Anyway, it really brings up a big question. Are dense cities just a matter of taste or do they deeply enhance the exchange of ideas and play a huge role in the creative economy?

I’m not an expert, but I really think cities as dense intricate webs of interation really have to exist and play probably the dominant role in an even remotely sophisticated resilient economy.

This is the core problem for the Midwest. It lacks cities that play that role and we can see that in the lack of new company and new idea generation.

It’s a very sad and weird situation I wasn’t prepared for when I moved to Pittsburgh and it undermines what should be one of the city’s key advantages. We have Major universities churning out lot’s of highly qualified creative design types, We have a low cost of living and reasonable location. But the relative social isolation and connections to other places as well as this provincial attitude really works to against us. Almost all the major outdoor public art in town is by non regional artists. (and a lot of it isn’t very good)

I could go on and on about this. Someday, at least in my dreams a midwestern city like Cleveland or Pittsburgh will host a really open arts festival or Biennial. It’s not like we don’t have the space.

By the way, have you heard about the Artprize in Grand Rapids? It’s well worth a post. People insulted the quality of the work, but as a way of creating and showing off the city as a place open to new ideas and creative energy, it was a big success. Perhaps the best idea from Michigan in years.

Aaron, if you haven’t already, you should post about it.

I’d forgotten about Maya Lin. But I don’t want to suggest taking young talent seriously is a monopoly of NYC. Europe generally seems to be very forward looking here. My comment was more aimed at the heartland, where designs either tend to get awarded to established out of town names or to clout heavy locals.

Certain types of competitions are reluctant to select or even accept student submissions. If the sponsor of the competition is actually seeking to build the winner, then they often want to choose a submission from a qualified architectural firm that can follow through to execution of the design. If a student’s work is selected, then that student must be paired up with a qualified architect and/or engineer who will work out the cost and technical problems with the design.

I actually planned to enter this very competition, but I realized I wouldn’t have the time to put together a high-quality submission, even if I came up with a good design. Immense kudos to Mr. Choi – first-year students, even those with great ideas, often find it difficult to represent their ideas on paper in a way that catches the eye.

New York has the self-confidence to pick something it likes, regardless of where it came from. Perhaps that’s because New York is where reputations are made, while in other places it is where they are consumed. Almost paradoxically, a young upstart like Choi has a better chance of getting noticed in a hyper-competitive market like New York than in an ostensibly less crowded talent pool.

This doesn’t seem like a paradox to me. After all, if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.