DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — I just read a press release talking about how the Norman Lear Center at USC is participating in the "State of Play Virtual Public Space Design Competition" at the State of Play conference to be held over the next few days in New York City. Another press release gives an overview of the competition:

As part of this year's conference, taking place on October 6-8 at New York Law School, a panel of professional architects, architectural theorists and game designers will select the designs, spaces and structures that best foster civic engagement, promote civil society, and strengthen the public sphere, while at the same time demonstrating artistic and aesthetic vision.

Basically it would appear to me that the Lear Center's participation in the NYC competition (whose entry deadline date had already passed by the time the Lear Center signed on) will be to invite the winners to submit their ideas to the ongoing Grand Intervention project.

I think this is a fascinating idea. A few systems out there, like There and Second Life offer very rich platforms on which to build worlds that people can wander into and engage. The feedback you can get is much more direct and experiential than you would ever get out of models or renderings.