The last time St. Louis hosted a design competition of this scale, Eero Saarinen’s soaring 630-foot design topped a field of 147 entries. This time, 49 teams entered CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation’s competition to transform the grounds surrounding the Gateway Arch, and the field’s been whittled to five. After the winner’s announced September 24, the team will rush toward completing the design by October 2015, the iconic landmark’s 50th anniversary. But just how capable are the finalists—and how high are the stakes?
The Teams
A look at the lead firms’ notable projects, local specialists, and more
Behnisch Architekten
Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany
Related Project: Pittsburgh River Park, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Local Support: H3 Studio, Peter MacKeith, Eric Mumford, Horner & Shifrin, Randy Burkett Lighting Design, Kwame Building Group,
Kiku Obata & Company, Vector Communications
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Headquarters: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Related Project: Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York City
Local Support: Vector Communications, ABNA Engineering
PWP, Foster+Partners, Civitas
Headquarters: Berkeley, Calif.; London; Denver, Colo.
Related Projects: World Trade Center Memorial, NYC; Trafalgar Square, London; Centennial Greenway, St. Louis
Local support: Vector Communications; Mackey Mitchell Architects; Crawford, Bunte, Brammeier; Cole & Associates; M3 Engineering Group; Code Consultants
SOM, Hargreaves, BIG
Headquarters: Chicago, San Francisco, Denmark
Related Projects: Millennium Park, Chicago; 21st Century Waterfront Park, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Copenhagen Harbour Bath
Local support: KAI Design & Build, Kiku Obata & Co., Randy Burkett Lighting Design, Vector Communications, Preservation Research Office, ABNA Engineering, Cohen Hilberry
Weiss/Manfredi
Headquarters: New York City
Related Project: Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, Wash.
Local support: SWT Design, Focus St. Louis, Added Dimension, Arcturis, Code Consultants,
John Kelly, Fred Fausz
The Oversight
Three officials weigh in on the project’s hurdles, funding, and scope:
Donald J. Stastny, Competition Manager, CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation
Scope: “This is definitely the most complex competition that we have put together. We have a whole lot of different systems...that have to be brought into some sort of compatibility.”
Funding: “You probably have a different funding source for every moving part” [e.g., park operations, infrastructure, transportation].
Reconfiguring I-70: “Until the new Mississippi River Bridge is complete [in 2014], a lot of the things...can’t even be started.”
Hurdle: “Finding a design concept that resolves these issues with a simplicity and integrity that we can move toward reality. It’s complex, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a complex solution.”
Tom Bradley, Superintendent, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Scope: “To some degree, it’s finishing what was started in 1947.”
Resolve: “I don’t pretend to know where we’re going to end up with this thing, but it’s going to be something that we’re working with a bunch of stakeholders to make fly.”
Funding: “With this 2015 deadline, it’s got to be something that’s pretty feasible.”
Goal: “To realize the potential of this park, we have to figure out how to weave it into the city.”
Bruce Lindsey, Dean of the College of Architecture, Washington University
Scope: “It encompasses a specific area of focus, but also a larger area of influence.”
Considerations: Transportation and infrastructure, landscape design, architecture, urban design, economic development…
Funding: A combination of public and private money reconfiguring I-70: “While I’m sure it would help with the connections, I’m not sure it’s the only solution.”
Historic Context: “Cities are alive and typically change slowly, but there are moments in the history of a city when things seem to change more or less all at once.”
For more on the Arch Grounds competition...
Click here for a primer of the five teams' plans.
Click here for an architect's take on the competition, including the City to River proposal.
