NoMa Underpass Design Competition Request for Qualifications
Type
Competition
Category
Activism, Architecture, Conceptual, Design, Instal...
Status
Archived
Deadline
May 8, 2014
Application Fee
Not Available
Host
C. COOK
Location
Washington D.C., United States

 In the early 1990s, NoMa was largely a vacant industrial district. Since then, a series of public and private initiatives have transformed the area to a vibrant mixed-use community that is roughly 50 percent built out. NoMa still retains transit infrastructure and elements from its industrial past. A major part of this infrastructure are the four railroad underpasses that connect the neighborhood on four primary east-west roads. These four underpasses are critical passages connecting First Street, NE (NoMa’s “Main Street”) to Second Street, NE.


They are essential corridors for the 18,000 residents and 40,000 workers in the area and provide easy access for visitors to area attractions like NPR, Gallaudet University, Union Market, and the bustling H Street, NE corridor. These connections are so essential that, despite unappealing conditions, large numbers of people travel through them every day to reach their destinations on either side of the tracks. Artistic treatment of these four underpasses presents an opportunity in NoMa to impact the public realm and human experience in a significant way.