By Anne Levin
At its March 9 meeting, Princeton Council was given a presentation on the winners of a three-category design competition for replacement of the information kiosk at the corner of Nassau Street and Vandeventer Avenue.
A collaboration between the municipality and AIA NJ (American Institute of Architects), the contest was launched last summer following considerable public resistance to the idea of eliminating the kiosks altogether (a second kiosk is at Nassau and Witherspoon streets) as part of improvements to Nassau Street.
All of the entries — not just the winners — will be on view in the Solley Theater of the Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, from March 24-26.
Studio Hillier earned first place in the Professional Design category for “The Walk-Thru,” while HDR Architecture won second place for “The Vestige” and SPG Architects also won in that category for “Princeton Kiosk 25.” Under the People’s Choice, Corporate Design of America P.C. was awarded the honor for “Pivot Point.”
The Student Design category awarded first place to Jonathan Chu and Jonathan Fenton of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) for “Revolve.” Second place winners were Sofia Kolta, Aisha Awad, and Mahum Azim, also of NJIT, for “Beacon Kiosk;” while third place honors went to Gregory DeStefano of Kean University for “Waypoint.”
“A competition is a great tool to let the town learn how this loved piece of architecture can transform in the future,” said architect Joshua Zinder, co-chair of the competition, during the presentation. “Princeton has a history of collaborating with AIA NJ.”
Zinder added that the town is under no obligation to use one of the designs. “This is intended as an ideas competition only. The town may do nothing, it may pursue one of these, or do something completely different,” he said.
The former Princeton Borough built the two kiosks on Nassau Street in 1988, partly as an opportunity for public postings about job offers, events, trade offers, housing, and more.
The kiosks included a location map of the downtown area, and a public telephone booth. As technology has evolved, those have been removed.
The town’s Department of Public Works removes the flyers monthly. “Many people in the greater Princeton community would like to see digital display and/or interconnectivity with their personal devices using the kiosk as a connecting element and promoting activity in the merchant and business community,” reads a description of the competition that is available in the agenda packet from the March 9 Council meeting (at princetonnj.gov).
An email from Studio Hillier describes the design for “The Walk Thru” as focusing “on how the kiosk can fit naturally into the streetscape while encouraging pedestrian activity and public use. A walkway cut through the structure challenges the traditional idea of a kiosk and allows it to become part of the sidewalk’s movement rather than an object people walk around. The design also uses prefabricated components so the kiosk can be assembled in one day, reducing disruption to the busy street corner. The project reflects Studio Hillier’s ongoing commitment to sustainable, community-centered design and the creation of meaningful public space.”
The competition was opened last May, and submissions were made through July. In November, the top six entries in the People’s Choice category were displayed in the lobby of Princeton Public Library.
“Kiosks are simple architectural follies which are considered by many in the community as an illustration of democratic expression and civic engagement,” Zinder said. “This was a great precedent for other communities to collaborate with AIA NJ and support the visionary goals of municipalities.”