The third annual Cleveland Design Competition - Project 2009: Lakefront Station. The Cleveland Design Competition is an annual, open, anonymous, single-stage ideas competition founded as a tool for generating ideas around under-utilized sites and exhibiting the talent of emerging designers on Cleveland's built and unbuilt environment.

"...Just as the decisions made about automobiles and highway systems in the 1950's have determined the infrastructure of the United States ever since, the decisions made today about alternative transportation will affect the American way of life for years to come..." (Andréa White-Kjoss)

With the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal, connecting Lake Erie at Cleveland with the Ohio River at Portsmouth in the early 1800's, the City of Cleveland became an important northern port city for the movement, manufacturing and distribution of goods throughout the Midwest. The primacy of the early transportation network of interstate canals and river/lake shipping would be short-lived, but its affect on the trajectory for growth of Great Lakes cities like Cleveland would be enduring. After the 1850's, canal use declined and railroad mileage increased through Cleveland, making the City an important port and manufacturing center within an extensive national transportation network.

In 1834, Cleveland's first urban railway provided rail service from the east side of Cleveland to Downtown's Public Square. By the mid-1800's, interurban commuter rail service and intercity industrial and passenger rail increased in
the City establishing rail shipping and travel as the primary mode of transportation within and throughout Northeast Ohio. Cleveland remained an important rail hub until after World War II when transportation for most industrial shipping and personal travel shifted from the nation's rail lines to the growing interstate highway system. Today, many of the same industrial rail lines still carry goods through the City, Amtrak operates two intercity passenger lines, and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority provides an extensive network of buses and limited commuter rail service throughout Cuyahoga County.

Recently, rising fuel costs and considerable interest in sustainable transportation has led to substantial federal commitment to upgrading America's rail system for the twenty-first century. This investment by the federal government has spurred a number of proposals for passenger rail service across the country. The details in these proposals vary in scope and timeline, but all must appropriately consider their role in contributing to a complete national network of sustainable communities. In the State of Ohio, the Ohio Hub plan re-establishes Cleveland as an important rail hub in Ohio, for travel throughout the Midwest and to cities on the East Coast. By utilizing rail to strengthen connectivity, these new multi-modal transportation networks - and the facilities that serve them - will help reinforce the social and economic sustainability of the American City.

Schedule
Competition Announcement: October 5th, 2009 (Monday)

Jury Announcement: October 23rd, 2009 (Friday)

Questions Deadline: November 9th, 2009 (Monday)

Questions Reponses: November 16th, 2009 (Monday)

Registration Deadline: December 1st, 2009 (Tuesday)

Late Registration Deadline: December 11th, 2009 (Friday)

Submission Deadline: December 18th, 2009 (Friday)

Juried Review: TBA

Reception & Exhibition: TBA, January 2010