Municipal Art Society Spurs Smart Design Solutions for Post-Superstorm Sandy Through Recently Launched Rebuild by Design Competition

NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) announced it is a lead partner on the federal Rebuild by Design competition (http://rebuildbydesign.org/), which brings together the best minds in design, architecture, engineering and other fields from across the world to address the resiliency challenges of local communities in the Tri-State area. Launched by the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task force and with lead funding by The Rockefeller Foundation, the Rebuild by Design competition seeks to inspire innovative and out-of-the-box solutions to protect communities from future storms.

Ten design teams were selected in early August. Starting immediately, the teams will work with MAS and its partners, New York University's Institute for Public Knowledge, Van Alen Institute and Regional Plan Association, to understand the resilience challenges the region faces and engage with local communities and experts to develop solutions for potential funding in February 2014 through federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funding (CDBG-DR). 

"We are excited to be a part of a process that brings together world-class design expertise and local community input in order to build the resilience of our region," said Vin Cipolla, President, Municipal Art Society of New York.   

MAS has a longstanding commitment to building a livable and resilient city, recognizing that most forms of resilience begin at the community level. "Our experience from Sandy demonstrated the necessity of strong social infrastructure and the role of building community capacity for a resilient city. In the Rebuild by Design process, MAS will develop relationships between the Design Teams and the impacted communities to facilitate a better design process," said Mary Rowe, Managing Director, MAS. 

Throughout Rebuild by Design, there will be many opportunities for communities to offer input into the design process and proposed solutions. Visit http://rebuildbydesign.org/ to learn more.

The Municipal Art Society of New York has led New York City's livability movement since 1893. MAS's mission is to advocate for public policies, private sector practices, individual agency and community engagement for a resilient built environment that encourages our city's economic vitality, cultural vibrancy, environmental sustainability, livability and social diversity. For more information, visit mas.org.

SOURCE Municipal Art Society of New York