UCLA cityLAB announces finalists for WPA 2.0 competition

UCLA's cityLAB has announced the finalists for " WPA 2. Working Public Architecture ," the urban think tank's open competition seeking innovative, implementable proposals that place infrastructure at the heart of rebuilding American cities during this next era of metropolitan recovery. Finalists' projects will be featured at a November exhibition in Washington, D.C. The six finalists ? selected from among 200 submissions by teams from 25 U.S. states and 13 countries ? represented some of the most original and workable plans for rethinking and transforming existing urban infrastructure, including proposals to use automobile emissions in tunnels for alternative-fuel production, to transform neglected city streets into neighborhood parks, to rethink U.S.-Mexico border infrastructure to address the energy crisis and other critical issues, and to creatively use water resources to help revitalize depopulated cities, undo ecological damage, and develop urban beaches and pools. The goal of the WPA 2.0 is to refocus the national discussion about, and encourage investment in, infrastructure as part of the big picture of urban ? and architectural ? renewal. The competition recalls the Depression-era Works Projects Administration, which built public buildings, parks, bridges and roads across the nation as an investment in the future. The organizers hope WPA 2.0 will help lead the way to a new legacy of federally supported infrastructure hybrids across America.