A Creative Approach to Urban Design: No More Ugly Scaffolding

For 60 years in New York, sidewalk sheds have been pretty much the same: dark and ugly blue tunnels topped by scaffolding that hide the nicest parts of buildings.In an effort to come up with something a little prettier, a little more pleasant, and a lot more creative, the city sourced the public for alternatives. Yesterday, they announced the winner-a 28-year-old from University of Pennsylvania named Young-Hwan Choi. The "Urban Umbrellas" (pictured above, with more images below) will replace ugly scaffolding tunnels in parts of the city, making it a nicer walk for pedestrians, and obscuring less of the buildings under construction-a big plus in a city as pretty as this one.From Streetsblog:

Businesses will be encouraged but not mandated to use the "Urban Umbrella." Since Choi's sidewalk shed has lower maintenance costs than the current model and hides less of the building, the city expects that those incentives will eventually lead to widespread adoption of the design.

Images from the NYC Department of Buildings, via Streetsblog