Atlanta Bridgescape Competition

The Atlanta Bridgescape Competition is an urban design challenge seeking creative strategies to enhance existing freeway infrastructure in Midtown and Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. It is a collaborative initiative led by Midtown Alliance, Central Atlanta Progress (CAP)/Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID), the Atlanta Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Architecture and Design Center.

The competition is part of a larger, phased effort to enhance Interstate75/85, the Atlanta Connector, which traverses five miles through the heart of Atlanta and accommodates over 300,000 vehicles daily. Gateway bridge enhancements are a top priority in this effort due to their high visibility and the potential to positively impact users at a variety of scales. Construction on the first phase of bridge enhancements will begin in 2015 with dramatic arches, lighting, landscaping and signage added to the two Peachtree Street bridges over the Connector.

The objective of the competition is to solicit designs for the next two bridge projects: the 10th Street Bridge in Midtown and the Courtland Street/Ralph McGill Boulevard Bridge in Downtown. The competition seeks broad participation from multi-disciplinary design teams to develop innovative approaches for enhancing existing infrastructure in a manner that will elevate the experience of travelers along the Connector and improve the environment for pedestrians and cyclists on the bridge surfaces.

While the designs should reinforce the image and identity of the Midtown and Downtown districts in which they are located, they should not compete with the bold design of the Peachtree Bridges. Rather, they should utilize a distinctive "kit of parts" that can be replicated in interesting combinations on subsequent bridge projects to create a common visual language that unifies the Connector. The competition is of special significance as it is the 20th Anniversary of the "Legacy Project" for the American Institute of Architects National Convention, which will be hosted in Atlanta in May 2015. The Legacy Project began in Atlanta and has been a tradition of each national convention since 1995. The mission of the Legacy Project is "to present a gift to the Atlanta community as a lasting legacy of the convention."