Skating Down Park Avenue?

The blocks of Park Avenue sit north of Grand Central Terminal and are lined by some classics of modern architecture: Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building, SOM's Lever House, and the same firm's Union Carbide building, which is slated to be demolished by JPMorgan Chase. The medians occupy a narrow strip in the middle of six lanes of traffic, suitable only for landscaping and the occasional public art installation. They weren't always this way. Before the roadways were widened, the medians (referred to as malls) were more park-like, enabling people to occupy them as well.

Fisher Brothers saw the medians as "an opportunity for reinvention" and asked entrants of the competition, Beyond the Centerline, "to think outside the box; to propose exciting ideas that have never been considered possible for the medians; and to reimagine the existing urban landscape. We want ideas that bring Park Avenue into the 21st century." 

They received nearly 150 submissions and narrowed down the top designs to a group of 17. A handful of the top designs – the ones that struck our fancy – are highlighted here, but the rest can be seen on the Beyond the Centerline website. The jury will select a $25,000 grand prize winner and a popular vote (open March 5th to 9th) will determine a $5,000 prize winner.