OK, let’s be honest: if you don’t already have an idea for this year’s Next Generation Design Competition, it’s probably too late to think of one now. But, for those of you who have a brilliant scheme lurking on your hard drive—or a fully-formed idea in your head, just waiting for the right impetus to get the thing on paper—well, now’s the time to start loading up on coffee and getting down to work. Submissions are due this Friday, January 29. To review: this year, we’re looking for one small (but brilliant and elegant) “fix” that will make a positive difference in the designed environment. You can find everything you need to enter—the rules, the online application, and information on past years’ winners and runners-up—over on our Next Gen site. Good luck, and may the best idea win!

Metropolis’s 2010 Next Generation Design Competition is now accepting entries! This year’s theme is One Design Fix for the Future. We’re looking for one small (but utterly brilliant!) design fix that can be made now, and that will have a lasting postive impact on the designed environment. The competition is open to all designers and architects in practice ten years or less (including design students), and the winner will receive $10,000 to help make his or her idea a reality. You’ll find the online application, rules, frequently asked questions, and more over at the Next Gen 2010 site.

The designers behind Civil Twilight—the winning team in 2007’s Next Generation Design Competition—just let us know that their Lunar-Resonant Streetlights concept is also up for a People’s Choice Award from INDEX. And you know what that means: they need your votes! Point your browsers to the competition Web site to learn more and cast your ballot.

Click the image to view the proposal.

Every Thursday we’re posting excerpts from notable 2009 Next Generation proposals that didn’t quite make the final selection featured in the May issue of the magazine. (Click here to check out previous selections.) This week’s proposal is a little different—called World Wide Rail: A Tale of the Necessary Future, it takes the form of a comic strip (!), in which the authors, Copenhagen’s Stig Hessellund and Jacob Bro Knudsen, envision a zero-carbon society linked by a worldwide rail system. Click the image above to begin a slide-show presentation of their proposal—and, as always, leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments form below.

(Note: Next week we’ll be taking a break from our regular Thursday Next Gen posts to prepare a final roundup of the remaining 2009 Notables. Stay tuned for that story in early August.)

Click for a larger image.

Every Thursday we’re posting excerpts from notable 2009 Next Generation proposals that didn’t quite make the final selection featured in the May issue of the magazine. (OK, so this week we’re a day behind.)  Today’s proposal: Subverting Suburbia, a holistic approach to decreasing Americans’ resource consumption through smarter, community-oriented subdivisions. How would it work? Read more…

Every Thursday we’re posting excerpts from notable 2009 Next Generation proposals that didn’t quite make the final selection featured in the May issue of the magazine. (Click here to check out previous selections.) This week: Docking Stations, a system of modular floating docks that would harness clean energy produced by the tidal action of New York City rivers. How would it work? Read more…

Metropolis’s 2009 Next Generation competition received scores of entries, from which this year’s jury chose one winner and eight runners-up to be recognized in the May issue of the magazine. But there were far more than just nine good ideas in the bunch. The judges also selected 12 “notables”—entries that, for various reasons, fell short of the final selection, but that the jurors felt still deserved recognition. To that end, we’re posting one notable Next Generation proposal every Thursday for the next few months. (Click here to check out previous weeks’ selections.) In doing so, we hope to foster discussion that will help the teams refine their ideas, connect with like-minded readers, and perhaps even implement their projects in the real world.

This week: Luciform, a bioluminescent coating for concrete proposed by Erin Hayne and Nuno Ferreira, of NunoErin. How would it work? Read more…

Metropolis’s 2009 Next Generation competition received scores of entries, from which this year’s jury chose one winner and eight runners-up to be recognized in the May issue of the magazine. But there were far more than just nine good ideas in the bunch. The judges also selected 12 “notables”—entries that, for various reasons, fell short of the final selection, but that the jurors felt still deserved recognition. To that end, we’re posting one notable Next Generation proposal every Thursday for the next few months. (Click here to check out previous weeks’ selections.) In doing so, we hope to foster discussion that will help the teams refine their ideas, connect with like-minded readers, and perhaps even implement their projects in the real world.

This week: Samuel Formo’s No-Waste Pattern Design, for cutting garments without creating scraps of fabric, which typically get thrown away. How would it work? Read more…

Metropolis’s 2009 Next Generation competition received scores of entries, from which this year’s jury chose one winner and eight runners-up to be recognized in the May issue of the magazine. But there were far more than just nine good ideas in the bunch. The judges also selected 12 “notables”—entries that, for various reasons, fell short of the final selection, but that the jurors felt still deserved recognition. To that end, we’re posting one notable Next Generation proposal every Thursday for the next few months. (Click here to check out last’s week selection.) In doing so, we hope to foster discussion that will help the teams refine their ideas, connect with like-minded readers, and perhaps even implement their projects in the real world.

This week: Edward Weysen’s proposal, Black Box, a housing prototype for converting former industrial sites into residential neighborhoods. How would it work? Read more…

Metropolis’s 2009 Next Generation competition received scores of entries, from which this year’s jury chose one winner and eight runners-up to be recognized in the May issue of the magazine. But there were far more than just nine good ideas in the bunch. The judges also selected 12 “notables”—entries that, for various reasons, fell short of the final selection, but that the jurors felt still deserved recognition. To that end, we will be posting one notable Next Generation proposal every Thursday for the next three months. In doing so, we hope to foster discussion that will help the teams refine their ideas, connect with like-minded readers, and perhaps even implement their projects in the real world.

This week: Emilio Ramirez’s proposal, Feeding the Addiction: The Emergence of the Single Family Power Plant, which envisions a low-cost, renewable energy production and delivery system that could turn homes and businesses into self-sustaining energy producers. How would it work? Read more…