The New York State Pavilion presides over Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York, like an alien spaceship that’s touched down and since been abandoned.

The whole structure, while instantly recognizable to locals, is rather mysterious. The circle of 100-foot columns, topped by a suspended roof made of colorful cables, was designed by Philip Johnson for the 1964-65 World’s Fair. The pavilion hasn’t had a proper use since the end of the fair decades ago, and is now a shadow of its former self. But advocates for its restoration compare its architectural significance in New York to Grand Central Station. In an editorial in the New York Daily News, Matthew Silva, a documentarian and co-founder of the restoration advocacy group People for the Pavilion, wrote:

Today, the thought of demolishing Grand Central Terminal seems ludicrous. I hope that one day we will feel the same way about the New York State Pavilion, when it is restored and we cannot imagine our city without it.

According to a report released by the Parks Department in 2013, restoring the structure would cost the city $53 million, while tearing it down would cost $14 million. But with the support of the Queens Borough President Melinda Katz–who has secured over $12 million in funding for the Pavilion restoration project–public opinion seems to have landed on revitalizing Johnson’s futuristic structure and making it a central public space in Queens, not unlike the High Line was for the West Side of Manhattan.

[Photo: MarkusBeck/iStock]

This year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation partnered with People for the Pavilion to raise awareness about Johnson’s masterpiece and bring it back to life. The first step? A competition that asked the local community, and architects and designers around the world, to radically reimagine what the Pavilion could be–while still respecting Johnson’s original vision.

“During that era, it was supposed to be a representation of what the future was going to be”

“I feel like now there’s this aligning of stars and there’s this tremendous amount of support from the local level and city level to do something with the structure,” said Salmaan Khan, co-founder of People for the Pavilion. Khan, who was born in Queens, has always found the Pavilion fascinating, and devotes his free time to raising awareness about its history. During the day, Khan works for Friends of the High Line as their manager of capital projects and planning, and has seen how Queens and the Bronx in particular have been overlooked in the ongoing efforts to revitalize public spaces in New York. “Flushing Meadows is the best park in New York City, to me,” Khan said, “and the most representative of the diversity of the city. The Pavilion is a natural center of the park.”

Khan believes the time has come for the Pavilion to become a central part of New York’s public space. “The interesting thing about the structure is that it was always meant to be a multi-functional public space,” Khan said. “When it was built for the fair it was used for performances and gallery openings.”

More than 250 ideas from all over the world were submitted to the competition. Here are a few of the winners.