Contest seeks global ideas
The next phase in the quest for a 21st century successor to the iconic San Jose Light Tower has arrived: Urban Confluence Silicon Valley, a global ideas competition that launched this week.
“We are thrilled to achieve this milestone,” said Steve Borkenhagen, executive director of the San Jose Light Tower Corp., the nonprofit behind the effort. “The design is the most critical aspect of our project — and we are using an international ideas competition to identify the most spectacular design possible.”
A 26-page competition brief lays out the guidelines for a “transformative design” that includes dramatic lighting, an impressive physical presence and a net-zero energy approach. Whatever structure is chosen by the 11-member jury — a diverse group that includes artists, architects and a member of the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter — is expected to be built in the coming years in the Arena Green area of the Guadalupe River Park. (The contest’s name, Urban Confluence, comes from the confluence of the Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek at the site.)
The brief explains, a successful submission is going to be respectful of the environment in the riparian corridor and take into consideration both the birds that fly in the area and the jets approaching Mineta San Jose International Airport.
Submissions are due Oct. 15, 2019 — it’s free to enter — and up to 50 submissions will be displayed in a public exhibition in November. Three finalists will be selected by the jury in December and a final decision is expected in May 2020. Download the competition brief and get more information, including how to submit an idea, at urbanconfluencesiliconvalley.org.
CATALYZE SV CONTINUES GROWTH » Since it was founded in a living room in 2016, Catalyze SV has continued to grow in its mission to use community engagement to drive political decisions about development
and affordable housing in the region. And its reached a new level by hiring Alex Shoor, one of the organization’s founders, as its first executive director.
“One of the parts of our work I’m most excited about is our Cultivating Community initiative,” Shoor said in an e-mail. “One of the purposes of the initiative is to collaborate
with Silicon Valley cities to create a more inclusive, constructive community engagement process so the community can play a greater role in getting more housing and better development built.”
Shoor, who previously had positions at Fresh Lifelines for Youth and with the office of former Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, says Catalyze SV is already meeting with city leaders across the region about ideas to better engage the community in the development
process. You can check out Catalyze SV’s work and upcoming projects at catalyzesv.org.
GOOD DEED DEPT. » The San Jose Country Club community has rallied around Ricky Washington, who has had a 20-year career at the club and is currently food and beverage director. Washington has been raising two nieces, Heaven DaNae Jones, 17, and Aniesha Norris, 25, alongside his own children as a single parent. The two young women were seriously injured
in a car accident last month, and when Ernie Moreno heard the news, he organized a Go Fund Me campaign to help with costs during their recovery. The campaign had a goal of $20,000, but it has brought in more than $46,000 in three weeks, with additional contributions being made by donors including Case Swenson, David Cohen and Marv Bamburg.