City selects finalists for 2012 Olympic Village.

The City selected five finalist designs from around the world for the proposed 2012 Olympic Village.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, and NYC2012, the committee leading New York's bid for the Olympic Games in 2012, made the announcement last week.

The proposed site of the Olympic Village is Queens West on the East River across from the United Nations.

The Village would house 16,000 athletes and members of the Olympic Family in the center of New York's Olympic X plan. After the Olympics, the development would provide world-class residential housing for up to 18,000 New Yorkers.

The winning design will be the basis of NYC2012's Olympic Village proposal in the Candidature File to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee on Nov. 15, 2004.

The event included presentations by each of the five architects and launched a two-week exhibit, at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal, and public review period, which is part of the selection process before a winning design is announced in May.

The five finalists were picked from more than 130 entries from all over the world, and they are: Henning Larsens Tegnestue A/S - HLT (Copenhagen, Denmark), MVRDV (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), Morphosis (Santa Monica, CA, USA), Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects (New York, NY, USA) and Zaha Hadid Architects (London, United Kingdom).

"The 2012 Olympics Games would have an unprecedented and enduring impact on New York City, and the benefits would be felt in all five boroughs," said Bloomberg.

"The Olympic Games would create 125,000 jobs, and pump $11 billion into our economy. It would spur the largest investment in parks and recreation facilities in the City's history--all privately paid for. And it would give us the once in a lifetime opportunity to transform what is now a largely abandoned and blighted stretch of the East River waterfront in Queens into a stunning new residential community.

"Designing the Olympic Village is a breathtaking project, and should we be lucky enough to be chosen to host the Games, Queens will provide a spectacular home away from home for the world's greatest athletes. I thank the five finalists for their stunning effort, and NYC2012 and Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff for their hard work towards making our Olympic dreams a reality."

"These five designs represent the best of an international search to create the best possible Olympic Village for athletes and housing for New Yorkers when the Olympians go home," said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. "I urge the public to express their comments and ideas on these designs that give us a working knowledge of what the Olympic Village will look like when it rises on one of the prime real estate sites in Queens and the City of New York."

First announced in September 2003, Phase One of the Design Study began with the issuance for a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), which was open to all designers and architects, regardless of nationality.

An 8-member Design Review Panel, which evaluated all entries in terms of qualifications and design concepts, included experts in architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, environmental planning, and housing, as well as an Olympian: Gary Hack, Dean, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts;

Con Howe, Planning Director, City of Los Angeles; Ronay Menschel, Chairperson, Phipps Houses; Laurie D. Olin, Landscape Architect; Will Rogers, President, Trust for Public Land; Moshe Safdie, Architect; Dejan Sudjic, Architecture Critic; and Cristina Teuscher, Olympian (Swimming, 1996: Gold, 2000: Bronze).

The five finalists participated in a 14week planning and design study, overseen by Alexander Garvin, NYC2012's Director of Planning.

The current evaluation and public review comment period is an integral part of the final round of the process. The public is urged to comment on the designs online (www.nyc2012.com) beginning on March 10th, while concurrently, NYC2012 staff assesses the viability of the plans.

The winner will be announced in May 2004

The host city for the 2012 Olympic Games will be selected by the IOC on July 6. 2005 in Singapore. The Architects On The Designs: Henning Larsens Tegnestue A/S--HLT (Copenhagen, Denmark); Morphosis (Santa Monica, California, USA); MVRDV (Rotterdam, The Netherlands); SmithMiller + Hawkinson Architects (New York, NY, USA); Zaha Hadid Architects (London, United Kingdom)