I.D. Magazine recently announced the winners of its 2008 Annual Design Review. In the Concepts category, Greg Matson and Phil Arias of JWT New York took the top honor for “The Datum Line.”

“If both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melt, sea levels will rise 80 feet, or, in city terms, 8 stories.” “We propose to turn off every light on the northern Midtown Park Avenue corridor except those on the 8th floor. For a night, pedestrians will be placed under what could be our new waterline. For a night, corporations will demonstrate how to prevent it.”

It’s a good concept for sure, reminiscent of artist Eve Mosher’s high water chalk line and last year’s Sea of People, which simulated what a 10 foot rise in sea level would look like for Step it Up 2007. And clearly, it’s a message that needs to be communicated to more people in new ways.