking lots. in addition to the many restaurants spread around the neighborhood, the large essex street market is across the street. around the corner on orchard street there is the tenement museum and the bridge gallery (which displays architectural installations) which attract museum goers to the area. the site is heavily viewed from pedestrians and automobile passengers at all hours of the day. the site is currently zoned C6-1 with a maximum FAR [floor to area ratio] of 6.0, and 85’-0” street wall limit and no height limit.
///MoCCA PROGRAM
reception/admissions 1000sf
circulation 5000sf minimum
flexible/modular galleries 10000sf
classrooms [3] 1000sf each
cafe 2000sf
retail 1500sf
theater [80 seats] 2500sf
lecture hall 2500sf
IT/computer lab 3000sf
staff offices 3000sf
staff breakroom/kitchen 1500sf
support 2000sf
archives/collection storage 3000sf
workshop/tool storage 1000sf
library 4000sf
conference rooms [2] 500sf each
restrooms [6] 100sf each minimum
exterior space 3000sf throughout the building
this is an open international ideas competition hosted by suckerPUNCH to generate progressive contemporary design ideas. there are no plans for the museum to be built at this time. The site is not owned by the museum of cartoon and comic art or suckerPUNCH.
///jury/awards
ellen s. ABRAMOWITZ [chairman/president, museum of comic and cartoon art]
alex PINCUS [Bureau V]
peter ZUSPAN [Bureau V]
brennan BUCK [FreelandBuck]
julia KOERNER [SUBDIVISION]
abigail COOVER [hume coover studio, suckerPUNCH]
nathan HUME [hume coover studio, suckerPUNCH]
jose GONZALEZ [SOFTlab]
mike SZIVOS [SOFTlab]
this competition is blind peer reviewed.
$2500 in prizes will be awarded and the winning designs will be published on suckerPUNCH.
///entry REQUIREMENTS
this is an open ideas competition. entrants will be required to digitally submit two [2] boards at 18” high x 24” wide and 150dpi in flattened tiff format with the provided 5 digit code in a 1”x1” square in the lower right hand corner of each board. boards that are more then 18” high x 24” wide and 150dpi and are not in flattened tiff format will not be accepted. image requirements are as follows:
plans
all necessary site and floor plans to describe the project including at the minimum a ground level plan describing the form, integration of program and relationship to the site.
*scale is at the discretion of the entrant
sections
one [1] north/south section
one [1] east/west section
*scale is at the discretion of the entrant
renderings
one [1] exterior view
one [1] interior view
one [1] detail view
*one rendering best describing the formal and atmospheric intent of the project must be rendered at 10” high x 13” wide and 150dpi in tiff format. this image is to be included on the boards as one of the above views.
///competition SCHEDULE
16 august 2010 competition launch
4 october 2010 deadline for questions
11 october 2010 answers to questions will be posted on suckerPUNCH
18 october 2010 early registration deadline
13 december 2010 registration deadline
20 december 2010 project submission deadline
10 january 2011 winners will be posted on suckerPUNCH
///registration/fees
entrants may register by submitting payment to suckerPUNCH via paypal and contact info to competitions@suckerPUNCHdaily.com. once payment and contact info is received, an email will be sent containing all project documentation (including dimensioned cad plan, 3d model, aerial photo, and site photos) and a 5 digit identification number to be placed in a 1”x1” square on the bottom right corner of each board. the submission procedure will also be outlined in this email.
early registration fee – $35
registration fee – $65
please email any questions to
competitions@suckerPUNCHdaily.com
source:
suckerpunchdaily.com/2010/08/15/museum-of-comic-and-cartoon-art/#more-9620
