by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Summary: The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) announced the winners of its “Rising Tides: An International Ideas Competition.” The competition called for design responding to sea level rise in San Francisco Bay. Winners were announced in July, and there was a public exhibit of entries at the San Francisco Ferry Building. AIA San Francisco was as one of the competition’s sponsors.

Six winners will share a total prize of $25,000. The winning designs can be viewed on the BCDC Web site. There were also seven honorable mention awards. The honorable mention awards can also be viewed on the BCDC Web site.

The Rising Tides ideas competition was open to the public and included architects, ecologists, coastal engineers, civil engineers, biologists, landscape architects, planners, artists, developers, and builders. David Meckel, FAIA, served as a competition advisor. Juror Walter Hood said: “San Francisco Bay is not the place for a single idea. Taken as a whole, the six winning entries begin to tell a story about adaptation to sea level rise.” Sponsors included AIA San Francisco, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), BPS Reprographics, Ferry Building Marketplace (Equity Office), and Port of San Francisco.