I. CONTEXT

Welcome To Raincouver

Vancouver is a rainy city. Located in a coastal rain forest region, the city sees over 160 rainy days a year, a condition that results in approximately 1,150mm of precipitation annually – with much of it falling between October and March.

Rainy Public Spaces

While Vancouver has many excellent public spaces, most of these spaces are ill-equipped to support gathering and other activities in the rain. Public life in the city is challenged by the weather. Utilization of public spaces drops, and otherwise vibrant places have reduced opportunities for lingering and enjoyment. The umbrella overhead becomes a shield against the elements, and public life takes on an accelerated pace as people hurry to get out of the rain.

The Climate Change Factor: things will get more extreme

Weather conditions are expected to intensify. According to the City of Vancouver, residents can expect to see “more extreme rainfall events in winter [with] an increase of 33% very wet days and 63% extremely wet days.” In addition “‘1 in 20 year storm events’ are expected to increase by 36%.” Our summers are going to get dryer and our winters wetter. Public space infrastructure, use, design and location will need to respond and adapt to these changes.

How can we better treat rain as a resource?

Rain is an integral part of the local hydrologic (water) cycle. Public spaces can help support the environment by reducing stormwater runoff and harvesting rain for various uses. This will be especially important, as Vancouver will experience more extreme weather events in the future. Examples include bioswales and rain gardens on streets, or rain-friendly elements that can be integrated with other green streets infrastructure.

II. SEEKING RAIN-FRIENDLY PUBLIC SPACES

Life Between Umbrellas: Public Space in a Rainy City

Life Between Umbrellas is an ideas, design and pop-up activation competition that seeks to improve public space and public life during Vancouver’s rainy months. The competition aims to respond to the many challenges and opportunities associated with the wet-weather months by encouraging the generation of ideas for rain-friendly public spaces.

III. COMPETITION GOALS & OBJECTIVES

Life Between Umbrellas will generate new ideas and new thinking about how we can make our public spaces more rain-friendly.

The goals of Life Between Umbrellas are to improve the opportunities for public life during the rainy months, respond to the challenges that are posed by wet weather, harness rain as a resource, and to encourage a culture of fun, friendly, wet weather activities for residents, workers and visitors to Vancouver.

IV. COMPETITION STREAMS

Multiple prizes will be awarded in each stream. Stream 1 includes prizes for children and youth 18 and under, and Stream 2 includes a potential design-build opportunity after the competition closes. Requirements associated with each stream are outlined in the Design Brief.

Winners will be selected through a combination of the following:

Independent Jury – A jury comprised of various subject matter experts will assist with (a) short-listing and (b) selecting winning entries in streams (1) and (2).
People’s Choice – People’s Choice voting will take place in person at various locations around the city to select winning entries in stream (1).
VIVA/VPSN Selection Committee – will be used to select entries in stream (3). Winners in this stream will be chosen through a blind-evaluation process by a committee comprised of City of Vancouver staff, in consultation with the Vancouver Public Space Network. This committee will also assess entries in stream (2) for possible further design-build opportunities.

Throughout the competition there will also be an array of supplemental events and activities taking place during the competition period, including speaking events, public space activations, and other fun stuff.

V. ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open to all – young and old, resident and non-resident, professional or “lay” designer - anyone interested in making public space more rain-friendly. While training in a field such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, planning, etc. may be helpful, professional affiliation is not required for this competition. Participants can enter individually or collaboratively in teams.

Restrictions: The competition is not open to City of Vancouver elected officials or employees, or VPSN Board of Directors or Project Leads.

VI. PRIZES & EVALUATION

Winners in the three streams will be chosen by a mix of jury selection, people’s choice voting, and steering committee review – as follows:

Stream 1 – Jury Selection + People’s Choice (two prizes each). Additional prizes (Jury and People’s Choice) for Youth Stream

Stream 2 – Jury Selection

Stream 3 – Steering Committee Review

In general, entries will be evaluated based on the quality of the proposal (including the completeness of their entry), and, the degree to which the proposal responds to the competition goals, and the Principles for Rain-friendly Principles.

However, entrants should be sure to review the Design Brief for additional specific evaluation criteria and submission requirements associated with each stream.

VII. KEY DATES