The
Minneapolis Convention Center, in partnership with the city, recently issued a “
Creative City Challenge,” calling for proposals for a temporary creative placemaking installation on the center’s plaza.
The installation should provide a portal into the local landscape, in harmony with the "City by Nature" brand that Minneapolis adopted last year, according to Jeff Johnson, the convention center’s executive director.
Proposals can be for any type of temporary structure. That being said, structures are required to be site-specific, interactive, and eco-minded. “It’s hard to describe what could come out of this,” Johnson says. “People might come up with something we never even though of.”
The competition, which is meant to become an annual event, is open to local architects, designers, urban planners, engineers, artists, and others. It has a December 3 deadline.
Later in December, the public will vote on proposals, which will be posted on the convention center’s website.
From there, the top five project teams will go on to draft full proposals that will be evaluated by a jury.
The winning proposal will get $50,000 to create the structure, which will grace the plaza next summer, according to convention center information.
Johnson says the contest was inspired by the fact that the convention center has a “great, beautiful green space in an urban setting yet we didn’t see people using it,” he says. “We knew we needed to do something to activate that space.”
It’s also a creative way to showcase local talent. “I think it’s exciting to see what happens, what people can dream up and how the community reacts,” he says.
This speaks to the idea that the convention center is “all about building relationships,” he adds. “It ties into why we’re here and what we want to do.”
Source: Jeff Johnson, executive director, Minneapolis Convention Center
Writer: Anna Pratt