American Institute of Architects

Utah Young Architects Forum

and the Downtown Alliance
SixtyNine Seventy Task Force in
collaboration with Utah Heritage
Foundation

Cover photo by Trevor Muhler Photography

THE SPACES BETWEEN: AN URBAN IDEAS COMPETITION
00 CONTENTS
01 | ABOUT THE COMPETITION
1.1 - Organizers & Purpose
1.2 - Assignment
1.3 - Considerations
1.4 - Competition Jury
1.5 - Prizes (!)

02 | COMPETITION SITE
2.1 - Competition Site
2.2 - Design Area: The Spaces Between
2.3 - Context: Defined Spaces
2.4 - Context: Undefined Spaces
2.5 - Context Maps
2.6 - Site Photos
2.7 - Salt Lake City: Understanding Place
2.8 - Comparative Maps

03 | RULES & GUIDELINES

3.1 - Contact Information
3.2 - Critical Dates
3.3 - Entrant Eligibility
3.4 - Competition Language
3.5 - Submission Requirements
3.6 - Questions Concerning the Competition
3.7 - Rules of the Competiton
3.8 - Settlement, Publication and Display
3.9 - Use Rights of the Competition Entries
3.10 - Return of the Competition Entries

04 | RESOURCES & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

4.1 Resources
4.2 Acknowledgements
SIXTYNINE SEVENTY, THE SPACES BETWEEN: AN URBAN
IDEAS COMPETITION INVITES DESIGN TEAMS AROUND THE
WORLD TO RE-ENVISION THE CIRCULATION SPACES
AND PASSAGES OF TWO BLOCKS IN DOWNTOWN
SALT LAKE CITY.

THE COMPETITION SEEKS TO HARNESS FRESH AND

PROVOCATIVE DESIGN IDEAS THAT WILL ACTIVATE THE
SPACES BETWEEN THE DISPARATE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT,
AND BUSINESS GROUPS ON BLOCKS SIXTY-NINE AND
SEVENTY - AMPLIFYING OUR CITY’S CULTURAL AMENITIES
AND ACTING AS A CATALYST FOR DESIGN-LED GROWTH.
Photo by Trevor Muhler Photography
1.1 ORGANIZERS & PURPOSE
The design competition organizers are the AIA Utah Young Architects Forum and
the Downtown Alliance SixtyNine Seventy Task Force in collaboration with Utah
Heritage Foundation and many other passionate thinkers and planners of our city. We
are: architects, urban planners, landscape architects, artists, graphic designers, film
producers, performance artists, and elected officials who have a common vision for our
city’s evolution.

Salt Lake City boasts a stunning natural setting, cultural amenities, a vibrant retail
core, and a thriving and extensive business community. However, it lacks connection
between these elements. The SixtyNine Seventy design competition will harness ideas
from around the world that explore how the spaces between these existing elements can
act as a catalyst of connection and promote the city’s development through design. The
entrants’ task is to prepare comprehensive ideas for blocks sixty-nine and seventy, two
blocks at the heart of Salt Lake City.

THE PURPOSE OF THE COMPETITION IS TO PRODUCE

INSPIRING IDEAS FOR A VIBRANT DOWNTOWN
SALT LAKE CITY.

2
1.2 ASSIGNMENT
CONNECTION
Connect the disparate arts groups and cultural amenities housed on and around
blocks sixty-nine and seventy, facilitating the interaction between cultural centers,
entertainment, businesses, artists, and the public in a vibrant and inviting
environment.

PLACE-MAKING
Consider the greater cityscape as it relates to cultural-historic values, proposed projects,
existing creative centers, walkability of the urban landscape, and the experience of place
in a range of scales.

LIVELY IN-BETWEEN SPACES

Develop lively public space, alleys, passageways, sidewalks, and streets. Address various
modes of travel and pause (i.e. exploring, working, experiencing, lingering, walking,
cycling, driving).

HISTORY
Recognize the unique history of Salt Lake City, reflecting a sense of place in every
detail. Engage the authentic character that defines our streets, including the large scale
of city blocks, historic buildings, and wide thoroughfares.

ECONOMIC GROWTH
Consider these blocks are at the heart of our Capitol City and include the economic
relationship and programmatic adjacencies that contribute to an urban area that is
thriving and desirable from an economic point of view.

3
1.2 ASSIGNMENT

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

4
1.3 CONSIDERATIONS
PROJECTS
There are a number of planned projects that will have an impact on blocks sixty-nine
and seventy. Proposed projects include the Utah Performing Arts Center, the Jessie
Eccles Quinney Center for Dance: Future Home for Ballet West, the Rocky Mountain
Power Substation, the Utah Film and Media Arts Center, and the development of
Regent Street as a retail corridor.

PEOPLE
There are several global attractions located adjacent to blocks sixty-nine and seventy.
Temple Square is Utah’s most popular tourist destination, bringing in between 3 and 5
million visitors each year. City Creek Center, the largest retail development to open in
2012, is a mixed-use development with an open-air shopping center that encompasses
two entire city blocks and is located directly north of blocks sixty-nine and seventy.

ENVIRONMENT
Salt Lake City is increasingly conscious of its environmental impact on current
residents as well as future generations. Air-quality, water resources, and unconstrained
development are pressing issues here. Entrants should consider these issues and the
potential impact their ideas may have on future models for ecological awareness in
design.

5
1.4 COMPETITION JURY
The competition jury is comprised of a diverse group of architects, artists, designers,
urban planners, historians, and visionaries, with a strong representation of Salt Lake
City locals.

The jury is entitled to consult any experts it sees necessary in the evaluation of the
entries. If a member of the jury becomes prevented from participating in the work of
the jury, a new member will be selected to replace him/her. Entrants will be notified if
there are any changes on the jury.

GREGG PASQUARELLI
Gregg Pasquarelli is an American architect and a founding
partner of SHoP Architects of New York. This design think
tank has pushed the architect’s realm past form-making and into
software design, real estate development, emergent construction
research, and the co-development of new sustainable technologies. SHoP’s recent work
includes the Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn; a two-mile esplanade and
park along the East River Waterfront; the Innovation Hub government complex in
Botswana, Africa; the South Street Seaport redevelopment; a new Major League Soccer
stadium in New York; and projects for Google in Mountain View, CA. Pasquarelli
received his architecture degree from Columbia University and has taught at Yale,
Columbia, the University of Virginia, and the University of Florida. He has lectured
globally, and his work has been reviewed and published in periodicals such as Architect,
Architectural Record, The New Yorker, Wallpaper, Metropolis, Wired, FastCompany,
Surface, Dwell, A+U, and The New York Times, among others. SHoP’s work is in
the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art. As both a practitioner and
educator, Pasquarelli’s commitment to challenging the entire process of building has
made a convincing argument to a generation of architects that beauty and technological
proficiency are not mutually exclusive.

6
1.4 COMPETITION JURY
CATHY LANG HO
A New York–based writer and editor, Cathy Lang Ho is the
founder and former editor-in-chief of The Architect’s Newspaper.
She currently serves as Commissioner and Curator for the U.S.
Pavilion at the 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale
(Fall 2012). She served as editor and editor-at-large at Architecture magazine, and, with
Richard Ingersoll, she edited the Berkeley–based journal Design Book Review. Ho is the
coauthor of House: American Houses for the New Century (Universe/Rizzoli, 2001) and
American Contemporary Furniture (Universe/Rizzoli, 1999) Her work has appeared in
Architectural Record, Arquitectura Viva, Blueprint, Domus, ID, Frame, Mark, Metropolis,
and the New York Times. She is the recipient of the Rome Prize in Design.

CESAR PELLI
Senior Principal, Pelli Clarke Pelli
Recognized by the AIA as one of the ten most influential living
American architects in 1991, Argentina-born Cesar Pelli began
his career in the offices of Eero Saarinen, serving as Project
Designer for several buildings, including the TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in New
York, and Morse and Stiles Colleges at Yale University. After this apprenticeship, he
was Director of Design at DMJM and, later, Partner for Design at Gruen Associates,
both in Los Angeles. In 1977, Mr. Pelli became Dean of the Yale University School of
Architecture and also founded Cesar Pelli & Associates. He resigned his post as Dean
in 1984 but continues to lecture on architecture. Since the firm’s establishment, Mr.
Pelli has personally originated and directed the design of each of its projects. In 2005,
in recognition of the increased role of the firm’s principals, the firm was renamed Pelli
Clarke Pelli Architects. In 1995, the American Institute of Architects awarded Mr.
Pelli the Gold Medal, in recognition of a lifetime of distinguished achievement in
architecture. In 2004, Mr. Pelli was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for
the design of the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

7
1.4 COMPETITION JURY
PHILIP BEESLEY, MRAIC OAA RCA
Philip Beesley is a sculptor from Toronto, Canada and a professor
at Waterloo Architecture. His collaborative projects use digitally
fabricated textile structures, interactive computation and synthetic
biology systems. Recognitions for his work include the Prix de
Rome in Architecture and the RAIC Allied Arts Medal. He represented Canada at
the 2010 Venice Biennale for Architecture. He was educated in visual art at Queen’s
University, in technology at Humber College, and in architecture at the University of
Toronto.

KIRK HUFFAKER
Executive Director, Utah Heritage Foundation
Kirk Huffaker serves as the Executive Director of Utah’s statewide
non-profit preservation organization. Since 1998, Kirk has
provided assistance throughout Utah to build local preservation
leadership, develop policy, and save historic buildings. A native of the Chicago suburb
of Wheaton, he previously worked in Madison, Wisconsin, and Gary, Indiana before
coming to Utah. Mr. Huffaker is the author of Salt Lake City: Then and Now and
is a recipient of the James Marston Fitch Research Grant for the website Defining
Downtown Banks at Mid-Century: The Architecture of the Bank Building & Equipment
Corporation of America and W.A. Sarmiento. He has taught at the University of Utah,
and been the keynote and general speaker at numerous preservation conferences on
preservation easements, teardowns, building strong neighborhoods, and mid-century
modernism.

8
1.4 COMPETITION JURY
MOLLY O’NEILL ROBINSON, AICP
Molly O’Neill Robinson is an Urban Designer based in Salt Lake.
She is responsible for building value in the public realm through
civic leadership, citizen empowerment, and design controls and
incentives. Her goal is to help Salt Lake City be competitive by
advocating for the qualities and design details that make memorable places and livable
neighborhoods. Prior to joining the Planning Division staff in Salt Lake, Molly was
a planner and project manager at OLIN, an award-winning landscape architecture,
urban design, and planning studio in Philadelphia. At OLIN, she contributed to civic
master planning, design guidelines, park planning, and institutional projects. Molly
holds an MS in Planning from the School of Community and Regional Planning at
the University of British Columbia and a BS in Natural Resource Studies from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has served as an Assistant Instructor at
PennDesign at the University of Pennsylvania and is a regularly invited guest juror at
the University of Utah College of Architecture and Planning.

BEN MCADAMS
Salt Lake County Mayor
Ben McAdams recently became Salt Lake County Mayor after
winning the election to replace outgoing mayor Peter Corroon.
Mayor McAdams earned his bachelor’s degree from the University
of Utah and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. He subsequently worked as an
associate at the New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell and was most recently
employed as the Senior Advisor for Intergovernmental Affairs for Salt Lake City under
Mayor Ralph Becker.

9
1.4 COMPETITION JURY
RALPH BECKER
Salt Lake City Mayor
Ralph Becker is the 34th and current mayor of Salt Lake City
and the former Minority Leader of the Utah State House of
Representatives. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the College of
Architecture and Planning, University of Utah. Mayor Becker received his B.A. from
the University of Pennsylvania in 1973, his J.D. from the University of Utah College
of Law in 1977, and his M.S. in Geography/Planning from the University of Utah in
1982. Mayor Becker is an attorney and planner (FAICP), who co-founded Bear West in
1985, a planning and natural resources consulting firm.

10
1.5 PRIZES
Awards amounting to $120,000 will be distributed as follows:
JURY AWARD - $40,000
JURY AWARD - $40,000
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD - $40,000
With such distinguished jury members and significant cash awards, this international
competition offers prestige and exposure like few others.

When the jury has made its decisions, at least 15 of the most inspiring entries will be
displayed on the competition website - www.sixtynineseventy.com - where the public is
invited to select the People’s Choice Award.

The top entries will also be displayed at The Leonardo Museum for Science,
Technology and Art and in other Salt Lake City locations.

Please Note: It is possible for a single team/entrant to win both the Jury Award as well
as the People’s Choice Award.

Winning entries will be published in Architect Magazine

11
CURRENTLY, SALT LAKE CITY
IS AT A CRITICAL POINT IN
ITS DEVELOPMENT AS A
CONTEMPORARY WESTERN
CITY. OUR HOPE IS THAT
SIXTYNINE SEVENTY WILL
EMPHASIZE CREATIVE
DESIGN SOLUTIONS FOR ITS
EVOLUTION. Photo by Trevor Muhler Photography
Photo by Trevor Muhler Photography
2.1 COMPETITION SITE
The competition site is blocks sixty-nine and seventy in downtown Salt Lake City.
Blocks sixty-nine and seventy are located in a traditional American downtown, replete
with a strong financial and retail district, and a rich stock of historic buildings. They
are in the center of Salt Lake City’s Cultural Core, which is the designated hub of
over 100 major cultural and arts organizations. The Cultural Core acts as an anchor
of activities including performance art, visual art, cinema, shopping, dining, religious
destinations, and much more.

COMPETITION SITE

CULTURAL CORE BOUNDARY

14
2.1 COMPETITION SITE

HISTORIC CENTER

RETAIL CENTER

CREATIVE NUCLEUS

15
2.1 COMPETITION SITE

COMPETITION SITE

6699 7700
BLOCKS SIXTY-NINE AND SEVENTY

16
2.2 DESIGN AREA: THE SPACES BETWEEN
The competition in its entirety is about this interstitial space. It is not the design of
new buildings, but about the relationships between them and other aforementioned
elements. Entrants are encouraged to focus on the formal and informal connections on
blocks sixty-nine and seventy as they relate to the interconnectivity of the blocks and to
the greater context.

Blocks sixty-nine and seventy host a collection of public and private spaces and
evolving developments. There are a variety of circulation ways, ranging from broad
streets such as Main Street, a broad street with large pedestrian sidewalks, a public
rail system, and automobile circulation; to Regent Street, a one-way automobile and
pedestrian street; to smaller, undefined paths that currently act as undefined pedestrian
passages.

PRIMARY
Primary routes are defined as the major connective corridors. These routes currently
act as the primary circulation on and around blocks sixty-nine and seventy

SECONDARY
Secondary routes are often mid-block connections and are frequently limited
exclusively to pedestrian traffic. In some cases, these routes are clearly defined
pedestrian paths, in others they have become local paths based on ease of travel.

17
2.2 DESIGN AREA: THE SPACES BETWEEN

THE SPACES BETWEEN

18
2.3 CONTEXT: DEFINED SPACES
A number of cultural facilities on blocks sixty-nine and seventy will begin construction
within the next year. Projects include the new Utah Performing Art Center, designed
by Pelli Clarke Pelli, and the Jessie Eccles Quinney Center for Dance: A New Home
for Ballet West, a ballet academy and rehearsal space designed by HKS Architects. The
Utah Film and Media Arts Center is also expected to be housed in the former Utah
Theatre.

UTAH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (UPAC)

UPAC is a 2500 seat, first-run Broadway show theatre. What makes this project unique
is that it will be connected to a new office tower that will share certain programmatic
elements. The map below shows the location of the new project. Because the process
is still evolving, we encourage entrants to be acutely aware of how this building is
addressing its context, and how the spaces between can inform and be informed by this
project.

UPAC

19
 UTAH
PERFORMING
ARTS
CENTER

Artists of Ballet West in the Chinese Variation of William

Christensen’s “The Nutcracker”. Photo by Luke Isley
2.3 CONTEXT: DEFINED SPACES
JESSIE ECCLES QUINNEY CENTER FOR DANCE
The Jessie E. Quinney Center for Dance is the future home for Ballet West. The center
will function as a rehearsal facility for the professional dancers of Ballet West and for
students of ballet. The new facility will be directly connected to the existing historic
Capitol Theatre; the facilities will share lobby space as well as a common path that
leads to the middle of block sixty-nine.

JESSIE E. QUINNEY CENTER FOR DANCE

21
HOME OF
BALLET
WEST

Ballet West Principal Artists Christiana Bennett and Christopher Ruud

in “Swan Lake”. Photo by Luke Isley, Courtesy of Ballet West.
2.3 CONTEXT: DEFINED SPACES
ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER
This local power company dates back to 1881, when Salt Lake City became the fifth
city in the world to have central station electricity. The parcel of land on this block
is one of the primary substations for downtown Salt Lake City. At this time it is only
partially built out as a substation, but there is no doubt that its long-term future
will be realized as a substation. In Rocky Mountain Power we have a good corporate
steward who, for the short run, is open to other uses (see current agreement with Ballet
West). Any design elements should accept the eventual use as an outdoor substation,
and the potential community impressions as the use changes.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER SUBSTATION

23
DOWNTOWN
POWER
STATION

Drawing Courtesy of HKS Architects

2.3 CONTEXT: DEFINED SPACES
UTAH FILM AND MEDIA ARTS CENTER
The Utah Theatre is located at 148 Main Street, and is one of the city’s cultural
treasures, which is not obvious from its dilapidated and boarded-up exterior. The
theatre was designed by B. Marcus Priteca, built in 1919 for vaudeville, and later
converted into a film theatre. Currently, the building is being developed as a Film
and Media Arts Center. The Salt Lake region is a leader in producing and showcasing
independent film and in digital media incubation, and independent film brings in
more than $70 million dollars to the state annually. The film and media arts coalition
hopes to renovate the historic theatre into an 800-seat multi-use venue, national
archive, and digital media cafe which would provide several services, including: film
programming, particularly independent and documentary films; incubation for digital
media, such as gaming; film festivals; youth education and multimedia classroom
space; and community screenings. The center will house several local non-profits, will
host out-of-state filmmakers, and will provide 365 days of active use. The project has
undergone a feasibility study and is now being studied for individual programming
elements, that include such possibilities as a national archive, entering the design and
construction phase.

UTAH FILM AND MEDIA ARTS CENTER

25
UTAH
FILM AND
MEDIA ARTS
CENTER

Photo by Hannah Vaughn

2.4 CONTEXT: UNDEFINED SPACES
Future plans for these sites is unclear. We know land values are some of the highest
in the city, and that space is at a premium. Entrants can assume all sites will have
maximum build-out, including the maximum height allowed in this district. Each
site is unique either through its adjacencies to existing facilities, or by having historic
structures located on the existing site. Entrants must consider how the spaces between
relate to the masses themselves rather than the building typologies.

The diagrams on page 31 shows the relationships of the sites to both the primary and
secondary routes.

• Max Height-375’-Exceptions at corners.

• Minimum Front and Corner Yards, No Min.
• Interior and Side Yards, No Min.

*Please refer to RESOURCES at www.sixtynineseventy.com

27
2.4 CONTEXT: UNDEFINED SPACES
UNDEFINED SPACES

MAXIMUM BUILD-OUT

28
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: HISTORIC BUILDINGS
HISTORIC BUILDING
1. White Owl Drug
2. Kimball Block
3. Bennett Paint & Glass
4. The Nauvoo Building (Caffé Molise)
5. Dinwoody Furniture (Zions Bank Offices)
6. Eagle Emporium/ ZCMI (Zions Bank)
7. Daft Block (The Beerhive)
8. Kearns Building
9. Pantages Theatre (Utah Theatre)
10. Kearns Building Parking Garage
11. Orpheum Theatre (Capitol Theatre)
12. Printing Press (Benihana/ Blue Iguana)
13. Hotel Albert
14. Arrow Press (Arrow Press Square)
15. Utah Commercial & Savings Bank (The Brownstone)
16. Prudential Savings & Loan (The Metro Building)
17. Farmers & Stock Growers Bank (former Museum of Utah Art & History)
18. Grayson’s Department Store (Newspaper Agency Corporation)
19. Thompson Building (Salt Lake Tribune)
20. Tracy Loan & Trust (Tracy Collins Bank)
21. Hepworth-Carthy Building
22. First National Bank
23. Herald Building (Lamb’s Café)
24. Walker Bank Building (Walker Center)
25. Salt Lake Tribune Newsboys Headquarters (Newspaper Agency Corp. printing complex)
26. Felt Electric Building (Miller Guymon)
27. Empire Theatre (Pawn Shop)
28. Cooperative Wagon and Machinery Co. (Zim’s)
29. Promised Valley Playhouse (LDS Family Services)
30. Salt Lake City Branch, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
The majority of these older buildings are listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and
the Salt Lake Cultural Register. While the National Register does not require any consent for alterations
and/or demolition, the Salt Lake City Cultural Register does require application and approval for alterations
and/or demolition from the Historic Landmarks Commission. However, National Register listing does
provide access to the federal investment tax credit for the rehabilitation of commercial structures and
the state investment tax credit for the rehabilitation of residential structures. In order to guide historic
preservation efforts, Salt Lake City has adopted several policy documents that may be helpful in considering
these structures. *Please refer to RESOURCES at www.sixtynineseventy.com

29
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: HISTORIC BUILDINGS

1 2 3 4 5 6
15
30
14 16
13 7 17
10 8 18 29
19 25
9 9 28
12 11 20
21 27
22
11 23 26
24

30
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: CULTURAL BUILDINGS
CULTURAL BUILDINGS
1. Church History Museum
2. Salt Lake Tabernacle (home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
3. Assembly Hall
4. Abravanel Hall
5. Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA)
6. Jessie Eccles Quinney Center for Dance: A New Home for Ballet West
7. Capitol Theatre
8. Utah Theatre (future home of Utah Film and Media Arts Center)
9. Utah Performing Arts Center
10. Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center
11. Off Broadway Theatre Inc.
12. Gallivan Center Outdoor Performance Stage
13. Broadway Cinema Theaters (Salt Lake Film Society)

31
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: CULTURAL BUILDINGS

1
2

4
5

9
9
8 8
6 7

12

11
10 13

32
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: HOSPITALITY BUILDINGS
HOSPITALITY BUILDINGS
1. Radisson Hotel
2. Salt Lake City Plaza Hotel at Temple Square
3. Salt Lake Marriot Downtown at City Creek
4. Alta Club
5. Carlton Hotel
6. Shilo Inn Suites Hotel
7. Peery Hotel
8. Hilton Salt Lake City Center
9. Hotel Monaco
10. Salt Lake City Marriott City Center

33
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: HOSPITALITY BUILDINGS

1 4
5

6 9
10
8

34
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: PUBLIC SPACE
PUBLIC SPACE
1. Abravanel Hall Plaza
2. Pocket Park
3. Salt Palace Convention Center Plaza
4. Federal Building Plaza
5. American Plaza and Walkway
6. Gallivan Center

35
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: PUBLIC SPACE

2
4

36
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RESIDENTIAL

Salt Lake City, like many downtown areas, is a desired place to live. Over the last decade, the number
of people living downtown has been steadily increasing, and the city is ranked No. 4 nationally in
increase of people living within two miles of its city hall. The number of people living downtown was
boosted in 2002 with the olympics, and the city has recently seen a number of apartment towers and
loft renovations that are encouraging dense living.

37
2.5 CONTEXT MAPS: TRANSPORTATION ROUTES
TRANSPORTATION

(PROPOSED) PEDESTRIAN STREET BUS ROUTE LIGHT RAIL

BIKE LANE BUS STOP LIGHT RAIL STOP

38
Photo by Trevor Muhler Photography
 2.6 SITE PHOTOS

6699 7700
1 2

1.

2.
40
2.6 SITE PHOTOS

6699 7700
3

3.

4.
41
 2.6 SITE PHOTOS
5 6

6699 7700

5.

6.
42
2.6 SITE PHOTOS

6699 7700 8
7

7.

8.
43
A LARGE PORTION OF THE
COMPETITION AREA AND ITS
SURROUNDINGS ARE PART OF
A SIGNIFICANT NATIONAL
CULTURALLY HISTORIC AREA.
Photo Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society
2.7 SALT LAKE CITY - UNDERSTANDING PLACE
Salt Lake City has a distinctive feel that stems from its origin as a religious utopian
community. Following the town planning concept created by The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints’ (also known as the Mormons) founder Joseph Smith, the
Plat of Zion laid out a grid system for the Great Salt Lake valley. The Plat of Zion
included wide streets, large blocks, public squares, separation of uses, and requirements
for building on a lot. Salt Lake City became one of the few frontier communities
rooted in the guiding principles of vision, cooperation, interconnectedness,
stewardship, and care and integrtion of the poor, rather than haphazard development.
Simply, the plat sought to promote society’s collective interests over narrower self-
interests. This grid served as the model for the planning and development of hundreds
of other towns throughout the Mormon cultural region in the Intermountain West.

45
2.7 SALT LAKE CITY - UNDERSTANDING PLACE
Changes to the Plat of Zion began in the late nineteenth century. By the time the
community finished its Second Century Plan in 1962, the city had changed. Buses
supplanted an extensive streetcar system. More traffic lanes took the place of street
parking, and vacant or under-utilized buildings were demolished creating large cavities
in the streetscape.

Over time, many unique attributes disappeared. An active shopping environment

housed in small buildings throughout downtown Salt Lake City moved to the suburbs
and into shopping malls. Large new buildings downtown brought more employees, yet
they were connected directly to parking garages. Unsurprisingly, the amount of overall
activity downtown suffered.

Large commercial buildings and their necessary parking garages now dominate many
of Salt Lake City’s blocks, a testament to the fact that Salt Lake City has one of the
largest commuting populations in the United States. But business buildings and
parking garages don’t engender a sense of place. Despite having important cultural
amenities dotting the downtown hub, the artistic value of Salt Lake City is often
overlooked, constrained by utilitarian uses of the area.

46
PLAT OF ZION
Within days of arriving in the valley in 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young began
executing the Plat of Zion by designating the first square for a temple and creating
ten-acre blocks on a grid pattern that emanated from Temple Square. The blocks were
then divided into ten separate one-acre lots that were given to each family. A plot came
with irrigation water from ditches and required agreement that the family work the
land for their subsistance and the overall good of the community. Most settlers made
their livelihoods as farmers, working additional land south of the city known as the Big
Fields. This mirrored the national sentiment of the mid-1800’s: that utopia was found
in the family farm.

Eventually 135 ten-acre blocks were laid out as a starting point for the Mormon
settlement. The plat system provided an easy way to separate land uses: the residential
areas were located nearest to the commercial center with manufacturing and farming
further out. Although the Plat of Zion served as a template for 500 Mormon
settlements in the west, it became more irregular in Salt Lake City during the late
nineteenth century when the LDS Church lost authority over growth in the city, which
adopted its first zoning ordinanaces in the 1920s.

47
STREET WIDTH
A popular belief is that the unusually wide streets of Salt Lake City were derived
by an unofficial measurement that would allow a team of oxen with wagon to
make a U-turn. While scant documentation exists as to the purpose of the city’s
wide streets, there is a strong likelihood that there is more to the story of setting
street width. Gunter’s Chain was the first unit of measurement to be designated
by law in the U.S. and became the most common form of surveying for land
development through 1870. Joseph Smith specified in the Plat of Zion that
streets should be 132 feet wide, which equated to two lengths of Gunter’s Chain.

The wide streets served the pre-1900 pioneer town very well for transportation as
well as the construction of irrigation ditches on both sides of every street. As the
city moved out of the horse-drawn transportation era, the wide streets became
a positive feature that allowed the integration of an extensive trolley system
with automobile lanes and curbside parking, all without widening. While this
arrangement of transportation exists in a similar combination on most of the city
streets today, the width of Utah streets is commonly believed to be one of the
barriers to walking and having a true urban experience downtown.

Regent Street looking North, 1918. Photo courtesy

of Utah State Historical Society.

48
 PUBLIC SQUARES
The Plat of Zion provided that entire ten-acre blocks would be set aside for public or
community uses. The central public square in the plat was reserved for an LDS church
building such as a meetinghouse, tabernacle, or temple. In Salt Lake City, the first
public square was reserved for the Salt Lake Tabernacle and Salt Lake Temple. From
this square, all streets are numbered progressively as one moves outward, indicating
how far you are located from Temple Square.

Additional squares were reserved throughout Salt Lake City, including Pioneer Square
(site of the original settlement fort, today known as Pioneer Park), Washington Square
(now the site of the City & County Building), and 10th Ward Square (first site of the
state fairgrounds, later site of the former Utah Light & Traction trolley barns, now the
site of Trolley Square Mall).

STREET NAMING
As laid out in Salt Lake City’s version of the Plat of Zion, the focus of the city was on
the main public square – Temple Square. From this location, all streets radiating from
the square were named with numbers that indicated how many blocks away you were
from Temple Square in each cardinal direction. The boundary streets to Temple Square
were named for the directions – East Temple, North Temple, South Temple, and West
Temple. From there, each subsequent street further from the temple was 100, then
200, 300 and so on. The original numbering system was not completely adhered to
over time as some streets were given more common, non-number names. For example,
East Temple has the common name today of Main Street, and 100 East has the
common name State Street.

This street naming system is a common feature in every Mormon-founded community,

all of which used the Plat of Zion. Major streets in other communities were also given
common names such as Main, Center, University, and “Town” Boulevard. Naming
on a rigid grid system provides easy navigation throughout Salt Lake City, rendering it
difficult to get lost.
49
Smaller neighborhoods with their own non-numbered street naming systems are
interspersed on the edges of the city’s grid, such as the Marmalade Neighborhood and
the Avenues.

MID-BLOCK STREETS
As the commercial district of downtown Salt Lake City grew through the mid and late-
1800s, the decision was made to divide some blocks in half with new streets. While this
decision did not correspond directly to the Plat of Zion, there was a need to provide
additional area for commercial development as well as thoroughfares for the public.
Shorter and mid-block streets were commonly given non-number names including
Exchange Place, Market Street, Pierpont Avenue, Rio Grande, and Regent Street.

The legacy of mid-block streets have provided incentive for new planning efforts to
build upon strengths from the past such as new thoroughfares and opportunities for
development with unique architecture, smaller street width, and more visual interest.
Mid-block streets have helped create a more urban experience in a place where the Plat
of Zion never accounted for a city to replace an agrarian village.

Main Street view south during Mutual Improvement Association

Parade, c. 1925. Photo courtesy of Utah State Historical Society.

50
HISTORY OF BLOCKS SIXTY-NINE AND SEVENTY
As blocks sixty-nine and seventy are at the heart of the city and straddle Main Street,
they have a history dating back to the first pioneers. There have been an incredible
variety of uses here, though these blocks may be best known as home to the first
location of the Zions Cooperative Mercantile Association (ZCMI) department store,
Japantown, several theaters including the Utah and Capitol Theatres, prominent
banking institutions, and publishing through the Arrow Press and Salt Lake Tribune.

The table below shows the types of businesses on blocks sixty-nine and seventy and
how they have evolved through the decades.

1924 1936 1966 2012

bank 15 5 11 5
home products 9 15 14 1
food 47 33 15 13
theaters 4 6 3 2
hotels 25 13 9 0
saloons 9 15 6 4
clinics/doctors 3 49 14 1
drug stores 3 5 0 0
schools 5 3 2 0
printing 4 10 6 2
clubs/orgs 5 3 7 3
autos 3 3 5 0
offices 100+ 100+ 100+ 100+
services 41 43 20 1
church 0 0 1 0
shops 33 60 43 15
parks 0 0 0 1
parking garages 1 1 2 6
vacant n/a n/a n/a 12

51
2.8 COMPARATIVE MAPS

THE PORTLAND BLOCK

Block Size: 1.16 Acres
Block Length: 225 ft. (69 m)
Steps to walk down the block: 90
(approx)

THE SALT LAKE BLOCK

Block Size: 10 Acres
Block Length: 725 ft. (236 m)
Steps to walk down the block: 290
(approx)

52
2.8 COMPARATIVE MAPS

MEXICO CITY
Founded: 1325 Tenochtitlan
1521 Ciudad de Mexico
1824 Distrito Federal
Density: 5,960.3/km2 (15,437.2/sq. mi)

SALT LAKE CITY + THE

WASATCH FRONT
Founded: 1847
Density: 643.3/km2 (1,666.1/sq mi)
2.8 COMPARATIVE MAPS

THE COUNTRY OF GERMANY

Area: 357,021 km2 (137,847 sq mi)
Population: 81.8 million

THE STATE OF UTAH

Area: 219,887 km2 (84,899 sq mi)
Population: 2.8 million

54
 RULES &
GUIDELINES

Photo by Trevor Muhler Photography

3.1 CONTACT INFORMATION
ADDRESS:
AIA Utah Young Architects Forum
268 S. State St., Suite 190
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

EMAIL:
info@aiautah.org

WEB:
www.sixtynineseventy.com

PHONE:
+001.801.532.1727

3.2 CRITICAL DATES

January 10, 2013 Competition Launch

March 23, 2013 Registration Deadline

April 6, 2013 Deadline for Questions

April 20, 2013 Entry Deadline

April 30, 2013 Jury Selection

May 10, 2013 Finalists Announced

May 10-May 31 Public Display and People’s Choice Voting

June 4, 2013 Winners Announced

56
3.3 ENTRANT ELIGIBILITY
The competition is open to everyone. Entrants are encouraged to form design
groups with a varied composition of experts in any of the fields related to the built
environment. Members of the jury, their business partners, and close relatives are
excluded from the competition. All persons who have participated in the preparation
work of the competition are also excluded. The competition organiser decides any
exclusion matters.

3.4 COMPETITION LANGUAGE

The competition language is English. Other languages are permissible, but a side-by-
side English translation must also be provided.

57
3.5 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
NARRATIVE
• 1000 words or less
• DOC file that is named after the entry number (example: 0001.doc)

DRAWINGS
• Site plan, sections, visualizations

BOARDS
• 2 presentation boards with entry number in the lower left corner
• Boards must be 36” x 36” mounted boards
*Please refer to RESOURCES at www.sixtynineseventy.com for local printing options.

DIGITAL COPIES
• High resolution digital copies of boards (300 dpi, RGB mode)
• Image files must be named after the entry number (example: 0001-1.jpg)
• Finalists will be required to submit a web version of board for the
People’s Choice Award

PHYSICAL MODELS (OPTIONAL)

• The model must be at 1”=60’ scale
• No larger than 36” X 36” x 36”
• Not to exceed 50 lbs.
(The competition organizers will not be responsible for damaged or lost models)

ANIMATION (OPTIONAL)
• Animations must be HD 1280x720 in MPG format, not to exceed 20MB

REGISTRATION
• Registration and payment must be completed online at:
www.sixtynineseventy.com
58
3.5 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

59
3.5 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
ENTRY FEES
$85 / entry

Upon registration you will receive:

• Submission instructions
• Forms for project entry identification and entry narrative
• Entry number

All entries to this competition shall be submitted anonymously and it is critical that
the appropriate steps be followed to assure anonymity. Entrants will be disqualified if
instructions are not followed. Each submission, if mailed, must be “double wrapped”
with the outside wrap addressed to:

SixtyNine Seventy Competition

AIA Utah
Submission #________
268 S. State St., Suite 190
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

60
3.5 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
There is to be no writing on the inside wrap enclosing submissions. The submission
shall have #10 envelopes adhered firmly to the back of each design board/model/
material containing name of firm, design team members, business cards and telephone
number and email address in case contact is necessary during the deliberations. Make
certain that all envelopes are sealed, carefully adhered to the back of the boards/model/
material and have no writing on the face of the envelopes. If hand delivered, you
will be asked by staff to provide your registration number at the time you submit the
package. At least one person must be identified as the “Primary Information Contact”.
A telephone number and email address must be provided for that individual.

ALL SUBMISSION MATERIALS MUST BE RECEIVED AT THE

AIA UTAH OFFICE NO LATER THAN 5:00 P.M. MST ON
APRIL 20, 2013.
Each submission must have all required elements. Use only the entry number and a
title to identify your entry.

All designs must be unique to the SixtyNine Seventy competition and may not be
previously published or submitted to other competitions or to private clients.

61
3.6 QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE COMPETITION
The entrants have the right to request clarifications and additional information on the
competition. All questions must be made anonymously and sent (via the form that is
available on the competition website: www.sixtynineseventy.com no later than April 6,
2013.

The questions and the answers will be published by April 12, 2013 on the competition
website.

3.7 RULES OF THE COMPETITION

RULES
• Only one entry per team, and no individual may be part of more than one team.
• There is no limit to the number of participants per team. Individual entries are
accepted.
• This is an anonymous competition and the entry number is the only means of
identification.
• The registration is non-refundable.
• Contacting the Jury is prohibited.
• The competition organizers reserve the right to modify the competition schedule if
deemed necessary.
• Entrant participation assumes acceptance of the rules.

BASIS FOR DISQUALIFICATION

One or more of the following conditions will cause the entry to be disqualified:
• Late entry submission.
• Visible identification of any person, firm, or entity affiliated with the entry.
• Not meeting the submission requirements.
• Not following the competition rules.
• An entry found not to be unique to the SixtyNine Seventy competition.

Registration fees will not be refunded for entries that are disqualified.
62
3.7 RULES OF THE COMPETITION
INDEMNIFICATION
Upon submittal, each entrant represents and warrants to AIA Utah that the submission
is a unique and original work, and does not infringe upon any copyright or other
intellectual or property right. In the event of a claim against entrant, AIA Utah, or any
affiliate of AIA Utah for infringement of a copyright or other intellectual or property
right as to the submission, entrant shall immediately notify AIA Utah of such claim.
Entrant shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless AIA Utah and its affiliates from
and against any loss, cost, expense, judgment, or liability arising out of or relating to
such claim, regardless of its merit or success. AIA Utah shall have the right, but not
the obligation, to participate in the defense against such claim, in which case entrant
shall pay the costs of such participation, including attorney fees.

3.8 SETTLEMENT, PUBLICATION AND DISPLAY

The unveiling of the results will be a two-step process in the spring of 2013. The initial
process will involve a closed jury selection of at least fifteen finalists as well as the two
jury selection winners. The finalists will then be prominently displayed, allowing
for a public input and voting period to determine a People’s Choice winner. Jury and
People’s Choice winners will be announced June 4, 2013.

63
3.9 USE RIGHTS OF THE COMPETITION ENTRIES
The purpose of the competition is to produce versatile and extensive ideas that identify
creative potential for the interstitial spaces on blocks 69 and 70 in Salt Lake City.
The competition entries may be used in part or whole by competition organizers
for purposes explained herein, but in all instances must attribute the work to the
originator. The entry images may be incorporated into any show, in any medium, for
presentation at the competition’s award ceremony, in any additional presentations or
publications (printed or electronic) produced by the Downtown Alliance or AIA Utah,
or any other materials used by these entities to announce the awards or educate the
public about the built environment. All images will be properly identified with credit
to the firm or designer as identified in this release. In no case does submission for
consideration in this competition imply transfer of ownership of prints, slides, digital
images, models, or animations, or the rights to use the material in any other manner
than that specified in this release.

64
3.10 RETURN OF THE COMPETITION ENTRIES
Entries that have not been awarded or redeemed can be collected from the competition
organizer two months after the competition has ended. The instructions for collecting
entries are available at: www.sixtynineseventy.com

AIA Utah will not ship or return entries by mail. Submission materials may be picked
up in person by June 24, 2013. Submission materials will not be held beyond that
time.

The competition organizer is not committed to storing any entries. AIA Utah will take
reasonable measures to protect submissions but will not be liable for their condition.

65
RESOURCES &
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Photo by Trevor Muhler Photography

4.1 RESOURCES
COMPETITION INFO + QUESTIONS:
www.sixtynineseventy.com

ZONING INFO:
http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codebook/index.php?book_id=672

HISTORIC PRESERVATION & GUIDELINES:

National Register of Historic Places
http://history.utah.gov/historic_buildings/national_register/index.html

Salt Lake City Historic Preservation Plan

www.slcdocs.com/Planning/Projects/CommunityPreservationPlan/AdoptedPlan.pdf

Salt Lake City Commercial Design Guidelines

www.slcdocs.com/Planning/Projects/HistoricPreservationUpdates/
CommercialGuidelines_Binder3.pdf

LOCAL PRINTING:
SBR Technologies Ferrari Color
2525 S. 900 W. 1550 South Gladiola St.
South Salt Lake City, Utah 84119 Salt Lake City, Utah 84104
Phone 801.486.1391 Phone 801.355.4124
Fax 801.486.2862
Phone 888.312.6567
info@e-SBR.com
Fax 801.355.4152
www.e-sbr.com
info.slc@ferraricolor.com
www.ferraricolor.com

*All resources available online under RESOURCES. This is not a comprehensive list.

67
4.2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DESIGN COMPETITION ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Greg Walker, Assoc. AIA, YAF Chair
VCBO Architects
Hannah Vaughn, Assoc. AIA, YAF
MHTN Architects
Benjamin Wiemeyer, YAF
Artist, Exhibit Designer at the Leonardo Museum for Science
Technology and Art
Robert Pinon, AIA, YAF
MHTN Architects
Chimso Onwuegbu, AIA, YAF
Onwuegbu Architects
Jacob Gines, Assoc. AIA, YAF
Assistant Visiting Professor, College of Architecture Art + Design, Mississippi
State University
Kirk Huffaker
Executive Director, Utah Heritage Foundation, SLC, UT
Lauren Brown
Farmer
Christopher Henderson
Exhibit Designer, The Leonardo Museum for Science Technology and Art;
Principal, Rexx Design
Heather Vance, AIACP
Executive Director, American Institute of Architects Utah Chapter

68
4.2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TASK FORCE
Jason Mathis - SixtyNine Seventy Task Force Chair
Executive Director, Downtown Alliance
Maura Carabello
Managing Partner, The Exoro Group
Jesse Dean
Assistant Director of Public Policy, Downtown Alliance
Geralyn Dreyfous
Founder, Utah Film Center
Nichole Dunn
Deputy Mayor, Salt Lake County
Luke Garrott
Salt Lake City Councilman
Helen Langan
Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Salt Lake City
Erin Litvack
Director, Salt Lake County Community Services
Stacy Rosenblatt
MoMA/PS1 Alumni
Greg Walker, Assoc. AIA
Young Architect’s Forum Chair, VCBO Architects

69
4.2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ADVISORS
Phil Jordan
Director, Salt Lake County Center for the Arts
Melinda Cavallaro
Salt Lake County Center for the Arts
Nole Walkingshaw
Salt Lake City Planning Program Supervisor
Valerie Price
Salt Lake County Public-Art Program Manager

SPECIAL THANKS
Scott Anderson
President and CEO, Zions First National Bank
D.J. Baxter
Executive Director, Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake
Ralph Becker
Salt Lake City Mayor
Alene Bentley
Customer and Community Manager, Rocky Mountain Power
Dennis Cecchini, AIA
CEO MHTN Architects; American Institute of Architects Utah
Chapter 2012 President
Peter Corroon
Former Salt Lake County Mayor
Mark Gibbons
President, City Creek Reserve, Inc.
David Hart, FAIA
MOCA Systems, Inc; American Institute of Architects Utah Chapter
2011 President

70
4.2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SPECIAL THANKS
Dustin Harris
Business Operations, Hines Management
Mike Hathorne
Land Planner, Suburban Land Reserve
Kirk Huffaker
Executive Director, Utah Heritage Foundation
Ben McAdams
Mayor, Salt Lake County
Adam Mow, AIA, Esq.
Jones Waldo, American Institute of Architects Utah Chapter 2013 President
William C. Miller, FAIA
Professor Emeritus, School of Architecture, University of Utah
Prescott Muir, FAIA
Director of the School of Architecture, University of Utah
Todd Olsen
Vice President, Dee’s Inc.
Wade Olsen
Vice President, Dee’s Inc.
Vasilios Priskos
Principal Broker and Founder, InterNet Properties
Brenda Scheer, AIA
Dean of the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Utah
Dain Smoland
Attorney at Law
Marc Vlasic, PLA, ASLA, AICP
Principal and President of Landmark Design

71
 THANKS TO OUR
GENEROUS DONORS
WHO HAVE MADE
THIS POSSIBLE

Packet design by:

Photo by Hannah Vaughn

Photo by Trevor Muhler Photography