City selects Olympic Village designers.

The Santa Monica, California a firm Morphosis has been chosen as designer of the of NYC2012's Olympic Village should the city host the games.

The winner was selected last week from five finalists that were selected to participate in a 14-week planning and design study that began in mid-December 2003 and concluded in March 2004.

"The Morphosis design is precisely what we were looking to achieve in terms of the athlete experience," said Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding Daniel L. Doctoroff. "This brilliant plan moves the majority of apartments into low-rise buildings, and it integrates a full array of training facilities inside the Village. It ensures ease of access to transportation hubs for the dedicated athlete trains and ferries and it opens up the site to an inviting waterfront park that will enhance the quality of the living experience for all Olympians and Paralympians."

The village will be located in Queens West, located across the East River from the United Nations.

With the goal of enhancing the athlete-experience in mind, the winning design incorporates all Olympic Village criteria outlined by the International Olympic Committee's guidelines.

The design features a long, sinuous ribbon of primarily low-rise buildings that skirt the waterfront and have beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline, dramatically reducing the number of high-rise residences outlined in the original Village concept from 10 to 4.

By minimizing building footprints, the design allows the compact 48-acre site to be transformed into a broad park, creating 43 acres of new parkland for a natural ambience and access to the riverbanks.