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Pond & Co. wins national design competition

Staff Report //July 24, 2019//

Pond & Co. wins national design competition

Staff Report //July 24, 2019//

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Columbia-based architecture, engineering and interior design firm Pond & Co. has won a Columbia Design League competition to make the downtown Lady Street corridor more inviting to pedestrians.

The league, affiliated with the Columbia Museum of Art, awarded Pond a $5,000 cash prize for the winning entry in its nationwide “Play With Your City 2019: Reimaging Lady” contest. The project is scheduled to implemented in October, according to a news release from the museum.

Columbia-based architecture, engineering and interior design firm Pond & Co.'s winning entry in the Columbia Design League's competition to make the downtown Lady Street corridor more inviting to pedestrians. (Rendering/Pond & Co.)Pond designed shaded, modular units showcasing local artists’ work and featuring interactive technology to line Lady Street, creating comfortable spaces while visually telling Columbia’s history. The units will be equipped with solar lighting to serve as nightlife features and safety points.

Lady Street sidewalks will be painted with bright colors to promote pedestrian interest and encourage drivers to drive more slowly, according to the release.

The judging panel for the contest included Mike Lydon, a New York City urban designer; Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin; Columbia urban planner and designer John Fellows; DeAnna Cummings, a cultural development planner in Minneapolis; and Gabe Klein, a city transportation specialist in Washington, D.C.

Play With Your City 2019 is the second in a series of competitions designed to involve the public in civic design and development. In 2011, artist Jonathan Brilliant designed life-sized fortune cookies that were displayed in “Field of Good Fortune,” an installation in place for one month at the corner of Main and Lady streets.

The competition is supported by a grant from the Knight Foundation Fund at Central Carolina Community Foundation.

 

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