MLA Alumnus, Richard Valenzona Wins NXT City Prize 2014 Design Competition

The NXT CITY PRIZE is all about vision – the vision to reimagine Toronto’s public spaces and to inject a sense of energy, dynamism and reflexivity. How do our public spaces respond to the speed of today’s world, for the generation of tomorrow?

Richard Valenzona’s winning design for the competition won him a $5,000 cash prize and he will also receive $10,000 towards implementing the vision and making the change to public space. A professional working group led by the winner will be established to support turning the vision into reality. Realizing big, bold and unconventional visions for tomorrow requires hard work, dedication, and a passion for what’s possible. The NXT CITY PRIZE is about discovering these visions and providing the initial tools and resources to implement change in Toronto’s public spaces.

Richard graduated from the Master of Landscape Architecture program in 2013.  He used his MLA thesis  “Design with Sharing in Mind:  An Exploration of Shared Space and Its Application to Downtown Yonge Street in Toronto” (Cecelia Paine, Advisor), to further develop his idea into a design submission for the competition. 

More information regarding the competition can be found on the NXT City Prize website.  

See Global News article about winning design.