Behnisch Team Arch Proposal - Full Narrative

BEHNISCH TEAM LOS ANGELES / AUGUST 2010
CONTENT 1 INTRODUCTION
A Continental Center, Civic Sustainability
2 RIVERCIRCLE!
A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE
A New Narrative for Civic Identity
New Monumentality - Life Around the River
Cultural Carrier
A Multi-Generational Commitment
3 GREAT RIVERS EXPO

Sustained, Integrated Regional Development
Feasibility Strategy - Public & Private Partnership and Management
Marketing | Branding
Community Engagement
4 DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Urban Quality - Places for People
Landscape - Developing a Model Urban National Park
Water – The Region's Lifeline
Infrastructure & Traffic
Energy Systems - Environmental Engineering
Art - Art to Enhance the Experience of the City
5 RIVERCIRCLE!
A DESIGN NARRATIVE
Orientation
Gateway Mall
Luther Ely Smith Square | City Pavilion
Memorial Boulevard
Washington Avenue Plaza
St. Louis Music Project
Poplar Street RecParc
Museum of the Arch and Westward Expansion
Arch Grounds
St. Louis River Balcony
Gondola
Eads Bridge
Mississippi River Amphitheater 'The Bend‘
East Levee Esplanade
Cultural Incubator
Resouce Center for the American Bottoms | The Great Rivers 'RCAB'
6 PROSPECTS
7 (APPENDIX)
Designing for Climate
City, Urban Design
Transportation, Trails
The Mississippi River
East St. Louis Riverfront
Universal Design, Accessibility
NPS, Historic Preservation
Structure
Presentation Boards
BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS 1

A CONTINENTAL CENTER, CIVIC SUSTAINABILITY
Situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, at the virtual center of
the United States, the St. Louis region has historically drawn together and assimilated
the energies of the North American continent. Sculpted by water and time, and
INTRODUCTION further reformed by cultivation, settlement and industrialization, this central continental
landscape possesses a diverse ecology, a complex urbanity, and a rich architectural
heritage. While the Gateway Arch, and the Archgrounds setting, offers a strong iconic
identity for St. Louis, the region’s heart is centered in its people and their commitment
to its many neighborhoods, public places and civic spaces.
Over one hundred years ago, St. Louisans hosted the world in two simultaneous
international events, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Olympics of 1904.
Over fifty years ago, St. Louisans reconceived their historic riverfront in order to erect a
great national symbol – one that would reflect the ambitions and values of those prior
American generations who had settled the West – and then become an internationally
recognized, magnetic emblem of both the city and nation. Now, the National Park
Service and St. Louisans initiate an equal collaborative commitment to grounding their
great Arch in an expanded Arch grounds: a new design for contemporary challenges,
one that will not only respect those historic ambitions, but contemplate new, sustainable
ones, for the city and for the nation. While we speak of “sustainability” in terms of
environmental awareness and responsibility or calculated, technological solutions, this
civic history of St. Louis affirms for us another dimension to sustainable design – that of
duration, of a lasting responsibility to multiple generations in the same place.
4 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS

In St. Louis, Joan feels, the city starts with good food. Standing at her FRESH restaurant stall on top of the Eads Bridge,
looking downriver at the blooming Arch grounds and gleaming Arch, catching her breath after the first rush of grazers
has passed at the spring EATS BRIDGE FESTIVAL, she’s pleased with her 50-mile organic menu for the day, and just as
pleased to see her colleagues from around the city sharing their wealth of cuisine, fine dining, and country cooking
alongside her. No, really, she thinks, contrary to popular beliefs – it’s all about the Cardinals, or, it’s all about where you
went to high school, or, even, it’s all about the Arch – no, it really is, was, and will be, all about the food. The city was
truly a place of cultivation. She’d done her homework before moving here from Denver (leaving behind an unhappy
hotelier and a disappointed chef d’hotel – her desserts were that good), to come learn real “continental cooking” from
Gerard Craft at Niche. Why, Cahokia Mounds had been at the center of the largest corn-based agricultural economy in
1100 AD, right? And Lewis and Clark (and the French and Spanish before them), had made camp and gathered their
strength here in the ‘Lou before mapping the Louisiana Purchase, right? And what about the ’04 World’s Fair – ice cream
cones, to be sure! True, there would always be A-B (even from here, she can see the brewery stacks – but that was
Mississippi water, right?), but Schlafly was no longer micro- at all – their appeal had gone national…and the Missouri
and southern Illinois wine country had really taken off in the last decade. No, really, it was all about the food, she knows
– from the waiters at Tony’s, to the brothers at Bar Italia and Zoe at I Fratellini, from the local farmers that supplied her
as much the folks who tasted Pappy’s BBQ in Madison Square Park every year in the Big Apple (and by the way, where
did Danny Meyer grow up anyway?): the tastes of St. Louis were known, the real cultivation of the place was known.
This EATS BRIDGE event proved it year in and year out, too, she thinks, shading her eyes to look down at the people
streaming down the Gateway Mall, milling around the new entrance to the Arch, thronging the revitalized Memorial
Boulevard: this is a city that appreciates its many flavors, scents and cultures. Joan inhales them all on the bridge, eyes
the Arch grounds once more, says to herself softly, “That’s not an Arch grounds, that’s a place of cultivation,” and turns
back to the FRESH table. She thinks: I like the taste of this city.
A NEW NARRATIVE FOR CIVIC IDENTITY
The 1947 Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Competition stands as a testament to

a bold civic and national vision of the future. Eero Saarinen’s narrative for his winning
JNEM design, “An Imaginary Tour of the Proposed Jefferson National Expansion Memo-
RIVERCIRCLE! rial,” outlined an experience of the Arch and Archgrounds which, while inspiring, also
A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE emphasized the singular, static, perfected, highly visual and ultimately isolated nature of
the design: this was a monument reflective of its time, technology and outlook. We live
in a different world in many ways – and St. Louis is a different city now in many ways –
and we therefore propose a new design narrative to expand and invigorate Saarinen and
Kiley’s achievements. Our design narrative cautions against conventional monumental
responses to the grandeur of Saarinen and Kiley’s ambitions; such gestures, we believe,
could not represent the diversity of St. Louis, its citizens, and its landscapes. Instead, our
new narrative espouses diverse and multiple perspectives, a dynamic conception of city
and landscape, the tactile and the experiential, the contingent and the imperfect, all with
the ambition of promoting heightened civic identity and engaged public activity.
A NEW MONUMENTALITY - LIFE AROUND THE RIVER
Our proposed new design narrative suggests a reconceived understanding of “monu-

mentality,” in urban, architectural, and landscape architectural terms. The Archgrounds’
closest relative in American urban design culture is the National Mall of Washington,
D.C., the great lawn of the nation, organized axially by memorials or government
institutions, bounded by avenues, and occupied by a selective number of monuments,
memorials, and museums. With respect to the National Mall, the nation’s landscape is
sufficiently expansive to contain a parallel space of national character. We propose a
new, equivalent, urban landscape for the continental center, organized but not boun-
ded by the flow of the great Mississippi River, and encircled around and across it by an
aggregate of well-scaled, highly accessible, distinctive public places, parks, promenades,
performance stages, resource centers and recreation fields. The River runs through it all –
and is thereby granted status as more than an economic or industrial resource, but as a
carrier of American culture, in both real and metaphorical ways. As an organizing spatial
concept, this encircling sequence of public activities, all centered on life lived around the
Mississippi, is captured by the compound noun RIVERCIRCLE.

A RIVER OF CULTURE
Throughout human history cities have had a tendency toward territorial expansion.
Often sites of first settlement lose their central significance and new, more vigorous
offshoots eventually take their place. Ancient Rome and modern Rome are not exactly
on the same site, just as many successful American metropolitan areas no longer focus
so intensively on their historic downtowns. Yet in many cases there is often a reluctance
to abandon the cultural capital embodied in historic centers. This has been abundantly
true in St Louis, despite many dire warnings since 1947 that the central city was obso-
lete, and best left to ”lie fallow” for generations. Although the river travel and rail based
reasons for the centrality of this downtown have been superceded by the easy availabity
of automotive transportation, the river-centered city’s cultural significance in the region
has not diminished. Yet activating St. Louis’ river-based downtown in a way that we now
identify with urban life—with pedestrian vitality, a wide range of activities, and extensive
access to natural areas along the riverfront itself—has proven to be difficult.
The Behnisch Team prosposal advances ideas that will greatly increase the magnetic pull
of the Archgrounds, its adjacent riverfront and the proximate territories of downtown St.
Louis and East St. Louis. The RIVERCIRCLE we propose is a powerful and effective spatial
framework by which to effect a positive, deeply cultural, urban transformation of the
city, the river and the Arch. For us, the River is the central actor in this transformation:
it is dynamic ecology, cultural flow, economic conduit and fluid parkway. Compelled by
this vision, we believe that this team, with its international, national and local members,
will better help St Louis achieve the goals for the riverfront that it has long sought.
A MULTI-GENERATIONAL COMMITMENT
The RIVERCIRCLE urban landscape proposal presents a flexible, durable framework for
the evolution of the Archgrounds within the larger milieu of St. Louis and East St. Louis,
addressing the many current stakeholder interests on both sides of the river. We recog-
nize that transformation towards a better city and regional core will only materialize as
the result of a process where the funds invested and the changes made are grounded in
local citizen and visitor acceptance, reflecting local needs and wishes. The RIVERCIRCLE
proposal outlines a framework for rapid, yet thoughtful,development that can begin now,
yet will also allow future generations to continue to enhance the urban environment of
the St Louis region. We recognize that as designers we cannot always accurately pre-
dict what the future will bring. At the same time, this project identifies those magnetic
aspects of urban living and working that we know from extensive existing research to
be among the key ingredients of urban success. This project is intended not only for the
people of St Louis today, but also for 2015, and the many generations that will follow
and reside in this region.

In St. Louis, Carol thinks, all you heard about growing up was the Arch…that stupendous, gleaming bend of stainless
steel on the banks of the river; it was always just there – on the horizon, at the distant end of Market Street, past the
periphery of Busch Stadium during a Cardinals game. And you went dutifully, on a school trip or two, or to show family
friends visiting from out of town, and then perhaps to Fair St. Louis on a Fourth of July weekend, to see the fireworks
arching over the river. But, she muses, as she rises above the great river in a cable-stayed, smoothly gliding gondola car:
that was all before – before the competition, which had proposed such ideas and initiative for both sides of the river (and
generated its fair share of debate!); before those fantastic build-up events, anticipating new vitality to downtown and
the east and west banks of the river – really, who could have imagined Memorial Drive as a riverside beach, complete
with the world’s longest temporary outdoor swimming pool, or Taste St. Louis stretching across Eads Bridge, or the river
itself dyed pink for the most recent Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure – the largest crowd of runners and walkers in
the nation streaming across the Eads and the Poplar Street bridges in a gorgeous loop of hope around the Arch – who
could have imagined? That was all before, too - before the construction, finally bridging the gap across the interstate,
then transforming the east bank levee into a tree-lined promenade, then lacing the bridges and city streets together with
the park, then (oh, so wonderfully) sending a line of gondola cars wafting above the river – and definitely before today,
October 15, 2015, the day of the ribbon cutting for the new Gateway Museum below the Arch, the opening events
for Festival St. Louis – the nation’s largest commissioned installation of public art situated in the newly restored Ameri-
can Bottoms park on the east bank – in sum, as the designers had advocated since 2010, the inauguration of an Arch
grounds landscape on both sides of the Mississippi, a new national mall worthy of the Arch, the city, and the continental
center of the nation at long last. Seeing all this from the gondola car windows, hearing the exclamations of the visitors
around her, Carol thinks, this is now, this is here, in my city, in my life – a place I be proud of, a place I can come to again
and again, a place of Arch and Arch grounds, a place I know as home.
SUSTAINED, INTEGRATED REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The RIVERCIRCLE urban landscape concept, framing urban, landscape, architectural

and artistic activity, is the physical manifestation of a long-term, integrated regional
development vision, an encircling strategic plan and organization we propose as THE
GREAT RIVERS EXPO.
THE GREAT RIVERS EXPO envisions the long-term planning, coordination and completion
of an international, national and local exhibition of art, architecture and landscape
architecture installations. As such, we specify it further as an International Building and
Landscape Exhibition. The Expo is partly an exhibition in the classic, architectural sense,
but is also a federal and state-supported entity that oversees individual redevelopment
projects and an overarching development plan. A diverse, curated portfolio of art,
landscape and architecture projects will be developed over time rather than developed
as a single event.
THE GREAT RIVERS EXPO expands St. Louis’ neighborhood, municipal and regional
approach towards the revitalization and sustenance of a valued district of the St. Louis
region (so successfully demonstrated by Forest Park Forever), to a municipal, regional,
national and international approach focused on the development, redevelopment and
sustenance of valued municipal districts in two cities and states, and a treasured national
park.

THE GREAT RIVERS EXPO’s mission, mandate and timeframe illustrate the most productive
contemporary thinking in the ecological and economic regeneration of a former industrial
RIVERCIRCLE!
region; the Expo’s methods, funding and designs will emphasize a ”sustained vitality” for
the region, with particular regard for the recuperation, remediation and restoration of the
east side territories. The proposed 5-year mandate of the Great Rivers Expo - culminating
St. Louisstone
in the 2015 Anniversary of the Arch Festival - will be the stepping Missourito initiate l East an St.even Louis Illinois
The Rivercircle proposes the formulation of a exible framework for the evolution of the Arch Grounds that is mindful of all real and cur-
grander 10 to 15 year economic and physical reconstruction of the largely underutilized
rent stakeholder interests but also an ability to be able to put in motion a framework for development that will allow future generations
and partially contaminated area along both sides of the Mississippi,
to develop the urbannext to the
environment heart
of St Louis along of
needs and wishes that we cannot understand from our position today.
Operating with a balanced catalogue of quick wins and long-term goals this project identies those aspects of living, working and visiting
downtown St Louis and reaching across to the City of East St Louis and the American
cities that we know from research and lessons learnt to be of timeless value.
Bottoms region.
By effecting model, catalytic projects encircling the river - rather than a traditional
single focused masterplan - we propose to develop a more diverse cultural landscape
with endeavors both large and small. The new valuation and representation of design
and ecology, in concert with the natural environment of the River, can shape the 2015
region’s future more effectively than the typical regulatory approach to a depleted
1960
and underutilized urban landscape, or the conventional market-driven development St. Louis, a fragmen
approaches to available land.
1904 Summer Olympics, St. Louis
2010 Great Rivers Expo Begins

Memorial Competition
1904 World’s Fair, St. Louis
1948 National Expansion
2065 100th Anniversary

Memorial Opens
Celebration
Celebration
2010
2015
2065
1900 1950 2000 2050
Great Rivers Expo - A tradition within history
FEASIBILITY STRATEGY - PUBLIC & PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
The NPS has indicated its intention to partner with members of city, regional,
national groups and associations, in a collaborative effort mutually responsible for the
administration, overhaul of buildings and open spaces, ongoing re-naturalization efforts
of the landscapes, and plan and shape their utilization. The organization is such that
private investors and donors should be able to participate in the plan. A foundation –
our proposed Great Rivers Expo - would spearhead the development of cultural programs
opening and animating the site. The cultural program is intended to develop the site into
a cultural and tourism attraction in the Region. We have developed a feasibility plan and
associated cost forecast. These are shown in the appendices. Both follow the same
structure, which groups the concept elements into phased Stages.
Stage One work executes construction over a two year period ending in late 2012. It
consists of multiple projects, most of which are independent of each other; we have
grouped these into Gateway Mall Projects, Washington Avenue Plaza Projects, Poplar
Street Bridge Projects, as well as Archgrounds and East Riverfront Projects. These
individual projects, with some exceptions, are not inter-dependent and can be bid
independently or in groups of similar work.
Stage Two work takes many conceptual projects and implements them over a 30 month
period starting in late 2012. Many of these concepts are in the $1 - $5 million range and
can be bid out to small business contractors. Larger projects that are independent of
each other and which can be let as individual projects are:
• New Museum of the Arch and Westward Expansion
• Mississippi Gondola
• St. Louis Music Project
• The Great Rivers / American Bottoms Resource Center
• Mississippi River Amphitheater ‘The Bend’
•Two projects for streetcar lines

TIMELINE
Now! : Quick Wins
Our project does not have a completion date in 2015.

We believe that the process has already started and that
there are opportunities to introduce first interventions in
2010. Our aggressive phasing strategy is not proposing
a breakneck fast-track procurement method, rather a
process where opportunities commence with select key
‘Quick Win’ projects – these are exhibited to signal to
the people of St. Louis that the process has begun.
Before 2015 : Gaining Momentum
We propose that the city begin transforming four key

entrance gateways into the Arch grounds immediately
with low cost initiatives that take place in the public
right-of-way, in close dialogue with adjacent building
stakeholders that are informed of the further phasing
and process.

2015: New Perspectives
Festival St Louis! In 2015 the Arch celebrates its 50th

anniversary; the moment offers an opportunity to make
the Archgrounds a local destination with new program
celebrating the Arch again.
Future: Sustained Vitality
Provision of a sustainable long range plan for the citizens

of St. Louis and East St. Louis. A framework plan with
built-in flexibility allowing for many different uses and
developments in the future.

MARKETING | BRANDING
The main goal of any marketing strategy should be to engage people emotionally with
the project. Emphasizing both the past and the future, the Archgrounds offer a vast
potential for such engagement through architecture, art, design, music, media as well as
culture, education and science.
Comprehensive and target oriented marketing which makes the site even more known
on a regional, national and international level, is an essential element for success. Tour-
ists, people interested in culture, architecture, art and music lovers should consider a
visit to the Arch grounds and the East Side across the Eads Bridge a must. Additionally
business people, entrepreneurs and investors must be targeted and enthused about the
location. More importantly, a campaign that is targeted towards St. Louis and its own
population as a way for its citizens to rediscover the Arch grounds on the Mississippi River
as an asset for recreation, leisure, culture, research, and education.
POSTERS BILLBOARDS T-SHIRTS
QUARTERLY PUBLICATIONS BLOG / WEBPAGE T-SHIRTS

CAST OF CHARACTERS
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Collective ambitions are always more easily realized where we find citizens who care
deeply about their built environment. At all phases, it is vitally important to involve the
community to address St. Louis and East St. Louis resident issues with those of visitors
and different user groups. We strongly suggest identifying key stakeholders early on, to
understand their issues relative to the project, such that the public’s aspirations, issues
and concerns can be voiced. We will implement innovative, yet appropriate, methods
to enhance public engagement among diverse populations; accordingly paralleling
the Design Team who will inspire a captivating dialogue with the community through
narratives, renderings and models, each of which are highly illustrative and interactive.
Together, our team will focus and refine the goals and aspirations of the National Park
Service. As Partners, we are all committed to creating a collaborative team atmosphere
in which transparency and vigorous dialogue align design solutions with the goals and
aspirations of the NPS. As Partners, we are each vested in creating a collaborative team
atmosphere. Transparency and vigorous dialogue, in a provocative communicative
process, result in optimal solutions that respect and preserve the unique heritage,
historical elements and characteristics of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the
cities of St. Louis and East St. Louis and the River.

In St. Louis, Sasha inhales the fragrances of a really green spring day wafting through the air on the east side of the
River: she would not have missed this day for the world – but then, every day spent with Alex, her Big Sister, seemed
to be something special. Today, though, Sasha thinks, Alex positively glows with enthusiasm. Sasha remembers asking
Alex to show her “a few of her favorite things”, and Alex has brought her here, to this circular drum-like building in the
new parklands across the Eads Bridge, a place Alex calls the Great Rivers Resource Center, full of flowers, and plants,
and guides and lots of hands-in-the-dirt stuff to do. She’d liked the place from the start – one spiraling ramp curved
throughout the inside of the drum (she’d run up and down that immediately – at the top of the ramp she found the Arch
out there on the river horizon!)…as much fun as the zoo, she thinks. Alex seems to be having just as much fun, Sasha
thinks – she seems to know the names of just about all the plants and how they grow, and what made them special to
St. Louis; these were subjects she had in her landscape architecture program at Wash U…funny name for a school, Sasha
smiles. Ha, then there was the funny name of the parklands – the American Bottoms Nature Reserve, the guide had said
– and Sasha giggles at the thought again (Alex had giggled, too, so it must be alright!). Funny, too, in a different, more
thrilling way, to imagine that sometimes this whole area had been flooded by the river, and maybe would be again soon
– and that that was expected to happen, that that was what rivers did. And then, Sasha thinks, now I know that’s what
has to happen to make the parklands come alive. Alex is gesturing at the end of the ramp, motioning her outside. Under
the canopy of the trees, a friendly woman is pouring glasses of an iced drink; “it’s elderberry tea,” Alex tell her, and
Sasha sips the new flavor gratefully. The sun through the tree leaves dapples her face. Sasha inhales the fragrances again.
She smiles, looks up at Alex and says brightly, “The air is green!”
The Behnisch Team introduced itself in the first phase of the competition by emphasizing
its collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to the complexity of the challenges
DESIGN posed by ”The City, The River, and The Arch.” The character of the public places
and landscapes we propose to encircle the city, the river and the arch emerge from
PRINCIPLES this collective method. As outlined in executive summary here, and as detailed in the
appendices of the prospectus, our designs weave together information, knowledge
and accumulated wisdom drawn from collaborations and consultancies in architecture,
landscape architecture and ecology, urban design, hydrology and limnology, traffic
and infrastructure, energy and environmental design, structural engineering, historical
scholarship, constructional and contracting timelines – to name the most prominent.
Above all, we have endeavored to work with a fundamental concern for the everyday
lives of those residing in the St. Louis region and those visiting it – their daily activities
as much as the celebrations of the grand events of the year, their hopes and ambitions
for their cities and landscape as much as their sense of national identity. These, then, are
our design principles.
URBAN QUALITY - PLACES FOR PEOPLE
We believe that we can improve urban quality for the people of St. Louis. To achieve
this goal we will make sure that all planning and design proposals emerging out of our
RIVERCIRCLE concept will be based on the close relationship between people’s natural use
of public spaces and the physical character and form of the built environment.
We believe that by allowing the aspirations for the public realm to drive the design
process for RIVERCIRCLE, improved and new public spaces can serve as places for all,
while embracing the unique qualities of the local context on both sides of the Mississippi
River. RIVERCIRCLE shall open up, invite and include people, provide different activities
and possibilities and thereby invite and ensure multiplicity and diversity.
PROJECT AWARD
SEP. 2010
CHOUTEAU‘S LANDING SKATING COMPETITION CLOSE CHESTNUT FOR ICE SKATING

A QUICK WIN
WASHINGTON AVE. MILE LONG GARAGE SALE
A QUICK WIN POPLAR S
A QUICK WIN
QUICK WINS - TEMPORARY EVENTS
CLOSE CHESTNUT FOR ICE SKATING
PERMANENT EVENT PLATFORMS A QUICK WIN
ARBOR DAY TREE PLANTING FAIR ST. LOUIS POPLAR STREET NOISE BARRIER
A QUICK WIN JULY 4TH POPLAR STREET CELEBRATION FESTIVAL
EVENT / FESTIVAL
PUBLIC ART IN
PUBLIC ART AND BUILT EXHIBIT OPENINGS ON THE MISSISSI
LAND ART AND EXHIBIT OPENINGS ESL TREE NURSERY ESTABLISHED CLOSE EADS FOR 'TASTE OF ST. LOUIS ' FOOD FESTIVAL
PLANS AND TREES FOR ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION A QUICK WIN
LANDSCAPE / ECOLOGY QUICK WINS ESL EQUINOX FESTIVAL
VICTORY PARTY ON EADS
LANDSCAPE / ECOLOGY PROJECTS A QUICK WIN CYCLE PATH CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
POPLAR STREET SPORTS CONSTRUCTION
POPLAR STREET NOISE BARRIER
CITY LIFE / PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
STAGE 1 : NOW!
2011

LANDSCAPE / DEVELOPING A MODEL URBAN NATIONAL PARK
The idea of the Archgrounds as a local park challenges the prevailing perception that
urban national parks are sacred precincts and islands in the city. The idea demands the
Archgrounds contribute positively to the quality of public life, reaching out to the City and
the River with physical, social, and ecological connections.
The edges of the park, once barriers, are transformed into meeting places such as
promenades, plazas, gardens and markets, including at the north end the St. Louis
Music Project, at the south end the Poplar Street Recreation Park, a renewed pedestrian
Memorial Boulevard and Luther Ely Square, and new entries for the Archgrounds
Museum. The interior of the park is activated by a network of accessible strolling paths,
events and activity nodes, strategically located to draw visitors from the downtown
throughout the grounds. Ecological improvements reaffirm the importance of the
Mississippi River and set a new standard of environmental awareness for urban national
parks.
STREET SPORTS OPEN UP AND OVER - THE EAST RIVERBANK OPENING

A QUICK WIN
PUBLIC ART OPENING
GATEWAY MALL I-70 CAPPED PUBLIC ART OPENING
GATEWAY MALL
EXTREME SPORT TOURNAMENT GRAND OPENING
CYCLE PATH OPENS ESLENERGY
BIO-COMPOSTING OPENS CITY PAVILION OPENS
CONFLUENCE RACE ESL RIVERFRONT FLORA AND FAUNA INVENTORY GENERATION AND SOIL REMEDIATION CHESTNUT STREET FESTIVAL ST
FAIR ST. LOUIS A QUICK WIN FAIR ST. LOUIS AQ
JULY 4TH ARBOR DAY TREE PLANTING JULY 4TH
ARBOR DAY TREE PLANTING A QUICK WIN CHANGING LANDSCAP
NSTALLATION A QUICK WIN PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION GATEWAY MALL
IPPI LIVE ON THE LEVEE ON THE MISSISSIPPI ON THE MISSISSIPPI
ARCH GROUNDS CONCERT
LIVE ON THE LEVEE

WASHINGTON PLAZA MARKET EAST RIVERBANK PARK CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
OPENING ESL EQUINOX FESTIVAL CHESTNUT PAVILION CONSTRUCTION BEGINS MEMORIAL BLVD. TRANSFORMATION AND PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
I-70 CAP CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
MUSIC PROJECT CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
NEW SERVICE FACILITY CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
WASHINGTON PLAZA CONSTRUCTION EADS BRIDGE IMPROVEMENTS STUDY BEGINS
STAGE 2 : GAINING MOMENTUM

2012
2013
2014

WATER – THE REGION’S LIFELINE
The Mississippi River has been the lifeline of St. Louis for centuries, an economic engine
transporting people and goods to distant markets and bringing people to the city over
the past several centuries. Today, the Mississippi River is still a working river, with
millions of tons of cargo passing by the arch yearly, providing a continuing economic
driver for the St. Louis area. In addition to the economic benefits it provides, the river is
central to other activities, including recreation and tourism. The river is also an invaluable
natural ecosystem, providing critical habitat for diverse flora and fauna, and is a flyway for
migratory birds moving north in the spring and south in the fall. The Mississippi River is a
dynamic river, with a watershed of almost 697,000 square miles upstream of St. Louis,
and water levels that rise and fall significantly over the four seasons in St. Louis. A 30
foot difference between annual flood flows and low flows is typical in St. Louis. Our
design makes consistent, diverse references to the River’s central presence and restores it
to its proper place in the everyday lives of St. Louis citizens.
EADS UNVEILED MEMORIAL BLVD. OPENS LEONOR K. SULLIVAN TEMPORARY URBAN BEACH
PPED PUBLIC ART OPENING
ART FESTIVAL
PUBLIC ART OPENING
FESTIVAL
PUBLIC ART OPENING A QUICK WIN PUBLIC
ST. LOUIS MUSIC PROJECT
GATEWAY MALL GATEWAY MALL GATEWAY MALL GATEWAY
NING
AVILION OPENS GRAND OPENING
OLD RAIL TRACK ART PLATFORM
TREET FESTIVAL STORMWATER DEMONSTRATION GARDEN FIRST SHOW CELEBRATING ESL INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
A QUICK WIN FAIR ST. LOUIS
JULY 4TH WINTER FEST
CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT FEBRUARY 1ST CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANG
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION GATEWAY MALL PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION MEMORIAL BLVD. GATEWAY
ON THE MISSISSIPPI LIVE ON THE LEVEE MEMORIAL BLVD. MEMORIAL BLVD.
ARCH GROUNDS CONCERT SERIES
EADS UNVEILED
2015
ART FESTIVAL MEMORIAL BLVD. LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT

CITY BALCONY CONSTRUCTION BEGINS FIRST SHOW CELEBRATING THE NEW PUBLIC REALM
MEMORIAL BLVD. TRANSFORMATION AND PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES CONSTRUCTION BEGINS RESOURCE CENTER CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
‚THE BEND‘ AMPHITHEATER CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
GONDOLA CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
LITY CONSTRUCTION BEGINS MUSEUM CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
STAGE 3 : NEW PERSPECTIVES JANUARY FEBRUARY

2014

INFRASTRUCTURE & TRAFFIC
Our plan to rethink the Arch grounds area takes both the long and the short view
of changes to traffic and transportation. Cities are dynamic organisms which evolve
alongside technology. St. Louis was first a river town - mules, rafts, ferries, and
steamboats - then a rail town, then a car town. As each became omnipresent, the city
altered itself and was altered. In rethinking the access to, from, and around the Arch we
look to the future to harness the next version of traffic.
Perhaps the most important concurrent development to this project is the construction of
the new bridge over the Mississippi River. Our team proposes to take advantage of this
new conduit to reassess traffic downtown. We are interested in people driving into town,
parking and walking. Once safely parked, people will be able to walk and bike without
concern for high-speed through traffic imperiling their quality of life. Our plan sees
downtown St. Louis as a destination, not a way-station.
Equally, alongside this shift in automotive dependence, we seek to emphasize options

in public transport – the Metro light-rail and bus systems, the installation of two new
trolley lines – as well as increased accessibility and ease of movement for cyclists and
pedestrians throughout the design terrritory.
C ART OPENING RESOURCE CENTER CITY BALCONY PUBLIC ART OPENING

Y MALL GRAND OPENING GRAND OPENING ARCH GROUNDS
ARCH GROUNDS TREE REPLACEMENT

ARCH GROUNDS PUBLIC SPACE NETWORK TRANSFER CEREMONY
GRAND OPENING
EQUINOX FEST
GING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT MARCH 31ST CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT
Y MALL MEMORIAL BLVD. ARCH GROUNDS PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION GATEWAY MALL
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION MEMORIAL BLVD. GATEWAY MALL
EADS BRIDGE
LANDSCAPE ART OPENING
CULTURAL INCUBATOR EAST RIVERBANK PARK ARCH GROUNDS LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT
GRAND OPENING FIRST SHOW CELEBRATING THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF MISSISSIPPI
MARCH APRIL MAY

ENERGY SYSTEMS / ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
The term 'sustainable design' has many interpretations. The Bruntland Report, which
illustrated the widespread concern for the state of environment and popularized the
phrase “sustainable development,” defined it as a way to “meet the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
For building design and urban development to embody this ethic of sustainable
development, it ought not only to enable reduced resource consumption but also foster
environmental awareness on the part of building occupants and society at large.
To achieve this, the designer must be attentive to the following measures, not only in
terms of their technical performance but in the more or less subtle ways in which they
raise awareness:
1.Energy efficiency
2.Water conservation
3.Quality of the built outdoor environment
4.Quality of the built indoor environment
5.Material efficiency (minimizing environmental footprint from construction)
6.Flexibility for a future change in use
A sustainable approach to environmental control begins with attention to existing

conditions. This identifies not only challenges to a comfortable climate but also the
most direct, non-invasive ways to meet them. The most challenging climatic problems
are often solved by passive means, using other complimentary aspects of the climate.
When approaching a site with potential sustainable design alternatives, a thorough
understanding and sensitivity toward ecosystems and natural processes is needed. Specific
site conditions are analyzed to determine which possible sustainable solutions are most
pragmatic and cost effective.

ART / ART TO ENHANCE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE CITY
Works of art prove an invaluable addition to our world having the ability to provide
access to new areas of our reality beyond the realms of our built environment. Public
art has the potential to bring cultural expression out into the public realm, playing a key
role in intensifying the urban experience. We would consider a variety of performance
and land art inspired public art installations, some of which are permanent and some of
which are temporary as a valuable additional attraction. Water sculptures could bring
the positive qualities of water closer to the downtown, a spectacular artificial cloud
could appear at the Riverfront, or even in under the Arch. We would also consider
permanent installations of ground level daylight enhancement sculptures, or audio-visual
installations in some areas. All of the public art concepts and situations have a common
goal: to positively affect our perception by amplifying the unique character of the place.
We propose to use a two-stage public art commissioning strategy to enhance and
transform areas of the site in an open dialogue with local and visiting visual artists.
We seek to intensify the urban experience through the transformation of the three
proposed new minor “gateways” into the Arch grounds through temporary or
permanent art installations. These installations would signal these new public places
and give the passer-by a new and different experience of a familiar environment; they
might cause pedestrians to take a different route than originally planned and open new
perspectives.
The regional destination character of the site could be significantly strengthened through
strategically placed and conceived public art of the highest international standard. The
international public art contributions will be funded by the National Park Service and the
City of St. Louis and East Louis.

In St. Louis, Xiao Feng considers, as he rides into the
city’s downtown on the Metro Red Line from the
Lambert Airport, he has surely come to a regular
American river city – small to be sure (an estimate
relative, he knows, to his Shanghai), post-industrial (as
he understood the phrase from his lectures at Tongji
University), cultured in the more typical American
ways, probably – baseball, he had heard, was nearly a
religion to the citizens. But, here too was McDonnell
–Douglas, he knows all too well, and Monsanto, and
yes, the Budweiser beer that had sponsored the Beijing
Olympics not too many years ago, and the great
research universities – here, there is work for him,
contacts to make, business to initiate. The Red Line
works effectively, he thinks, fending off jet-lag, and
then, there on the evening horizon is the unmistakable
illuminated Arch that is known around the world as
the icon of the city. Fantastic, he smiles, his spirits
lifting – as if the form has fallen from the sky to the
riverbank in the middle of the city. There’s his hotel to
be found in the downtown district, he knows, as he
emerges from the Gateway Mall underground station
– to a symphony playing the final suite of Handel’s
“Water Music” (he recollects his sister’s obsession with
classical music) on the sloping lawn underneath the
suddenly overwhelming upward reach of the Arch,
to a magnificent shower of fireworks arcing out from
the riverbank below and the exuberant applause of
thousands of listeners and onlookers spread out across
the plazas, pedestrian streets and park-places in front
of him. A leaflet is thrust into his hand – printed in
English, French, Spanish, German he recognizes, and
his own Mandarin: “St. Louis welcomes the world!
Join us for Festival St. Louis! Join us for a celebration
of the Great Rivers! Join us for David Robertson’s St.
Louis Symphony Orchestra and the greatest assembly
of rhythm, blues and jazz on the riverbanks! Join us at
the new national mall, the Arch grounds of America!”
Xiao Feng has to stop, in some wonderment: it is
not the Fourth of July, he knows, but the citizens are
out on this October night, in a celebration of the city
itself, it seems – there are tens of thousands of people
milling among rows of open air kiosks, amid scents
of barbeque, cornbread. He scans the street signs,
discovers he is not far from his hotel - but then, just
as suddenly, finds he cannot move: on the riverstage
in front of him, a single figure, guitar slung over his
shoulder, picks out a familiar sequence of chords. The
hotel can wait, he thinks, I may never have a chance
to hear Chuck Berry again. He re-considers, humming
“Johnnie B Good”: not really a regular river city after
all.
Orientation
Given the design strategy of the Great Rivers Expo and the RIVERCIRCLE! will provide
the physical framework for visitors to experience the many new and diverse places
and events. Approaching the River and the Memorial from the new and revitalized
RIVERCIRCLE! Gateway Mall the visitor will enter Luther Ely Smith Square which now serves as a
A DESIGN NARRATIVE true interface between the Courthouse and the Arch, and one will cross a redesigned
and enhanced Memorial Boulevard, which now features a new pedestrian and retail
oriented transtition zone between the Arch grounds and downtown St Louis. On both
ends of Memorial Blvd new nodes of ativity emerge as part of a strategy to reconnect:
The visitor will be able to visit Washington Avenue Plaza which will become a place
for markets and other temporary events on the northern end of Memorial Blvd; on the
southside one will be able to overlook Poplar Street Rec Parc which will become a new
destination for sports and recreational activity connecting Chouteau’s Landing with the
Arch grounds.
From Memorial Boulevard the visitor will be able to walk over and into to the Arch
grounds with the new Entrance to the Museum of the Arch and Westward Expansion,
leading down and into the Museum itself, or passing through towards the base of the
Arch towering above, and the River stretching out in front. A series of different new
temporary events and places such as small intimate seating areas, an outdoor reading
room,an ice cream stand, a kiosk, just to name a few, one will be able to occupy in
various places within the Arch Grounds, while walking about the newly landscaped
areas, the lagoons, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea at the new Museum’s Cafe sitting on
the outdoor terrace overlooking the northern pond.
The visitor will be able to take a Gondola ride across the river from the new Gondola
Station next to the southern overlook, an exciting new attraction and part of the
Rivercircle experience with beautiful views up and down the river and towards the Arch
and the newly developed Levee Esplanade. One will arrive at the river’s east side next
to the ”Bend”, a new event amphitheater overlooking the river with St Louis and the
Arch as its backdrop, the theater seating being embedded into a constantly changing
riverbank landscape depshaped by the different water levels of the river throughout
the year. One will enter the theater under a graceful sail like structure while a a Blues
Concert is underway, joining the many families and people of all ages enjoying the
music and a picknick: a wondeful place to rest at the steps of the river with exceptional
views back towards West, the Arch and St Louis.

Eads Bridge
Washington Avenue Plaza Music Project

Levee Esplanade
Memorial Boulevard
L E Smith Square Resource Center

Museum
Gateway Mall The Arch 'The Bend'

Cultural Incubator
Gondola
If time will alow it, thePoplar Street

visitor canRec Parc
cross over the train tracks, which still serve the loading
and unloading from barges on the river and from/onto train cars, and reach the Cultural
Incubator, a new form of landscape typology serving education, research, productivity
and public outreach. The focus is on the American Bottoms, the River and the region
featuring an Exhibition (Great Rivers Museum) and Gardens(American Bottoms Botanical
Garden), to display the richness and history of the American Bottoms and its intertwined
relationship with the Great Rivers of the Mississippi and the Missouri.
Following the path back to the Levee Esplanade, the visitor is led north along the river
edge and towards the Eads Bridge which one will be able climb up on ramps and stairs
to return to the St Louis side of the river, never loosing sight of the Arch on the other
side and the memory of the many new and enriching experiences he just had . Walking
back on the Eads Bridge one recognizes the beauty of the Bridge as one of the historic
landmarks featuring the old wooden plank walking surface as it must have been in
1874 when the bridge was first build and completed. The ”Taste of St Louis” Festival
is underway and one passes food stands and small temporary pavillons selling the best
foods of St Louis and the region while the famous culinary stage is being set up where a
Masterchef competition will begin shortly.
Weaving their way through the bustling crowd one reaches the west side of the bridge
overlooking the just completed Music Project Building, an interactive Music Discovery
Center with a Listening Library, recording studios open to musicians of all ages, a
Performance Venue and the famous Music Project Shop, featuring memorabilia of the
great and colorful history of the Music and its Icons of St Louis and East St Louis. Leaving
the Music Project now as it is getting dark, one marvels at the technical systems in place
that allowed them to play with Chuck Berry on theVirtual Interactive Stage.
Walking down Washington Avenue back into the Loft District one realizes that a lot
has changed since one visited St Louis five years ago in 2010, a truly local place it has
become - under the Arch, connecting with the cities and their river.

River Navigation Channel
Hydrology - Stormwater Strategy
STREET TREES
GREEN PARKING
ARCH GROUNDS TREE ALLEÉ

REPLACEMENT
ESL TREE NURSERY
New Trees
MEADOW
CULTURAL INCUBATOR
ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION
RECREATION FIELDS
Introducing and Connecting New Landscapes and Ecologies

SHORT : 2.1 MILES LONG : 4.75 MILES
MEDIUM : 3.5 MILES
RIVERCIRCLE! Routes
MEMORIAL BLVD.
CITY BALCONY
LAGOON TRAILS
ESL LEVEE ESPLANADE
AMERICAN BOTTOMS DISCOVERY TRAILS
New Public Space Network

A Gathering Place for St Louis

GATEWAY MALL
The new eastern terminus of the Gateway Mall at the Arch grounds is reconfigured to
provide an intensified urban situation. A series of new public spaces emerge and provide a
welcoming and accessible transition between Downtown and the Arch Grounds.
The civic landscape of the Gateway Mall is unified and framed with multiple rows of large
shade trees that continue through Luther Ely Smith Square to connect the mall to the
Arch grounds. Each row of trees is of a different species but compatible in form, size and
spacing to create a unified space. The unique character of each specie such as flower,
leaf texture and fall color will emerge through the seasons and provide variety within the
planted structure. All the trees will be grown on the east side native plant nursery, re-
affirming the historic relationship between the St. Louis and East St. Louis.
Inside the mall, a program of changing horticultural displays will showcase the beauty and
diversity of plants native to the ecosystems of the American Bottoms, such as Oak Hickory
Savanna, Floodplain Woodland and Riparian Wetland. Cuttings and seedlings will be
distributed free to Saint Louisans for their home gardens.
• Gateway Mall is extended physically into the Arch grounds through a high quality
crossing/lid of the I-70 - Interstate
• Realigned road users by shifting vehicular traffic to Southern side of Gateway Mall
• New public space program allows for small pavilions with retail and other leisure use to
define better scaled street to northern edge of Gateway Mall
Gateway Mall becomes a Clearly Defined Street
A Large Event Creates a String of Activities along the Gateway Mall
Gateway Mall Holds many Invitations for a Variety of Users

Site Plan
Kiener Plaza (looking east)

LUTHER ELY SMITH SQUARE | CITY PAVILION
Connecting the Old Court House with a new and pedestrian oriented Memorial Boulevard,
Luther Ely Smith Square will become an extension of the Museum of the Arch and West-
ward Expansion with exhibit displays located in various places of the new plaza landscape.
A new civic plaza and destination is envisioned as a major meeting place for people in the
heart of the city linking Old Court House and the Arch grounds. The Court House will be
placed in a more appropriate and prominent spotlight exhibiting its significant place in
history. At the same time the proposal to overcome the current accessibility barriers by
creating new access ramps leading from the side wings into the central exhibit space.
The City Pavilion serves as a major visitor and tourist destination as well as a prime ticket
center in front of the new Museum Entrance. The City Pavilion provides a wealth of infor-
mation and directions on venues, exhibitions, music, theater, art events, all over the city.
• The Court House assumes its deserved significance within the city
• Luther Ely Smith Square serves as a new interface and meeting spot
• City Pavilion will become a major information center for visitors and citizens alike
Luther Ely Smith Square (looking east)

MEMORIAL BOULEVARD
Memorial Boulevard constitutes a complete urban renewal of the interface between

Downtown St. Louis, the Arch grounds and the Mississippi River. The Boulevard
radically alters the permeability between city and river and reduces the negative
environmental impact of the existing highway infrastructure. The removal of vehicular
lanes on the east side of Memorial Boulevard is an opportunity to extend the Arch
grounds towards the city, not as more passive parkland, but as functional landscape
infrastructure that demonstrate the commitment to a more sustainable and ecological
urban environment. The strip of ground, defined on the east edge by the current
sidewalk and the west edge by the I-70 tunnel wall, varies in width from 25' to 70' and
at nearly one half mile in length, will become the world's longest stormwater garden.
Runoff from Washington Avenue, Gateway Mall, Poplar, Pine and Walnut Streets will
be collected, treated and infiltrated into the ground to help mitigate river flooding and
improve water quality.
• Arch grounds becomes a well-connected leisure resource that becomes instantly

accessible from all of the east-west orientated downtown streets
• The face of the city is transformed through insertion of a more animated building
front to the river with an active ground floor environment full of people and life for
much of the day
• Vehicular movement along the face of the city is downgraded. Vehicular access to
all units is provided but through traffic is prevented
• East-west streets are physically extended over the I-70 Interstate by pedestrian and
bicycle bridges. These bridges from multiple urban landings in the Arch grounds.
They form new entrances and new leisure activities are located here.
Memorial Boulevard Crossings
• Memorial Boulevard is envisioned to become the world ‘s largest storm water
garden
A Street Becomes a Place

Memorial Boulevard (looking south)

St Louis Elevation
Public Realm Plan

WASHINGTON AVENUE PLAZA
The undefined terrain currently found under the elevated section of the I-70 Interstate at
Washington Avenue is transformed from a series of residual, redundant and uninviting
spaces into a more attractive, cohesive public space. The intention is to provide continuous
positive experiences between Washington Avenue, Eads Bridge, Laclede’s Landing and the
Arch grounds. A City Market Place is envisioned with changing temporary events linking
the Lofts District of Washington Ave to the River, LaClede’s Landing and the Arch grounds.
Becoming a truly local destination during the week, visitors will be able to experience,
appreciate and engage the local community.
• Surface area is re-distributed between conflicting user groups to achieve democratic

distribution of space. Pedestrians and cyclists are accommodated better.
• New public space programming will introduce local market activity to allow community
driven initiatives to colonize the space under the interstate and Washington Avenue
leading down to the Mississippi
• Lighting and new surface materials will be used to accentuate the pedestrian connections
and access routes at this important intersection
A Market for all Weather Conditions

A Plaza Under the Highway
Public Realm Plan

The St Louis Music Project is dedicated to the exploration of creativity and innovation
in the music of St Louis, the Mississippi River and its region. By blending interpretative,
interactive exhibitions with cutting-edge technology, the Music Project captures and
reflects the essence of jazz, and the blues, as well as their influence on recent music
genres. Visitors can view rare artifacts and memorabilia and experience the creative
process by listening to musicians tell their own stories. The mission of the Music Project
is to explore and amplify ideas that fuel contemporary, creative culture. Its exhibitions
and public programs engage the senses; deepen our understanding of art and music;
and examine their relevance to our lives.
Washington Avenue (looking east)

Arch grounds visitor center and orientation
Permanent exhibit pod
Listening and music experimentation pod
Performance / changing exhibit
Axon Diagram

• Creating immersive environments that invite emotional and intellectual responses based
on the traditions found along the Mississippi
• Delivering distinctive programs using technology and media, the voices of the artists,
and the engagement of our guests
• Developing, protecting, and interpreting a diverse collection of 20th/21st century

artifacts
• Providing welcoming, responsive visitor services
• Building community support, ownership, and value in the institutions
• Exhibitions: Permanent and Temporary Exhibitions, Installations and Inter-actives,

Sculpture Park on Roof adjacent to Arch grounds.
• Education: Music School, Camps, Conferences, etc.
Creating Connections

A Building Within the Landscape
Ground Floor Plan

POPLAR STREET REC CENTER: SPORTS UNDER THE BRIDGE
The Poplar Street Recreation Park is a key intervention on the St Louis side to make use of
an abandoned area under the Poplar Street Bridge, to connect the river to an important
future urban corridor envisioned as “Chouteau’s Greenway, and to connect the Arch
grounds with Busch Stadium and Chouteau’s Landing as key downtown development
areas. The Poplar Street Park is envisioned as a sports park with many outdoor sports
activities for all ages. A skate park, basketball courts, a climbing wall among other activity
areas offer a new experience on the river.
Sound mitigation measures to reduce the noise from the vehicular traffic on the bridge
itself will also improve the visitor experience on Ground’s side considerably.
• A new center for urban recreation and sport
• Sound-attenuating measures to the elevated Interstate structure will improve ambient

sound conditions to a level where new leisure use of the Arch Grounds become possible
in the southern section
• New public space programs are introduced to take advantage of improved sound and
pollution levels.
• Sport and leisure activities attractive to young people can take advantage of large surface
areas that become available. These activities will benefit from partial protection from sun
and rain from elevated structures
Poplar Sports Rec Center (looking east)

Site Plan

MUSEUM OF THE ARCH AND WESTWARD EXPANSION
Building on the existing Museum of Westward Expansion, the newly designed and
expanded Museum of the Arch grounds and Westward Expansion will be one of many
discoveries and explorations. The history of the Arch, it’s design and construction as well as
the Arch grounds’ significant landscape design will be exhibited in addition to the current
topics.
Generally the exhibit is geared to be more child-friendly and interactive, featuring a small
section with the main chronologies and maps and is mostly configured with different
exhibits and activities. In terms of the historic east-west movement, the museum will take
Direct
account of the various Native American groups (e.g. Osage especially, and the links to Santa
Fe and the later Mexican War, which added the entire Southwest and West to the US and
in which St Louis played an important part). Also on display is the north-south aspect of the
river, the French and Spanish presence before 1803, steamboat trade, and the complexities
of the site vis-a-vis northern and southern American settlement trajectories, the latter
usually including African Americans. The impact of rail from the 1850s down to the 1950s
will be emphasized - as St Louis and East St Louis both became a major national industrial
center and were key in the development of Texas cities as industrial centers, for example--
and then the Route 66 and interstate aspects after the 1920s to the present.
A new entry into the Museum of Westward expansion, welcoming and inviting, integrated
into the landscape of the Arch Grounds. A new meeting place in the City and on the River.
Leisurely
Meandering
User Paths
Connecting St Louis to its River and its Museum

Arch grounds existing topography
Direct access to the central lawn and

base of arch
Expanded museum exhibits
Archive and support space
Topographically integrated cafe
A new entry from gateway mall
Axon Diagram

• Interactive, more child friendly museum organization to attract a greater variety of
visitors to the Arch.
• Relocating the museum closer to Downtown to improve accessibility and visibility
• Remodeling the topography to create better views of the River and the Arch
• Relocating some of the service and information functions to the surface of the Arch
grounds to make the users of the Arch grounds more visible. Intensifying the perceived
urban life.
• The existing museum will be opened up with skylights and two new entrances; creating
an airy, light-filled space populated with many interactive exhibits.
• The new museum will be open and informal, leading visitors along a general timeline
spanning first American History through Westward Expansion to Modern Day. Visitors
will be free to meander through at their own pace without having to follow a prescribed
path. A mix of permanent and changing seasonal exhibits will bring both outside visitors
and natives to the museum. (An expanded archival space will allow for exhibit storage
and greater flexibility, allowing for more overall content.)
• 3 large skylights aligned directly below the Arch will provide an exciting opportunity for
visitors to experience the scale and beauty of the Arch right before taking the tram up
to the top.
Ground Floor Plan

Section
Exhibition Floor Plan

ARCH GROUNDS
The Arch grounds transform from a static landscape with a fixed object and few movement
options that limit potential ways to experience the place into a dynamic landscape.
In the new Arch grounds better provision of access from all surrounding streets and
neighborhoods is secured and a secondary new movement network connects to new public
space programs that will intensify use of the entirety of the Arch grounds.
We propose that the improved Arch grounds will evolve from an isolated visitor destination
between the city and the Mississippi River towards an integrated dynamic landscape that
forms a beating heart to the St Louis Downtown district. The Arch grounds are conceived
as the centerpiece of the proposed RIVERCIRCLE and we foresee many diverse local
resident users and visiting people making use of the extended Archgrounds area. Over
the 24 hours of the day there will be a much improved and intensified ‘ebb and flow’ of
people migrating between and enjoying the City of St. Louis, the Arch grounds and the
embankment of the River Mississippi.
The Lagoon Trails, or secondary paths, allow visitors to step off the main paths, meander
gently down to the pond edge to get a full experience of the Archgrounds landscapes.
Paved with fine crush stone mixed with a stabilizing binder, the trails are accessible, more
intimate in scale and softer in texture. To realize Dan Kiley's concept of meadow and
forest, most of the lawn will be replaced with sweeps of native plants that also act to
improve water quality by filtering and cleansing runoff. The route flows through drifts of
woodland understory plantings such Pennsylvania Sedge, Wild Columbine and in sunnier
areas, shortgrass meadow mixed with Blackeyed Susan, Prairie Coneflower.
Social Distances

Site Plan

A New Arch Grounds - Multiple Routes and Activities

Olive Street Crossing and Outdoor Reading Room

The interventions range from new entrance spaces at the landing of the new
pedestrian bridges to small scale seating and resting opportunities in beautiful
setting to destinations with small scale kiosks, information displays and steward and
host posts where people can get in touch with monument staff. The setting out of
the interventions is mindful of the fact that the distance between people and the
environment in which we meet can support or retard our ability to communicate or
engage with other people. The public space program for the nodes will:
• Ensure that people feel safer in the Arch grounds at all times of day
• Bring some activities to the edge of the river
• Bring some activities to the underused southern section of the Arch grounds
• Provide multiple welcoming entrance gateways
• Make sure that there are accessible and safe places for peaceful respite
• Make sure that there are places where the meeting of people is encouraged
• All current Downtown users – working and residential – will gain much more instant
and easy access to the Arch grounds.
• The ‘ebb and flow’ of people into the Arch grounds will intensify with more people
coming to the Rivers edge and with people spreading out and using more of the
Arch grounds. Public space programming will ensure that more activities will be
taking place in physical proximity to ensure an increased feeling of safety for users.
Section - New Arch grounds Allee
Section - Prarie and Lawn

Places to Stop and Stay within the Arch Grounds

ST LOUIS RIVER BALCONY
A new experience on the River between Eads Bridge and Poplar Street Bridge, featuring a
variety of new activities as part of the City’s new river experience. The balcony’s edge is of
dynamic quality providing a variety of spatial experiences for viewing, resting, activity, and
events.
The River Balcony will allow for strategically located direct water access points to also
onnect to the newly configured historic cobblestone levee which in its dynamic new form
provides for an exciting interface between city and river.
The River Balcony is punctuated by thickets of riparian trees such as Bald Cypress, Tupelos,
and Sandbar Willows that provide shady places to pause and view the river. On the
Cobblestone Shore, the existing stones are selectively removed and planted with Hardtack,
Sandbar Willow, False Aster, and other species that can thrive with the changing river
levels and regenerate after damage from ice and debris. The plantings act as filtration and
cleansing buffers for urban stormwater runoff that currently drains directly into the river.
• New activities on the riverbank for increased use and popularity
• Cobblestone and riparian plantings will act as filtration and cleansing buffers
• Changing water levels of the river will create an ever changing river edge
West Riverfront Section

West Riverfront - Cobblestone Levee Inteventions

THE ‘GONDOLA’: A NEW RIVER CROSSING ATTRACTION
A new and surprising experience to cross the River and view the Mississippi, St Louis,
and both riverbanks from new and very unexpected vantage points. A new visitor’s
attraction and part of the RIVERCIRCLE network, the Gondola is designed as an
engineering marvel with cabins of high visual transparency to allow for maximum
panoramic viewing experience.
• A new attraction to cross the river
• A demonstration piece of engineering design and technology
Site Section

Concept Diagram

EADS BRIDGE
The Eads Bridge, as a historic landmark, is envisioned with new meaning, turned pedestrian
orientated crossing with viewing experiences up and down the river and over the Arch
grounds as well as the re-naturalized east side landscape. More than simply a crossing,
a place for temporary events, street markets, art fairs, street festivals, and so forth, in a
unique setting overlooking river and riverbanks, the Arch, and both cities. Different modes
of alternative transportation - streetcar, bike rickshaws, bikes for hire, segways - will allow
for a unique experience above the river.
The Eads Bridge will be restored to regain its previous iconic status and civic value. The
surface of the bridge is restored to a partial timber deck which resembles the type of
decking used in original construction. At the same time a material change will create an
improved pedestrian environment for the future use of the bridge as a lively and iconic
people destination
• Material change from Tarmac to timber deck
• Introduction of new public space programs to attract people activities to the bridge, e.g.
temporary trading or event structures
• Removing through traffic but allowing limited service and local traffic to use the bridge
in small numbers
• Potential new grade connection from Arch Grounds to metro system will be tested for
Bridging Neighborhoods viability at Eads Bridge
Site Plan

Summer - Pedestrians only
Winter - Pedestrians and Cars

Eads Bridge Traffic Pattern

MISSISSIPPI RIVER THEATER - 'THE BEND'
Opposite the Arch, a contemporary theater space will be embedded into the landscape
of the eastern river bank. A light tensile roof structure covers the main seating area and
functions as a protective floating canopy, a beacon on the river illuminated at night for
dramatic viewing experience. The “Bend,” upon successful introduction in July 2015, will
host events during the Summer and into the Fall season featuring music concerts, theater
plays, and other private and public events. The “Bend” will serve as a destination to reflect
upon the true view west according to history and to memorize the events around the ideal
of westward expansion.
• A new beacon of identity for the river’s East Side
• A new addition to the region’s cultural rich environment opposite the Arch
• A viewing platform to experience the ideal of the Westward Expansion
Concerts
Theater
Celebration
Theater Uses

Canopy
Visitor amenities
Cafe / restaurant, bar, franchise shops, tickets
and reception, bathrooms
Public promenade and outdoor foyer
Back-of-house program
Wood benches - seating elements
Floating stage
Floating service barge with backstage program
Landform base
Axon Diagram

LEVEE ESPLANADE: A NEW EAST SIDE RIVERFRONT
A special place on the river for hiking, biking, skating, resting, pick-nick and other leisure
activities. A major destination to experience the views up and down the River and towards
the Arch.The new river experience for east St Louis, an ever changing landscape of islands
formed through the rising and ebbing water levels. The sculpted landscape of the levee
provides the opportunity to showcase a diverse community of native plants that exhibit
different levels of adaptation to river conditions.
Emergent aquatic Plants such as Duck Potato, Softstem Bulrush, Pickerel weed are planted
at the bottom of channels to provide protective cover and food source for river fauna. On
higher elevation, the vegetation transitions to species such as False Aster, Cord Grass and
Lake Sedge. Hardtack and Sandbar Willow and other shrubs occupy the ground above
normal water level. Interpretive signage and water level markers along the walkways will
educate visitors on the unique qualities of this edge where land and water meet.
• A new destination for recreational, leisure and sports activities for the east side of the
river
• An ever changing landscape formed by the tide of the river
• A sculpted landscape showcasing an ecologically sensitive approach to the river edge
• Interpretive signage will educate about the Unique river conditions
East Riverfront Section

390'
400'
410'
A Riverfront that Changes with the River
Site Plan

THE ‘CULTURAL INCUBATOR’
A demonstration landscaped corridor opposite the Gateway Mall exhibiting the region’s
rich history and the many future facets of the region: a microcosm of the St Louis region
built on art, architecture, music, agriculture, trade, and many more - a thriving cultural
landscape, an incubator for creative work.
The east side is a rich tapestry of active agrarian industry, post-industrial brownfields, and
successional floodplain in great need of landscape restoration and management. The
diversity of the landscape on the East side offers a unique opportunity to celebrate the
cultural history of the St. Louis region, while simultaneously restoring a rare and threatened
ecosystem along the banks of the Mississippi River.
The east side and its brownfield sites will become part of the National Park System with
distinct visual, symbolic and aesthetic qualities. Active and inactive infrastructure elements
such as rail lines, flood levees, freeways, and roads are paired with new access roads, bike
paths, greenway connections, piers and elevated catwalks become the structural framework
for a varied and colorful collection of landscapes. Existing industrial remnants are uncovered
and interpreted to the visitor through landscape experience, program, and signage.
As part of the GREAT RIVERS EXPO, the NPS will sponsor 25 art, landscape and
development Projects on the East Side between 2010 and 2015, building towards the 2015
celebration. These projects are intended to environmentally and aesthetically revitalize
a neglected landscape to exemplify a positive and new perception of the industrial
landscape that can be compatible with leisure and cultural activities and conservation of the
environment. It requires redefining where landscape, architecture, ecology, engineering,
social and political policies are part of the overall equation of design.
Sitting at the confluence of two urban conditions, the east side has the opportunity to
bridge gaps in the ecosystem that are no longer continuous and functioning. The natural
history of the region inspires the restoration of a diverse ecosystem that once stretched
across the alluvial plains of the Mississippi River Valley. Reclaiming a native landscape that
celebrates the ecological history of the Bottomlands will restore the matrix of marsh, scrub,
woodlands, and seasonal floodplain to the site. The site invites visitors from across the River
to play, recreate and meander through the restored Bottomland woodlands and marshes,
amongst boardwalks, hiking trails, and picnic groves. This cultural system is interconnected
by a framework of wetlands, bioswales, canals and channels that capture, cleanse and
reuse the site and adjacent landscape’s stormwater runoff.
Site Section

Research Center and the Cultural Incubator

As an inverse of agriculture and industry that once extracted resources from the land,
the design ethic for the East side gives back clean water, new soil, a diverse and native
plant community, and rich habitat at the edge of two cities. Lessons from the field, in
addition to sustainable and green infrastructure throughout the site, find their nexus at the
Resource Center for the American Bottoms where water reuse methods, sustainable energy
strategies, and real-time environmental monitoring becomes explicit and accessible. The
juxtaposition of urban conditions with the ecological potential of the site enables the East
side to serve as a complimentary environmental model, research laboratory, and learning
ground for St. Louis and the region.
This site can be a model for a vibrant urban ecology Park, demonstrating the dynamic and
productive interaction between natural processes and urban systems, and contributing to
a legacy of great parks across the country. The way in which the site is designed, and the
choices that are associated with its built form, will demonstrate a resourcefulness of doing
more with less and inviting the many individuals and groups to contribute to a Park that is
ultimately theirs. The east side strives to exemplify an ethic, inventiveness, and a generosity
that will make this Park a national model for integrating the urban environment with
ecology, research and healthy living.
• A model urban ecology park showcasing sustainable strategies throughout
• A tapestry of the rich and historic landscapes around the Great Rivers and the American
Bottoms
• An interpretive landscape allowing for research, education, productivity, and public

outreach
• A quality storm water management approach build upon the ecological history of the
Bottomlands
Site Plan

American Bottoms Discovery Trails (looking north-west)

RESOURCE CENTER OF THE AMERICAN BOTTOMS | THE GREAT RIVERS 'RCAB'
The Great River Resource Center’s mission is to provide scientific guidance, technical
assistance and education for the preservation, conservation and enhancement of park
resources within the American Bottoms Landscapes and along the Great Rivers.
A cutting-edge facility for interdisciplinary research, education, and productivity with focus
on the many ecologies of the Great Rivers and the American Bottoms, the Resource Center
defines the role of our built environment as a helping tool for a productive re-naturalization
of a depleted industrial landscape. Weaving outdoor and indoor spaces seamlessly, the
facility is envisioned to be self supporting and energy-neutral. Greenhouses become part
of the structure, as buffer zones and part of the energy concept of enhanced natural day
lighting, natural ventilation, using the compost material of the surrounding gardens and
fields as energy source, and a solar chimney extracting the used air from the research
facilities and classrooms.
The Resource Center identifies and responds to the natural resource needs of the St Louis
Region. Center staff focuses on urban ecology within the matrix of the region's nationally
significant natural and cultural resources. Through science, service, and partnerships, the
Resource Center assists managers in understanding, protecting, and restoring natural
resources for future generations.
With the potential development and population growth throughout the area, natural
resources are fragmented within urban and suburban landscapes, and are often highly
impacted. The Resource Center has the unique ability to advise, manage, and support
projects at regional level through a professional interdisciplinary team that provides
comprehensive science and technical support.
The Horticultural Landscape Program at the Center assists parks by providing guidance
in the design, development, and maintenance of horticultural landscapes. Assistance is
provided in the diagnosis of landscape disorders, selection of plant material, and the design
of planting environments.
• An interdisciplinary research facility focused on the re-naturalization efforts for the

American Bottoms
• A facility with the mission to research and educate

Concept Diagram
Typical Floor Plan Conceptual Section

Sky walk
Operable greenhouses
Experimental greenhouse
Teaching greenhouse
Research greenhouse
Research library
Offices
Laboratories
Axon Diagram

In St. Louis, Michael wonders, how could this view of the Arch and his hometown – from the east bank levee promenade
of the Mississippi – be any better? Having woken up in his downtown loft to the bright summer sunshine of this July
Fourth morning, he’d jumped on his bike, headed down Washington Avenue – zigzagged through the farmer’s market
at the east end already setting up (remember, he thinks, come back for the strawberries!) - and crossed the gloriously
restored Eads Bridge to pick up the Great Rivers bike trail on the east bank. He was glad to have moved back after
finishing law school at Mizzou, glad to have taken the leap to living and working downtown, glad to still be so close to
his family and friends. Happily cycling south along the raised esplanade between a series of islands, passing by the early
morning joggers, walkers, strollers, and cyclists, he can’t keep his eyes from straying across the rippling river. Low flood
stage today, Michael thinks, a good omen for the day’s festivities and the evening fireworks – which, he reminds himself,
are going to be bigger and more attended than ever, now that the new Arch grounds, the Gateway Mall, and this east
side park were all in place. With his parents and his sisters coming in with their kids later from St. Peter’s, better keep an
eye out, too, for a place to come back to for the family picnic - his nieces were in a for a treat this evening, he was pretty
sure. Approaching the Luther Ely Smith Pavilion, its tensile structured roof forms floating above the tree line, Michael
slows and then stops for a crowd overflowing out onto the path from the sloped amphitheater built out from the levee
into the river. He has a clear view down the terraces to the riverstage, to an assembly of people facing a black-robed
judge, a single, gently fluttering American flag, and the Arch beyond, hands over their hearts. “…and to the Republic for
which it stands, one nation, with liberty and justice for all,” he hears, amidst the soft, approving murmurs and small sobs
of the onlookers around him, and then finds himself, intuitively, singing the familiar words, “ oh beautiful, for spacious
skies, for amber waves of grain…”alongside the immigrant families and new citizens. There’s a silence after the verse,
and then the morning breeze picks up off the river, and a wave of applause breaks out. Citizenship, Michael smiles,
received in this national park, this urban garden, this new national mall – could there be a better place for it to occur?
The affirmation of long-term political, economic and social commitment provided by the
recent letter of combined Congressional support for the outcomes of this competition
invigorates our thinking and leads us to an enlarged prospect for the City, the River and
PROSPECTS the Arch. This affirmation follows upon the leadership evidenced by the cities of St. Louis
and East St. Louis, the National Park Service and the many local citizens whose combined
efforts have brought the competion into being. Again, we are afforded a unique prospect
– of the past, the present, and the future of this continental center.
The approaches, initiatives, and designs outlined in this proposal intend to enrich the
National Park Service and St. Louis public realm, as experienced by both visitors and
residents. Behnisch Team’s commitment fundamentally is to civic sustainability. Our
design approach is holistic and far-sighted, addressing the quality of St. Louis’ natural
environment and cultural institutions and enabling the critical impact they must have in
improving our society.
In our earlier introduction, we advanced new questions, whose replies we felt would
necessarily reach across design, engineering and academic disciplines for bold, yet
achievable responses: What is the meaning of the Gateway Arch now that national
expansion across the continent has been achieved? How can the Arch grounds assist
the St. Louis downtown to epitomize the idea of a “livable city?” Consonant with the
National Park Service’s mission of preserving national monuments and landscape, can
the restoration of the regional ecosystem – with an expanded and enhanced Arch
grounds as the model and demonstration - be the iconic gesture of our time, in the Age
of Sustainability? We believe that our perspectives, strategies and principles propose
significant, achievable responses to these queries, and reach for a renewed civic vision of
the cities and the river that flows through them.
We have worked telescopically, from the scale of the continental watershed, to that of the river’s
edge, from the historical perspective of the primordial American Bottoms and the Cahokia peoples
to the industrialized Mississippi River and the complex urbanity of St. Louis. At the same time, the
team’s interdisciplinary design sensibilities, professional experience, collaborative spirit, and thorough
technical knowledge underpin a competition design proposal both speculative and substantial, both
realistic and far-sighted. But in truth, our design ultimately is possessed by multiple visions, all fueled
by a passion for this place: our prospect is simultaneously that gained from the top of the Monk’s
Mound rising from the bottomlands, and that from the top of the Arch curving over the contemporary
city; simultaneously the gaiety of Scott Joplin’s ragtime, the haunting blue notes of Miles Davis, and
the roar of the Cardinals Nation on a hot afternoon, the laughter of children under the spell of the
Balloon Glow; simultaneously that of Lewis and Clark setting out from Laclede’s Landing on their great
expedition, and that of Huckleberry Finn and Jim floating downriver in the dark under the stars. Our
prospect is at last, one of singular gratitude.
For the people of St Louis now, in 2015, and in the generations to come: thank you for this
opportunity to present our perspectives and our enthusiasm for the city, region and nation.

APPENDIX
1 TEAM ORGANIZATION
2 PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
3 DESIGNING FOR CLIMATE
4 STRUCTURAL DESIGN
5 CITY, URBAN DESIGN
6 TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS
7 THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
8 EAST ST. LOUIS RIVERFRONT
9 UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY
10 NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION
11 PRESENTATION BOARDS
12 CREDITS
TEAM ORGANIZATION
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PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
AS OF JULY 17TH, 2010
Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Duration in
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New Mississippi River Bridge (by others) 36 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Stage 1
Gateway Mall Complete Mall Spring 2012 except Lid and Street car
Demo Ramps 250B(I‐70) and 209 (I‐55/44) Complete Lid & Street Car end of 2012
Engineering Design/Approval 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Construction 3 xxxxxx
3 Block Lid over I70
Engineering Design/Approval 12 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Construction 12 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pavilions on Chestnut
Construction 3 xxxxx
Repave Broadway
Keiner Plaza Reconstruction
Construction Plaza Infrastructure 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Construction Ice Rink 6 xxxxxxxxx
Luther Ely Smith Square Reconstruction
Construction 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
New Street Car South of Mall
Construction 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Washington Ave Plaza Complete Wash Ave and Poplar St Park Fall 2012
Construction
Eads Bridge Modifications Lighting & Pedestrian features 6 xxxxxxxxxx
Establish Market Space under I70 3 xxxxx
Investigate & Design Arches Bridge support 12 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Remove blocked in arches under Eads Bridge 3 xxxxx
Poplar Street Bridge Park
Construction
Noise Barrier on Bridge 3 xxxxx
Extreme Sports Park & Lighting 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Landscaping 3 xxxxx
Arch Grounds and East Riverfront
Construction
Pedestrian Access to Eads Bridge from N. Overlook 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Temporary Pavilions along pathways 3 xxxxxx
Reconstruct Service Road along Levee 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Stage 2
New Museum Entrance/Expansion
Construction Complete New construction Museum Fall 2013
Excavate Berm between Arch and Gateway Mall 3 xxxxx
New Museum Entrance/Upper Level Museum 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Remodel Existing Museum Lower Level 12 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Restaurant, Café, Visitor Center & Support 6 xxxxxxxxxxx Complete remodeling Museum Fall 2014
Reconstruct Arch Steps 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
City Gallery and Pier in River 6 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cultural Incubator & Amphitheater on East Riverfront
Construction
Regrade Martin Memorial Park 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
New Nursery 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Restore Wetlands 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Water Treatment for Fountain 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Storm Water Management Zones 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Amphitheater 3 xxxxx
Balcony & Shelter 3 xxxxx
Bike Trail Connectors 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Extend IL Route 3 under Overpasses 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Duration in
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2n
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New Mississippi River Bridge (by others) 36 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Stage 1
Gateway Mall Complete Mall Spring 2012 except Lid and Street car
Demo Ramps 250B(I‐70) and 209 (I‐55/44) Complete Lid & Street Car end of 2012
Engineering Design/Approval 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Construction 3 xxxxxx
3 Block Lid over I70
Engineering Design/Approval 12 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Construction 12 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pavilions on Chestnut
Repave Broadway
Keiner Plaza Reconstruction
Construction Plaza Infrastructure 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Construction Ice Rink 6 xxxxxxxxx
Luther Ely Smith Square Reconstruction
Construction 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
New Street Car South of Mall
Construction 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Washington Ave Plaza Complete Wash Ave and Poplar St Park Fall 2012
Construction
Eads Bridge Modifications Lighting & Pedestrian features 6 xxxxxxxxxx
Establish Market Space under I70 3 xxxxx
Investigate & Design Arches Bridge support 12 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Remove blocked in arches under Eads Bridge 3 xxxxx
Poplar Street Bridge Park
Construction
Noise Barrier on Bridge 3 xxxxx
Extreme Sports Park & Lighting 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Landscaping 3 xxxxx
Arch Grounds and East Riverfront
Construction
Pedestrian Access to Eads Bridge from N. Overlook 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Temporary Pavilions along pathways 3 xxxxxx
Reconstruct Service Road along Levee 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Stage 2
New Museum Entrance/Expansion
Construction Complete New construction Museum Fall 2013
Excavate Berm between Arch and Gateway Mall 3 xxxxx
New Museum Entrance/Upper Level Museum 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Remodel Existing Museum Lower Level 12 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Restaurant, Café, Visitor Center & Support 6 xxxxxxxxxxx Complete remodeling Museum Fall 2014
Reconstruct Arch Steps 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
City Gallery and Pier in River 6 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cultural Incubator & Amphitheater on East Riverfront
Construction
Regrade Martin Memorial Park 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
New Nursery 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Restore Wetlands 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Water Treatment for Fountain 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Storm Water Management Zones 9 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Amphitheater 3 xxxxx
Balcony & Shelter 3 xxxxx
Bike Trail Connectors 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Extend IL Route 3 under Overpasses 6 xxxxxxxxxxx
Sustainable Design
DESIGNING FOR The term 'sustainable design' has many interpretations. The Bruntland Report, which
illustrated the widespread concern for the state of environment and popularized
the phrase ‘sustainable development’, defined it as a way to ‘meet the needs of the
CLIMATE present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.’
For building design and urban developments to embody this ethic of sustainable
development, it ought not only to enable reduced resource consumption but also
foster environmental awareness on the part of building occupants and society at
large.
To achieve this, the designer must be attentive to the following measures, not only
in terms of their technical performance but in the more or less subtle ways in which
they raise awareness:
1. Energy efficiency
2. Water conservation
3. Quality of the built outdoor environment
4. Quality of the built indoor environment
5. Material efficiency (minimizing environmental footprint caused by building
construction)
6. Flexibility for a future change in use
A sustainable approach to environmental control begins with attention to existing

conditions. This identifies not only challenges to a comfortable climate but also
the most direct, non-invasive ways to meet them. The most challenging climatic
problems are often solved by passive means, using other complimentary aspects of
the climate. When approaching a site with potential sustainable design alternatives,
a thorough understanding and sensitivity toward ecosystems and natural processes is
needed. Specific site conditions are analyzed to determine which possible sustainable
solutions are most pragmatic and cost effective.
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ST. LOUIS CLIMATE CONDITIONS
With temperatures between 0°F and 100 °F outdoor conditions can be described as a continental climate. Prevailing winds are from
northwest and in particular cold winds are coming from northwest. St. Louis has more than 1.400 kWh/m2a solar irradiation which is
e.g. more than Milan has.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The aim of the energy concept is to achieve optimal environmental conditions with a minimized energy demand. This is structured
in three steps: meeting as much of the demand as possible with passive means, meeting remaining demands with high-performance
building-integrated systems, and sourcing those systems as much as possible with renewable sources.
OUTDOOR COMFORT
The parks and green roofs improve the local microclimate and minimize urban heat island effects. Structures as well as landscape are
organized in order to maximize shelter against the cold northwesterly winds wherever possible. A fabric roof at the performing arts
center provides shade in summer.
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Renewable energy sources provide 100 % of the energy required inside the confluence area. At the same time it feeds energy into
district energy systems for the surrounding neighborhoods. Solar applications are integrated in the building structure. Crystalline as
well as thin film (foil) PV panels provide power for building operation. Green trash (biomass) is used to provide biogas for the ope-
ration of co-generation (providing heat and power). A river water heat exchanger is used for cooling as well as low grade heating
purposes (in conjunction with decentralized heat pumps).
A river water heat exchanger provides several advantages:

• Increased chiller efficiency due to the lower heat rejection (condenser) temperatures
• No need for cooling towers
• Avoidance of cooling towers is significantly reducing water consumption as well as water treatment requirements and maintenance
• Avoiding water treatment (biocides) and noise emissions from cooling towers
CONCLUSION
One solution never covers the complexity of sustainability. Much more it is necessary to thoroughly integrate smart solutions into the
architecture – especially for the design of such a sensitive urban area. Sustainability is an integrated piece of the design.
The proposed measures provide optimized indoor as well as outdoor environmental qualities where systems differentiate between
the needs and requirements of the various types of spaces. At the same time mechanical systems are minimized in general.
The integrated leading edge sustainability aspects (social and environmental) can certainly serve as a worldwide considered prece-
dence and might become a “sustainability” incubator for the surrounding neighborhoods.
DESIGNING FOR CLIMATE

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MUSEUM OF THE ARCH AND WESTWARD EXPANSION
Quality of the built indoor environment
It is the purpose of the buildings to provide a vital human environment. In service of this, certain technical qualities are essential:
• level and brightness distribution of natural light

• thermal comfort
• indoor air quality
• acoustical comfort
In order to utilize daylight into the underground museum skylights had been integrated into the design. The relation of width and
depth is organized in order to minimize the transmission of direct radiation. A sun protection coating is minimizing additional heat
gains.
A combination of radiant systems and displacement ventilation provides a perfect thermal comfort as well as air quality. A ground
duct integrated into the building design (ramps) provides a geothermal pre-conditioning of the supply air.

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MISSISSIPPI RIVER THEATER - 'THE BEND'
Carbon Neutral Building Design
Integrated passive design strategies such as the utilization of daylight, the possibility for natural ventilation, insulation, etc. are mini-
mizing the energy requirements of the building. Renewable sources cover 100 % of the remaining energy consumption and make
this building a showcase for sustainable building design. Technologies such as solar, geothermal and biomass (using the biomass of
the park) are integrated components of the architectural and/or surrounding landscape design.
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STRUCTURE
STRUCTURE
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STRUCTURE
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STRUCTURE
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STRUCTURE
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STRUCTURE
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STRUCTURE
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STRUCTURE
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STRUCTURE
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URBAN QUALITY - PLACES FOR PEOPLE
CITY, We believe that we can improve urban quality for the people of St. Louis. To achieve
this goal we will make sure that all planning and design proposals emerging out of
our Rivercircle! concept will be based on the close relationship between people’s
URBAN DESIGN natural use of public spaces and the physical character and form of the built
environment.
We believe that by allowing the aspirations for the public realm to drive the design
process for Rivercircle, improved and new public spaces can serve as places for all,
while embracing the unique qualities of the local context on both sides of the River
Mississippi. Rivercircle shall open up, invite and include people, provide different
activities and possibilities and thereby invite and ensure multiplicity and diversity.
CITY, URBAN DESIGN GATEWAY MALL
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CITY, URBAN DESIGN GATEWAY MALL
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CITY, URBAN DESIGN MEMORIAL DRIVE
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CITY, URBAN DESIGN MEMORIAL DRIVE
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CITY, URBAN DESIGN WASHINGTON PLAZA
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CITY, URBAN DESIGN WASHINGTON PLAZA
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CITY, URBAN DESIGN POPLAR PARK
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CITY, URBAN DESIGN POPLAR PARK
116
Our plan to rethink the Arch area takes both the long and the short view of changes
to traffic and transportation. Cities are dynamic organisms which evolve alongside
technology. St. Louis was first a river town - mules, rafts and ferries - then a rail
town, then a car town. As each became omnipresent, the city altered itself and was
altered. In rethinking the access to, from, and around the Arch we look to the future
to harness the next version of traffic.
Perhaps the most important concurrent development to this project is the

construction of the new bridge over the Mississippi River. Our team proposes to take
advantage of this new conduit to reassess traffic Downtown.
•After the opening of the new bridge, I-70 will no longer pass through
the trench adjacent to the Arch and over the Poplar Street Bridge. In fact,
a glance at the regional highway map will tell you that the smart driver
between Kansas City and Indianapolis already uses I-270.
•The new bridge creates redundancy in the network, which will alter traffic
patterns. Experience shows that new roads bring new traffic, i.e. induced
demand. But if you simultaneously constrict traffic elsewhere, you can
positively redirect drivers. To that end, we hope to repurpose the
trench adjacent to the Arch and its connections to the Poplar Street Bridge.
TRANSPORTATION, With I-70 traffic on the new bridge, we address access to Downtown. We envision
a series of links from the north (I-70) and south (I-55 and I-64) connection into a
TRAILS transit, pedestrian and bicycle-friendly area. We are interested in people driving
into town, parking and walking. No longer will we allow high-speed through traffic
imperiling people walking and their quality of life. Our plan sees Downtown as a
destination, not a way-station.
•The new interchange between I-70 and the new river bridge affords the
ability to create new direct links from the highway to the city streets.
•The repurposing of the trench allows a more robust connection between
I-55 and city streets – by extending Poplar Street to Broadway and
reconfiguring Memorial Drive.
•4th Street, Broadway, 7th Street, 9th Street, 10th Street, and Tucker
Boulevard continue to play key roles in access to Downtown.
By creating redundancy and dispersing traffic throughout the street network, we

create a balanced system that can enhance and enable creative possibilities and local
growth.
•The southern half of the Eads Bridge can be converted to a walking and
cycling nirvana.
•The Washington Street streetscape makeover can continue into Gateway
Park and Laclede’s Landing.
•Chestnut Street can be become a walking street.
•Part of Market Street can host a trolley.
•The former I-70 trench can be covered, if not removed and the land be put
to a much higher use.
In the short term, we know that these types of projects are fraught with political
peril. The driving public is understandably wary of change, especially anything that
adds uncertainty to their commutes. Our team will produce predictive models so that
we know we a) minimize disruptions, and b) minimize political heartburn. We know,
however, that people are smart, adaptive, and respond to positive change positively.
The key is to improve the situation, not just disrupt people’s lives.
•I-64 (route 40 to all of you older than 10) was closed for the better part of
last year, and, while an inconvenience, the effects were not detrimental.
•The public has accepted the weekend closings of I-70 (to remove bridges
ahead of construction of the new river bridge).
•The recent “road diet” on South Grand Boulevard has been embraced by
the local merchants and residents, and increased safety.
•We predict fanfare should the elevated highway that cuts off Laclede’s
Landing be removed.
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TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, REGIONAL FREEWAYS
119
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, PHASE 1
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TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, DETAIL DIAGRAMS
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TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, WEST TRAFFIC FLOWS
124
Due to the heavy influence of industry on Front St, the best
approach in regards to safty and visitor experience would be
along Trendly Ave via a new extension of IL-Route 3 to the east
of the competition site. A connection between Trendly, IL-RT3
(Great River Road) and Eads bridge would significantly increase
the accessibility of the East St. Louis Riverfront and Malcolm
Martin Memorial Park.
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, EAST TRAFFIC FLOWS

125
The chart right outlines 20 step-by-step
changes to the traffic network. Some of
the changes are simple on- and off-ramp
closings no different from that during
Cardinal games. We will need to inform
drivers and provide good alternatives.
Others are more expansive and speak
to a renewed Downtown where people
live, work and play – not always in their
cars. This will be an understandably
lengthy process, but, if managed well, will
succeed.
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, MODIFICATIONS MASTER PLAN
126
ACTION RAMIFICATION & MITIGATION TIMING
1. Close ramps to/from Memorial Dr & I-70 (south of Washington pilot project during weekends (same as other closings of I-70 due now
Ave) to bridge replacement), not during Cardinal or Ram games
reroute WB70 traffic from downtown via Broadway and 4th Street
corridors to the north and enter WB 70 near 3rd St; via 9th and
10th Street corridors to the north and enter WB 70 via Cass St and
Brooklyn St (MM 249); or south on Broadway to Marion Street
near 7th Street, west on Marion to NB 55/ WB 70 entrance ramp
(208)
reroute EB70 traffic to downtown via St. Louis Ave (MM 248C)
and 11th Street; Broadway (MM249C); or via SB55 at 7th Street
(MM208)
2. Close ramp from WB Poplar St Bridge to NB Memorial Dr pilot project during weekends (same as other closings of I-70 due now
to bridge replacement), not during Cardinal or Ram games
reroute downtown traffic via Broadway to Gratiot/ 6th St ramp
(MM40); via Broadway to the MLK Bridge; or via 21th Street
entrance
3. 3A. Close ramp from SB I-70 to SB Memorial Drive pilot project during weekends (same as other closings of I-70 due now
to bridge replacement), not during Cardinal or Ram games
reroute downtown traffic via Broadway to Gratiot/ 6th St ramp
(MM40); via Broadway to the MLK Bridge; or via 21th Street
entrance
7. Extend Poplar Street from Memorial Drive (west of trench) to now

Broadway
17. Reduce the capacity of Eads Bridge to two lanes of through Summer: Full closure of road to cars expect taxis. Winter is a 50% now
traffic, establishing a pedestrian zone on the southern half. split between pedestrian zones and cars.
19. Close Leonor K. Sullivan Blvd to automobile traffic. keep open as a service and emergency route and convert it to a now
pedestrian only zone
18. Establish a new market under the I-70 overpass at Washington Construct a shared surface at the Washington Ave/ Memorial Drive now
Avenue. intersection with the Eads Bridge to accommodate all movements
11. Close NB Memorial Dr between Walnut & Washington Walnut St becomes 1way WB between 4th St and Memorial Dr Now. This can follow immediately after the closing of the Memo-
Bridge over trench becomes WB rial ramps to WB 70 (see item 1)
12. Close SB Memorial Dr between Walnut & Washington A new shared surface Memorial Drive As existing podiums reduce in scale and redevelop
14. Close Chestnut street along Gateway Mall (from Memorial The majority of traffic will be gone since the access to the inter- Now. This can follow immediately after the closing of the Memo-
Drive to Tucker Blvd) to through traffic and create a pedestrian state is removed. rial ramps to WB 70 (see item 1)
priority zone with limited vehicular access for service needs. reroute traffic via Olive and Walnut Streets
Realign ramp from EB I-64 to Chestnut St at 21st St to connect
directly with Olive St.
Need to leave a service road between 4thand SB Memorial for
the hotel
Gateway Mall Master Plan, http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/plan-
ning/gatewaymall/mp_gwmall_20091215.pdf, calls for pedestrian
promenade from Tucker to 15th St.
15. Close Market Street east of 4th street, to become pedestrian Reroute SB traffic via Broadway and Spruce Streets Now or wait for new bridge? This can follow immediately after the
zone with Luther Ely Smith Square. Reroute NB traffic via 4th Street closing of the Memorial ramps to WB 70 (see item 1)
Reroute traffic via Tucker Blvd corridor
16. Reduce Market Street (from Jefferson St to 4th St) to 3 lanes Begin with parking during non-peak hours, then allow full time When cap is constructed This can follow immediately after the
of traffic with parking on either side and a new street car that runs and construct curb extensions. closing of the Memorial ramps to WB 70 (see item 1)
along the southern edge of Gateway Mall. Streetcar will be according to its own funding
9. Close ramp from WB Poplar Street Bridge to NB I-70 (in trench) This will coincide with the new river bridge construction and the When new river bridge is built
rerouting of I-70
10. Close ramp from SB I-70 (in trench) to EB Poplar Street Bridge This will coincide with the new river bridge construction and the When new river bridge is built
rerouting of I-70
20. increase capacity of ramps from WB Poplar St Bridge to SB I-55 When new river bridge is built
and NB I-55 to EB Poplar St. Bridge
8. Pedestrian bridges over I-70 at Poplar Street after the new bridge is open in 2014 and the interstate ramps to
the Poplar St Bridge removed. Other bridges can open sooner.
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, MODIFICATIONS MASTER PLAN

127
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
128
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, PEDESTRIAN ZONES
129
TRANSPORTATION,
130 TRAILS, BIKE NETWORK
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, BIKE NETWORK 131
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, PARKING
132
TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, EMERGENY AND SERVICE
133
The Mississippi River has been the lifeblood of St. Louis for centuries, an economic
engine transporting people and goods to distant markets and bringing people to
the city over the past several centuries. Today, the Mississippi River is still a working
river, with millions of tons of cargo passing by the arch yearly, providing a continuing
economic driver for the St. Louis area. In addition to the economic benefits it
provides, the river is central to other activities including recreation and tourism. The
river is also an invaluable natural ecosystem, providing critical habitat for aquatic
and terrestrial life, and is a flyway for migratory birds moving north in the spring
and south in the fall. The Mississippi River is a dynamic river, with a watershed of
almost 697,000 square miles upstream of St. Louis, and water levels that rise and fall
significantly over the four seasons in St. Louis. A 30 foot difference between annual
flood flows and low flows is typical in St. Louis.
The goal of the plan proposed by the Behnisch team is to enfold and maintain
THE MISSISSIPPI the existing economic uses while bringing people to the river, allowing them to
experience the Arch, the Arch Grounds, the river, and its history, holistically. To
RIVER do this, opportunities for access to river have been designed, including river walks,
nuanced naturalized areas that emphasize the dynamic nature of the Mississippi river
on a daily, seasonal, and yearly basis, and cultural spaces at serve as gathering points
on both banks of the river. These access points and cultural venues are placed so
that current rail uses and barge access to the banks will not be impeded.
The plan is designed to increase
access and enhance the experience, but without adversely affecting existing
navigation, flood conveyance, or flood protection. To minimize negative impacts to
navigation, permanent structures such as The Bend Amphitheater that are proposed
to be sited within the top of the existing levees are placed outside of the current
navigation zones (i.e between existing caissons and the top of the existing levee
system). Permanent floating structures proposed on the east and west banks are also
between existing caissons and the river banks and will be out of navigational zones.
Temporary barges proposed for use with The Bend Amphitheater will be both inside
and outside of the existing caissons but have a proposed footprint into the river
similar to the existing Cargill barge operations. The proposed gondola that crosses
the river is conceptualized to provide adequate clearance for all navigation traffic. A
ferry is proposed for the site as well. The ferry path is designed so that river crossings
will take place north and south of the site in less constricted sections of the river with
more favorable sightlines. All in-river features of the plan (e.g. floating elements,
Ferry operations) will be further evaluated and refined in the next stage of design to
ensure that structures and operations will not interfere with navigation and will be
permittable by the relevant regulatory bodies.
The plan also considers minimization of flood related risks. In-river debris and ice
issues are minimized through the use of a small structural footprint of floating and
permanent elements within the river and floodplain and will be evaluated further in
the next stage of design. In-river components such as the gondola masts, supports
for the Bend Amphitheater, the City Gallery space, and modifications to the river
banks that provide additional green space and access for people are designed to
create no additional flood risk in mind. The Behnisch team recognizes that the
proposed spaces and infrastructure conceived will need to create no additional flood
risk. All concepts shown will be reviewed and modeled during the next phase of
design to provide technically sound assurance to regulatory authorities such as the
US Army Corps of Engineers and the Metro East Sanitary District that the proposed
plan will not create increased flood risk. Modifications of areas within the tops of
the levees will be balanced in terms of cut and fill while maintaining the structural
integrity of the levee system.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, PROPOSED USES
137
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, RIVER LEVELS
138
139
140
141
The east riverfront levee will be enhanced to provide opportunities for interaction to
view the working river, showcase the dynamic nature of the Mississippi river as a natural
system and provide cultural spaces. The current levee is proposed to be modified to
incorporate a series of small islands and peninsulas that will change as the Mississippi
River water level rises and falls as well as elevated walking paths and platforms to
observe the river. These areas will be designed to balance cut and fill on the levee, so
that the integrity of the levees for flood protection is maintained, as well as ensuring
that flood conveyance will be maintained with no rise in the river surface under flood
conditions. The Bend Amphitheater and nearby cultural and recreational spaces on the
east bank of the river are also designed to create no adverse affects on flood flows and
levels. The amphitheater has been conceived to have the majority of the structure above
the 500 year flood level, and a compensatory cut is proposed on the landward side of
the structure to enhance conveyance.
The new naturalized areas on the east bank are proposed to have periodic mowing
EAST ST. LOUIS to prevent the development of undesirable vegetation that could affect the levees
RIVERFRONT integrity. These areas are also designed to allow access for periodic debris management
as needed, to prevent debris buildup. Selected mid-size woody vegetation is proposed
be placed in locations near locations where woody vegetation is growing on the current
levee. Proposed woody vegetation will be chosen to maintain the structural integrity
of the levee, and a variance will be sought to allow for larger vegetation in selected
locations, using guidance given by the Army Corps of Engineers in ETL 1110-2-571. The
Behnisch team believes that this natural area can maintain current flood protection and
levee integrity while enhancing the river as a natural system. This system will provide
opportunities for people to interact with and observe the river and Arch grounds from
a variety of perspectives. All concepts shown will be reviewed and modeled during the
next phase of design to assure that the proposed plan will not create increased flood
risk and will receive the approval of regulatory authorities such as the US Army Corps of
Engineers and the Metro East Sanitary District
.
Landward side of the East Bank
The sustainable use of water through proper green infrastructure management is a

key component of the proposed design. On the east side of the river, runoff will be
collected from impervious areas on the current site as well from nearby parcels. This
water will be routed through treatment wetlands on site to improve water quality,
and will be routed to canals that thread through the cultural incubator proposed on
the east side of the site and to naturalized wetlands that flow southwest on the east
side. Water will be withdrawn from the canals to provide local irrigation for plantings
on site and will also be stored in water storage tanks on site for later use. Maintaining
water quality in the proposed canals and wetlands is essential for sustainable use of
retained water, and is needed to enhance and not detract from the experience of users
and observers. The system hydrology will be augmented and managed by a pump
system as necessary, to maintain flows and circulation necessary to support good water
quality through all seasons. In this phase of work, the function of the proposed canals,
treatment wetlands, and natural areas have been modeled in a qualitative manor. A
more quantitative assessment of these elements will be developed further during the
next phase of the design process.
EAST ST. LOUIS RIVERFRONT, THE RIVER

EAST ST LOUIS RIVERFRONT THE RIVER
145
EAST ST
SHORE
LOUIS
THERIVERFRONT
RIVER CUT + FILL A4.02
146
EAST ST LOUIS RIVERFRONT WATER NETWORK
147
UNIVERSAL The scope of the project is to provide accessibility improvements to the park
by removing existing barriers and implementing accessibility measures to
DESIGN, make the entire park as much accessible as possible without compromising
the exisitng historical significance. The extent of project scope would
ACCESSIBILTIY encompass site access (e.g., public transportation stops, on-site parking,
exterior pedestrian paths of travel) and building access including accessibility
within each building. Where it is either structurally or financially infeasible
to make accessibility features comply, an unreasonable hardship may be
presented to request for an exemption.
UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY WEST SIDE EXISTING CONDITIONS
151
UNIVERSAL
UNIVERSALDESIGN,
ACCESS ACCESSIBILITY
EAST SIDE EXISTING
EASTCONDITIONS
SIDE EXISTING CONDITIONS A5.02
152
UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY WEST SIDE UNIVERSAL ACCESS
153
UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY EAST SIDE UNIVERSAL ACCESS
154
UNIVERSAL ACCESS WEST SIDE UNIVERSAL ACCESS FOCUS A5.05
155
UNIVERSAL ACCESS WEST SIDE UNIVERSAL ACCESS FOCUS A5.06
156
UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY EAST SIDE ACCESS FOCUS
157
UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY WEST SIDE ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION
158
UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY EAST SIDE ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION
159
NPS, HISTORIC The stated goal of the NPS is to “integrate the park, the east and west sides
of the Mississippi River, the surrounding attractions and the downtown into a
PRESERVATION single vibrant and dynamic destination.”
Our explorations proceed from a team-based expertise in the original conditions

and design ambitions of the Arch and Archgrounds, as well as the urban design
history of St. Louis. With this, our designs will be grounded in an in-depth
understanding of the historical / cultural / social significance of the historcially
significant elemets in and around the site.
JNEM - CULTURAL LANDSCAPE TREATMENT STRATEGY
A. The following four points listed in order to acknowledge the Secretary of Interior’s four treatments for historic preservation, the recom
mended treatment by the CLR, and goals and how we are challenging the standard methodology.
• Preservation
• Rehabilitation - “The goal of rehabilitation is to preserve the portions or features of the landscape that are significant, yet
still allow for alterations and additions necessary for efficient and safe operation of the Memorial. Within the framework of the
overall landscape treatment, recommendations for individual features are made.”
• Restoration
• Reconstruction
B. Mission Statement and overall description of Arch ground proposals
• The idea of the Arch Grounds as a local park challenges the prevailing perception that urban national parks are sacred
precincts and islands in the city. The idea demands the Arch Grounds contribute positively to the quality of public life,
reaching out to the City and the River with physical, social, and ecological connections.
• The edges of the park, once barriers, are transformed into meeting places such as promenades, plazas, gardens and markets.
North End Music Project, South End Sports Park, Memorial Promenade (Blvd), and the Luther Ely Square and Museum.
• The interior of the park is activated by a network of accessible strolling paths, events and activity nodes, strategically located to
draw visitors throughout the grounds. By putting people on display, the human interaction becomes a major destination.
• Ecological Improvements reaffirm the importance of the Mississippi River and sets a new standard of environmental awareness
for urban national parks. Stormwater gardens along Memorial Promenade, understory planting and lawn reduction, allee
rejuvenation, all help to create a more heathly, vibrant park.
C. Brief description of character-defining features per CLR and how the proposed features are compatible, contributing or non-contributing.
1. Spatial Organization
“The Memorial is designed as a unified landscape, and it’s monumental character is achieved by a sequence of spaces which
orchestrate movement, create or screen views, and contrast a sense of spatial compression and expansion through the use of
proportion and scale.“The Memorial grounds are roughly bilaterally symmetrical to the north and south of the central axis run
ning from the Mississippi River to the Old Courthouse through the center of the Gateway Arch. This alignment is a primary orga
nizing feature of the landscape.”

2. Topography
“The designed landform of the JNEM is defined by graceful undulating curves which create a complex ground plane.”
“The Memorial’s landform works together with vegetation to hide, reveal, and frame views of the Gateway Arch at key location
in the landscape. . .”

3. Views and Vistas
“The primary view at the Memorial is along the axis between the Old Courthouse and the Gateway Arch.” Other important
views are: views along north-south axis, views between Memorial and East St. Louis, views around the ponds, views from the
overlooks, screened views of service areas.
4. Buildings & Structures

“The majority of the buildings and structures on the Memorial grounds were constructed between 1959 and 1976.” The bulid
ings built during this period hold the most highest importance within the Historical Preservation of the Arch Grounds. These
buildings and structures must be enhanced with the utmost sensitivity. Relocation of the Parking Structure and the Maintenance
facility place these two structures closer to the origins of the Kiley’s design intent.
5. Vegetation
“The vegetation forms much of the spatial experience of the site, from the dense planting that enclose the walkways to the
broad expanse of lawn under the Gateway Arch.”
6. Circulation
“The interior walks, paved in beige-brown exposed aggregate concrete and lined by trees, are designed as a sequence of spaces
along the north-south axis of the Memorial. The gradually varying width of the walk is an important visual element.” This ideal
walk is incorporated into the secondary pathways that add improved access to the view ponds and accross the park in a
universally accessible mannar.
8. Small Scale Features

The CLR emphasizes a priority on simplicity for any small scale features. For example, introduced pavillions will be minimal in
scale, simple in design and temporary in nature.
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION INTRODUCTION

163
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION MUSEUM EXTENSION ENTRANCE
164
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION OLD COURTHOUSE UNIVERSAL ACCESS
165
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION CHANING LANDSCAPE
166
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION GRAND STAIRS
167
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION COBBLESTONE SHORE
168
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION SECONDARY PATHS
169
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION MUSIC PROJECT
170
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION EADS BRIDGE SURFACE
171
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION EADS BRIDGE STRUCTURAL ARCHES
172
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION GONDOLA WEST STATION
173
NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE FACILITY RELOCATION
174
PRESENTATION
BOARDS
RIVERCIRCLE! BEHNISCH TEAM
St. Louis Missouri, East St. Louis Illinois

The Rivercircle proposes the formulation of a exible framework for the evolution of the Arch grounds that is mindful of all real and cur-
rent stakeholder interests but also an ability to be able to put in motion a framework for development that will allow future generations
to develop the urban environment of St Louis along needs and wishes that we cannot understand from our position today.
Operating with a balanced catalogue of quick wins and long-term goals this project identies those aspects of living, working and visiting
cities that we know from research and lessons learnt to be of timeless value.
For the people of St Louis in 2015 and in the generations to come: Investing in the Rivercircle is your best bet yet!
2015
1960
A fragmented urban fabric Reconnected and whole once more
GREAT RIVERS EXPO –

INTERNATIONAL BUILDING AND LANDSCAPE EXHIBITION
1904 Summer Olympics, St. Louis
2010 Great Rivers Expo Begins
The RIVERCIRCLE! | NATIONAL MALL concept, framing urban, landscape, architectural and artistic activ-
Memorial Competition
1904 World’s Fair, St. Louis
ity, emerges from a sustaining vision of integrated regional development, an encircling strategic plan and

organization we propose as the GREAT RIVERS EXPO – THE INTERNATIONAL BUILDING AND LANDSCAPE
Memorial Opens
EXHIBITION ST. LOUIS.

Celebration
Celebration
GREAT RIVERS EXPO is partly a building exhibition in the classic, architectural sense, but is also a federal
and state-supported entity that oversees individual redevelopment projects and an overarching Master Plan.
A variety of landscape and architecture, art projects will be developed over time rather than developed as a
single event.
The mission, mandate and timeframe illustrate the most productive contemporary thinking in the ecologi-
1900 1950 2000 2050 cal and economic regeneration of a former industrial region; the methods and designs emerging from this
Great Rivers Expo - A tradition within history strategy are best described as “Sustained Vitality.”
RIVER EDGE EXTENSIONS

WASHINGTON PLAZA :
A NEW LOCAL MARKET EADS BRIDGE
MUSIC PROJECT
EAST AND WEST RIVER EDGE

GATEWAY MALL TRANSFORMATIONS NEW ARTS COLLECTIVE
GATEWAY MALL : MUSEUM ENTRY
CLOSE CHESTNUT (EVENTS)
EAST RIVERBANK : AMPHITHEATER

CULTURAL INCUBATOR RESOURCE CENTER PROGRAM EXTENSION
ACCESS OVER FLOODWALL LOCAL PROGRAMS MEMORIAL GONDOLA MULTI-PURPOSE VENUE
BLVD.
TRAIL NETWORK I-70 REMOVAL
UNDER POPLAR BRIDGE :

AN URBAN SPORTS PARK
Now! : Quick Wins Before 2015 : Gaining Momentum 2015 : New Perspectives Future : Sustained Vitality
Our project does not have a completion date in 2015. We believe that the We are proposing that the city starts transforming four key entrance gate- Festival! Or: An event for St Louis. In 2015 the Arch celebrates its 50th an- Provision of a sustainable long range plan for the citizens of St Louis and
process has already started and that there are opportunities to introduce rst ways into the Arch grounds immediately with low cost initiatives that take niversary. It offers an opportunity to make the Arch grounds a local destina- East St Louis. A framework plan with built in exibility allowing for many
interventions in 2010. Our aggressive phasing strategy is not proposing a place in the right-of-way of the public in close dialogue with adjacent build- tion with new program celebrating the Arch again, new phase / Catalyst for different uses and developments in the future.
breakneck fast-track procurement method, but instead a process where legal ing stakeholders that are informed of the further phasing and process. the city with new programs and amenities, a reinterpretation of the Arch
opportunities to commence with select key ‘Quick Win’ projects are quickly grounds, a destination for the citizens of St Louis.
implemented to signal to the people of St. Louis that the process is underway.
BEHNISCH TEAM
Site Section - 2015
Site Plan - 2015

N
Introducing and Connecting New Landscapes and Ecologies Hydrology - Stormwater Strategy Interconnected Public Space Network
Reconnected a Fragmented Ecology Cleansing and Restoration of the ‘Internal Flood Pulse’ An Extensive Public Space Network
Reclaiming a native landscape that celebrates the ecological history of the Bottomlands will restore the ma- This cultural system is interconnected by a framework of wetlands, bioswales, canals and channels that cap- The RIVERCIRCLE! traverses and connects a series of different and ever changing landscapes and urban
trix of marsh, scrub, woodlands, and seasonal oodplain to the site. The site invites visitors from across the ture, cleanse and reuse the site and adjacent landscape’s stormwater runoff. conditions, connecting them while allowing for an exciting and diverse visiting experience.
River to play, recreate and meander through the restored Bottomland woodlands and marshes, amongst
boardwalks, hiking trails, and picnic groves.
BEHNISCH TEAM
ARCH GROUNDS EXISTING

TOPOGRAPHY
DIRECT ACCESS TO THE CENTRAL LAWN

AND BASE OF ARCH
Direct Route
EXPANDED MUSEUM EXHIBITS
ARCHIVE AND SUPPORT SPACE
TOPOGRAPHICALLY
INTEGRATED CAFE
A NEW ENTRY FROM

GATEWAY MALL
Meandering Route
Arch Museum - Axon Diagram
A NEW MONUMENTALITY
CELEBRATING THE NOW
In St. Louis, Xiao Feng considers, as he rides into the city’s the riverbank in the middle of the city. A symphony is playing the nal suite of Handel’s “Water Music”
downtown on the Metro Red Line from the Lambert Airport, he has on the sloping lawn underneath the overwhelming upward reach of the Arch, to a magnicent shower of
surely come to a regular American river city – small to be sure post-in- reworks arcing out from the riverbank below and the exuberant applause of thousands of listeners and
dustrial, cultured in the more typical American ways, probably – base- onlookers spread out across the plazas, pedestrian streets and park-places in front of him. A leaet is thrust
ball, he had heard, was nearly a religion to the citizens. But, here too into his hand : “St. Louis welcomes the world! Join us for Festival St. Louis! Join us for a celebration of the
was Boeing, and Monsanto, and the Budweiser beer company that Great Rivers! Join us for David Robertson’s St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the greatest assembly of
had sponsored the Beijing Olympics not too many years ago, and the rhythm, blues and jazz on the riverbanks! Join us at the new national mall, the Arch grounds of America!”
great research universities. The Red Line works effectively, he thinks, It is not the Fourth of July, he knows, but the citizens are out on this October night, in a celebration of the
fending off jet-lag, and there on the evening horizon is the unmistak- city itself, there are tens of thousands of people milling among rows of open air kiosks, amid scents of bar-
able illuminated Arch that is known around the world as the icon of beque, cornbread. The hotel can wait, he thinks, I may never have a chance to hear Chuck Berry again. He
the city. Fantastic, he smiles, as if the form has fallen from the sky to re-considers, humming “Johnnie B Good”: not really a regular river city after all.
Gateway Mall and the Arch Museum (looking west from the top of the Arch)
In St. Louis, Charles Charles sways, then steadies himself against are the outlines of the new Great Rivers Resource Center he’d been
the carpeted window wall atop the Arch – was it the Arch moving in told about. Suddenly, he wants to endure the cramped elevator car
the wind, or was the view that magnetic now? He’d been at the top ride back down the north leg as soon as possible, get out to the Arch
too many times before to lose his equilibrium easily. Why, he’d been Grounds, get himself re-oriented to the life of the new St. Louis. He
at the top at the very moment it became a full and connected Arch, thinks: I’ve had my balance all along – here in the life of this city.
that scorching day in ‘65 when the nal triangular element had been
hoisted up and levered into place. Even in the heat, the view from
the top that day was grand, outranking all others since then gained A NEW MONUMENTALITY
from the interior observation area – the great bowl of the Midwest Our proposed new design narrative suggests a reconceived un-
horizon, visible for 360 degrees, was almost overwhelming: he had derstanding of “monumentality,” in urban, architectural, and
never felt so centered. There’s just something different in the views landscape architectural terms. We propose a new national mall
west and east, more in the immediate eld of his vision down below for the continental center, organized but not bounded by the
to both directions, that’s got him shifting his feet and craning his head ow of the great Mississippi River, and encircled around and
from side to side. He hears similar exclamations from the others in his across it by an aggregate of well-scaled, highly accessible, dis-
group –the construction crew veterans, brought back by the city and tinctive public places, parks, promenades, performance stages,
the Park Service for the day’s events. To the west, in the fall twilight, resource centers and recreation elds. The River runs through
he sees the Gateway Mall and the city’s downtown stretching west, it all – and is thereby granted status as more than an economic
but there’s now the new City Pavilion in front of the Old Courthouse, or industrial resource, but as a carrier of American culture, in
a new pedestrian boulevard fronting the Arch Grounds, and a new il- both real and metaphorical ways. As an organizing concept,
luminated west entry to the Arch museums; Eads Bridge glows with this encircling sequence of public activities, is captured by the
activity and to the east, where once had been brown elds, an orches- compound noun RIVERCIRCLE.
tra is clearly performing at the new amphitheatre beyond that, there Museum Entry Perspective (looking east)
Gateway Mall - Public Realm Plan
PROJECT AWARD
SEP. 2010
A NEW NARRATIVE WASHINGTON A
CHOUTEAU‘S LANDING SKATING COMPETITION CLOSE CHESTNUT FOR ICE SKATING A QUICK WIN
The 1947 JNEM Competition stands as a testament to a bold civic and national vision of the A QUICK WIN A QUICK WIN
future. Eero Saarinen’s narrative for his winning design, “An Imaginary Tour of the Proposed QUICK WINS - TEMPORARY EVENTS
CLOSE CHESTNUT FOR ICE SKATING
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial,” emphasized the singular, static, perfected, highly PERMANENT EVENT PLATFORMS A QUICK WIN
ARBOR DAY TREE PLANTING FAIR ST. LOUIS POPLA
visual and ultimately isolated nature of the design: this was a monument reective of its time, EVENT / FESTIVAL A QUICK WIN JULY 4TH
technology and outlook. We live in a different world in many ways – and St. Louis is a different
PUBLIC ART AND BUILT EXHIBIT OPENINGS
city now in many ways – and we therefore propose a new design narrative to expand and in-
vigorate Saarinen and Kiley’s achievements. Our design narrative cautions against conventional LAND ART AND EXHIBIT OPENINGS ESL TREE NURSERY ESTABLISHED CLOSE EADS FOR 'TASTE OF ST. LOUIS ' FOOD FES
PLANS AND TREES FOR ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION A QUICK WIN
monumental responses to the grandeur of Saarinen and Kiley’s ambitions; such gestures, we LANDSCAPE / ECOLOGY QUICK WINS
believe, will not save St. Louis and its citizens. Instead, our new narrative espouses diverse and VICTORY PARTY ON EADS
LANDSCAPE / ECOLOGY PROJECTS A QUICK WIN C
multiple perspectives, a dynamic conception of city and landscape, the tactile and the experi- P
P
CITY LIFE / PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
ential, the contingent and the imperfect, all with the ambition of promoting heightened civic
STAGE 1 : NOW!
2011
identity and engaged public activity.

CULTURAL CARRIER BEHNISCH TEAM
RE-ESTABLISH THE MISSISSIPPI AS A CULTURAL LIFELINE
A new visitor’s attraction and

part of the Rivercircle network,
the Gondola is designed as an
engineering marvel with cabins
of high visual transparency to
allow for maximum panoramic
viewing experience. Gondola - Concept Sketch
Mississippi River Amphitheater ‘The Bend’

Directly across from the Arch, a contemporary theater space will be embedded into the landscape of the
eastern river bank. A light tensile roof structure covers the main seating area and functions as a protective
oating canopy, a beacon on the river illuminated at night for dramatic viewing experience. ‘The Bend’,
upon successful introduction in July 2015 will host events during the summer and into the fall season fea-
turing music concerts, theater plays, and other private and public events on its oating stage.
• A new beacon of identity for the river’s East Side

• A new addition to the region’s cultural rich environment vis-a-vis the Arch
• A viewing platform to experience the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
CANOPY
VISITOR AMENITIES
CAFE / RESTAURANT, BAR,
FRANCHISE SHOPS, TICKETS
AND RECEPTION, BATHROOMS
PUBLIC PROMENADE AND

OUTDOOR FOYER
BACK-OF-HOUSE PROGRAM
WOOD BENCHES - SEATING ‘The Bend’ Amphitheater (view from the Mississippi River Gondola, looking east)
ELEMENTS
In St. Louis, Carol thinks, all you heard about growing up was the into a dramatic esplanade, then lacing the bridges and city streets to- CULTURAL CARRIER
FLOATING STAGE Arch…that gleaming bend of stainless steel on the banks of the river; gether with the park, then majestically sending a line of gondola cars Although the river travel and rail based reasons for the centrality
And you went dutifully to show family friends visiting from out of wafting above the river – and denitely before today, October 15, of this downtown have long since been called into question by
FLOATING SERVICE BARGE
town, and then perhaps to Fair St. Louis on a Fourth of July weekend, 2015, the day of the ribbon cutting for the new Gateway Museum the easy availably of vehicular transportation, its cultural signi-
WITH BACKSTAGE PROGRAM
to see the reworks arching over the river. But that was all before the below the Arch, the opening events for Festival St. Louis – the nation’s cance in the region has not diminished. Yet making it function in
competition, which had proposed such ideas and initiative for both largest commissioned installation of public art situated in the newly way that we now identify with urban life—with pedestrian vitali-
sides of the river before those fantastic build-up events, anticipating restored American Bottoms park on the east bank. Seeing all this from ty, a wide range of activities, and extensive access to natural areas
LANDFORM BASE
new vitality to downtown and the east and west banks of the river – the gondola car windows, hearing the exclamations of the visitors along the riverfront itself—has proven to be difcult. We pro-
really, who could have imagined Leonor K. Sullivan Drive as a riverside around her, Carol thinks, this is now, this is here, in my city, in my life pose a powerful and effective spatial framework as a mechanism
beach, or Taste St. Louis stretching across Eads Bridge – who could – a place I be proud of, a place I can come to again and again, a place to affect a positive urban transformation of the Arch grounds and
have imagined? That was all before the construction, nally bridging of Arch and Arch grounds, a place I know as home. beyond.
the gap across the interstate, then transforming the east bank levee
‘The Bend’ Amphitheater - Axon Diagram
Cultural Incubator Section

0 100 200 400
0 100 200 400
UP AND OVER - THE EAST RIVERBANK OPENING PUBLIC ART OPENING

POPLAR STREET SPORTS OPEN
AVE. MILE LONG GARAGE SALE
A QUICK WIN GATEWAY MALL
EXTREME SPORT TOURNAMENT
CYCLE PATH OPENS ESLENERGY
BIO-COMPOSTING OPENS
CONFLUENCE RACE
AR STREET NOISE BARRIER FAIR ST. LOUIS
ESL RIVERFRONT FLORA AND FAUNA INVENTORY
A QUICK WIN
GENERATION AND SOIL REMEDIATION
ARBOR DAY TREE PLANTING
FAIR ST. LOUIS
POPLAR STREET CELEBRATION FESTIVAL JULY 4TH
A QUICK WIN
JULY 4TH
ARBOR DAY TREE PLANTING
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION A QUICK WIN PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
ON THE MISSISSIPPI LIVE ON THE LEVEE ON THE MISSISSIPPI
ARCH GROUNDS CONCERT
STIVAL
LIVE ON THE LEVEE
ESL EQUINOX FESTIVAL WASHINGTON PLAZA MARKET
OPENING ESL EQUINOX FESTIVAL CHESTNUT
N PAVILION CONSTRUCTION
N BEGINS
YCLE PATH C
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS I-70 CAPP CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
MUSIC PROJECT CONSTRUCTION
C BEGINS
OPLAR STREET
E SPORTS CONSTRUCTION
OPLAR STREET
E NOISE BARRIER WASHINGTON PLAZA CONSTRUCTION
O EADS BRIDGE IMPROVEMENTS
N STUDY BEGINS
STAGE 2 : GAINING MOMENTUM

2012
2013
BEHNISCH TEAM
NPS CITY
ARCH GROUNDS LEONOR K. SULLIVAN BLVD. HISTORIC COBBLESTONE LEVEE

SHARED SURFACE PROMENADE
City Balcony - West Riverfront Section
City Balcony
A new experience on the River between Eads Bridge and Poplar Street Bridge, featuring a variety of new
activities as part of the City’s new river experience. The balcony’s edge is of dynamic quality providing a
variety of spatial experiences for viewing, resting, activity, and events.
• New activities on the riverbank for increased use and popularity
• Cobblestone and riparian plantings will act as ltration and cleansing buffers
• Changing water levels of the river will create an ever changing river edge
The East Levee Esplanade (looking south)
In St. Louis, Michael wonders, how could this view of the Arch ers, and cyclists, he can’t keep his eyes from straying across the rip- to an assembly of people facing a black-robed judge, a single, gen-
and his hometown – from the east bank levee promenade of the Mis- pling river. Low ood stage today, Michael thinks, a good omen for tly uttering American ag, and the Arch beyond, hands over their
sissippi – be any better? Having woken up in his downtown loft to the the day’s festivities and the evening reworks – which, are going to be hearts. “…and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, with
bright summer sunshine of this July Fourth morning, he’d jumped on bigger and more attended than ever, now that the new Arch grounds, liberty and justice for all,” he hears. There’s a silence after the verse,
East Riverfront Section his bike, headed down Washington Avenue – zigzagged through the the Gateway Mall, and this east side park were all in place. Approach- and then the morning breeze picks up off the river, and a wave of ap-
farmer’s market at the east end already setting up and crossed the ing the “Bend” , its tensile structured roof forms oating above the plause breaks out. Citizenship, Michael smiles, received in this national
East Levee Esplanade gloriously restored Eads Bridge to pick up the Great Rivers bike trail on
the east bank. Cycling south along the raised esplanade between a
tree line, Michael slows and then stops for a crowd overowing out
onto the path from the sloped amphitheater built out from the levee
park, this urban garden, this new national mall – could there be a bet-
ter place for it to occur?
A new destination on the river for hiking, biking, skating, resting, picnicing and other leisure activities. A
series of islands, passing by the early morning joggers, walkers, stroll- into the river. He has a clear view down the terraces to the river stage,
major destination to experience the views up and down the River and towards the Arch. The new river
experience for east St Louis, an ever changing landscape of islands formed through the rising and ebbing
water levels. The sculpted landscape of the levee provides an opportunity to showcase a diverse commu-
nity of native plants that exhibit different levels of adaptation to river conditions.
• A new destination for recreational, leisure and sports activities for the east side of the river
• An ever changing landscape formed by the tide of the river
• A sculpted landscape showcasing an ecologically sensitive approach to the river edge
A MULTI-GENERATIONAL COMMITMENT Resource Center for the

American Bottoms / Great Rivers
A LARGER VISION CAN OVERCOME COMPLEX PROBLEMS A cutting-edge facility for interdisciplinary research, education, and productivity with focus on the many
ecologies of the Great Rivers and the American Bottoms. Dening the role of our built environment as a
helping tool for a productive re-naturalization of a depleted industrial landscape. Weaving outdoors and
indoor spaces seamlessly, self supporting and energy-neutral.
• An interdisciplinary research facility focused on the re-naturalization efforts for the American Bottoms
• A facility with the mission to research and educate
• Its mission, as an interdisciplinary facility, is to provide scientic guidance, technical assistance and
education for the preservation, conservation and enhancement of park resources within the American
Bottoms Landscapes and along the Great Rivers.
SKY WALK
OPERABLE GREENHOUSES
EXPERIMENTAL GREENHOUSE
TEACHING GREENHOUSE
RESEARCH GREENHOUSE
RESEARCH LIBRARY
OFFICES
LABORATORIES
Resource Center for the American Bottoms - Axon Diagram

Resource Center for the American Bottoms (looking west)
In St. Louis, Sasha inhales the fragrances of a really green spring her landscape architecture program at Wash U…funny name for a
Multi Generational Commitment
day wafting through the air on the east side of the River: she would not school, Sasha smiles. Ha, then there was the funny name of the park-
The proposal outlines a framework for a rapid, yet thoughtful,
have missed this day for the world. Sasha remembers asking her sister lands – the American Bottoms Nature Reserve, the guide had said –
development that can begin now, yet will also allow future gen-
Alex to show her “a few of her favorite things”, and Alex has brought and Sasha giggles at the thought!. Funny, too, to imagine that some-
erations to continue to enhance the urban environment of the St
her here, to this circular drum-like building in the new parklands across times this whole area had been ooded by the river, and maybe would
Louis region. We recognize that as designers we cannot always
the Eads Bridge, a place Alex calls the Great Rivers Resource Center, be again soon – and that that was expected to happen, that that was
accurately predict what the future will bring. At the same time,
full of owers, and plants, and guides and lots of hands-in-the-dirt what rivers did; and now I know that’s what has to happen to make
this project identies those aspects of living, working and urban
stuff to do. She’d liked the place from the start – one spiraling ramp the parklands come alive. Under the canopy of the trees, a friendly
magnetism that we know to be among the key ingredients of
curved throughout the inside of the drum)…as much fun as the zoo, woman is pouring glasses of an iced drink; “it’s elderberry tea,” Alex
urban success. This project is intended not only for the people
she thinks. Alex seems to be having just as much fun, she seems to tell her, and Sasha sips the new avor gratefully. The sun through the
of St Louis today, but also for 2015, and the many generations
know the names of just about all the plants and how they grow, and tree leaves dapples her face. Sasha inhales the fragrances again. She
that will follow and live in this region.
what made them special to St. Louis; these were subjects she had in smiles, looks up at Alex and says brightly, “The air is green!” Resource Center Typical Floor Plan 1” = 100’
EADS UNVEILED MEMORIAL BLVD. OPENS LEONOR K. SULLIVAN TEMPORARY URBAN BEACH
I-70 CAPPED PUBLIC ART OPENING
ART FESTIVAL
PUBLIC ART OPENING
FESTIVAL
PUBLIC ART OPENING A QUICK WIN

GATEWAY MALL GATEWAY MALL GATEWAY MALL
GRAND OPENING
CITY PAVILION OPENS GRAND OPENING
OLD RA
CHESTNUT STREET FESTIVAL STORMWATER DEMONSTRATION GARDEN FIRST SHOW
A QUICK WIN FAIR ST. LOUIS
JULY 4TH WINTER FEST
CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT FEBRUARY 1ST
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION GATEWAY MALL PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
ON THE MISSISSIPPI LIVE ON THE LEVEE MEMORIAL BLVD. MEMORIAL BLVD.
ARCH GROUNDS CONCERT SERIES
EADS UNVEILED
2015
ART FESTIVAL MEMORIAL BLVD. LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT

O
EAST RIVERBANK PARK CONSTRUCTION BEGINS I BEGINS
CITY BALCONY CONSTRUCTION FIRST SHOW CELEBRATING THE NEW PUBLIC REALM
MEMORIAL BLVD. TRANSFORMATION
O AND PEDESTRIAN BBRIDGES CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
G
‚THE BEND‘ AMPHITHEATER CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
GONDOLA CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
NEW SERVICE FACILITY CONSTRUCTION BEGINS MUSEUM CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
STAGE 3 : NEW PERSPECTIVES JANUARY

2014
BEHNISCH TEAM
SOUTH NORTH
Memorial Boulevard Elevation
0 100 200 400
The Arch Grounds - Public Realm Plan
N
St. Louis Music Project
The St Louis Music Project is dedicated to the exploration of creativity and innovation in the music of St
Louis, the Mississippi River and it’s region. By blending interpretative, interactive exhibitions with cutting-
edge technology, SLMP captures and reflects the essence of jazz, and the blues, as well as their influence
on recent music genres.
• Delivering distinctive programs using technology and media, the voices of the artists, and the
engagement of our guests
• Developing, protecting, and interpreting a diverse collection of 20th/21st century artifacts
• Providing welcoming, responsive visitor services
• Permanent and Temporary Exhibitions, Installations and Interactive Elements, Sculpture Park on
roof adjacent to Arch grounds.
• Education: Music School, Camps, Conferences, etc..
• Public Programs: Late Nights, Festivals, History Program, After Hours, etc.
ARCH GROUNDS VISITOR

CENTER AND ORIENTATION
PERMANENT EXHIBIT POD
LISTENING AND MUSIC

EXPERIMENTATION POD
PERFORMANCE SPACE / CHANGING

EXHIBIT
Washington Avenue and the St. Louis Music Project (from Eads Bridge connector, looking west)
In St. Louis, Joan feels, the city starts with good food. Standing at from Denver, to come learn real “continental cooking” from Gerard had gone national…and the Missouri and southern Illinois wine coun-
her FRESH restaurant stall on top of the Eads Bridge, looking down- Craft at Niche. Why, Cahokia Mounds had been at the center of the try had really taken off in the last decade. The tastes of St. Louis were
river at the blooming Arch grounds and gleaming Arch, she’s pleased largest corn-based agricultural economy in 1100 AD, right? And Lewis known, the real cultivation of the place was known. This EATS BRIDGE
with her 50-mile organic menu for the day, and just as pleased to see and Clark had made camp and gathered their strength here in the event proved it year in and year out: this is a city that appreciates its
her colleagues from around the city sharing their wealth of cuisine, ‘Lou before mapping the Louisiana Purchase, right? And what about many flavors, scents and cultures. Joan says to herself softly, “This is a
fine dining, and country cooking alongside her. The city was truly a the ’04 World’s Fair – ice cream cones, to be sure! True, there would place of cultivation,” and I like the taste of this city.
00’ place of cultivation. She’d done her homework before moving here always be A-B , but Schlafly was no longer micro- at all – their appeal St. Louis Music Project - Axon Diagram
AN BEACH
PUBLIC ART OPENING RESOURCE CENTER CITY BALCONY PUBLIC ART OPENING
GATEWAY MALL GRAND OPENING GRAND OPENING ARCH GROUNDS
ARCH GROUNDS TREE REPLACEMENT

OLD RAIL TRACK ART PLATFORM ARCH GROUNDS PUBLIC SPACE NETWORK TRANSFER CEREMONY
FIRST SHOW CELEBRATING ESL INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE GRAND OPENING
EQUINOX FEST
CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT MARCH 31ST CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT
RT INSTALLATION MEMORIAL BLVD. GATEWAY MALL MEMORIAL BLVD. ARCH GROUNDS PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION GATEWAY MALL
BLVD. PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION MEMORIAL BLVD. GATEWAY MALL
EADS BRIDGE
LANDSCAPE ART OPENING
CULTURAL INCUBATOR EAST RIVERBANK PARK ARCH GROUNDS LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT
GRAND OPENING FIRST SHOW CELEBRATING THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF MISSISSIPPI
RESOURCE CENTER CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY

BEHNISCH TEAM
MAKE IT LOCAL
The Arch grounds transform from a static landscape with a xed object and few movement options that
limit potential ways to experience the place into a dynamic landscape. In the new Arch grounds better pro-
vision of access from all surrounding streets and neighborhoods is secured and a secondary new movement
network connects to new public space programs that will intensify use of the entirety of the Arch Grounds.
• Ensure that people feel safer in the Arch Grounds at all times of day
• Bring some activities to the edge of the river
• Bring some activities to the under utilized southern half of the Arch grounds
• Provide multiple welcoming entrance gateways
• Make sure that there are accessible and safe places for peaceful respite
• Make sure that there are places where the meeting of people is encouraged
• All current Downtown users – working and residential – will gain much more instant and easy access
to the Arch grounds.
• The ‘ebb and ow’ of people into the Arch grounds will intensify with more people coming to the
Rivers edge and with people spreading out and using more of the Arch grounds
• Public space programming will ensure that more activities will be taking place in physical proximity to
one another, providing an increased feeling of safety for users
Concept Sketch : Activities
Olive Street Crossing and Outdoor Reading Room
LACLEDES LANDING EADS BRIDGE
WASHINGTON PLAZA
MUSIC PROJECT
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
GATEWAY GEYSER
Washington Avenue (looking east)
OLD COURTHOUSE ‘THE BEND’

ARCH AMPHITHEATER RESOURCE CENTER
CATHEDRAL
GONDOLA
POPLAR STREET REC PARK

SEATING AREAS
LOCAL PROGRAMS
CHANGING EXHIBITS
CHOUTEAU’S LANDING
PUBLIC ART OPPORTUNITIES
A New Arch Grounds - Multiple Routes and Activities
CHANGING LANDSCAPE
EXHIBITS
Memorial Boulevard (looking south)
Luther Ely Smith Square (looking east) Cultural Incubator (looking north) West Riverfront - Cobblestone Levee Interventions
Kiener Plaza (looking east) Poplar Street Rec Park (looking east) American Bottoms Discovery Trails (looking north-west)
'THE BEND‘ SUMMER CONCERT SERIES
PUBLIC ART OPENING 'THE BEND‘ OPENING PUBLIC ART OPENING PUBLIC ART OPENING PUBLIC ART OPENING
DEDICATION AND FIRST PERFORMANCE
RAIL ART PUBLIC ART OPENING RAIL ART PUBLIC ART OPENING RAIL ART ARCH GROUNDS
GONDOLA
SHARED RIVER CONCERT

GATEWAY MALL GATEWAY MALL FIRST RIDES

1st ANNUAL GATEWAY MUSIC FESTIVAL
AT 'THE BEND‘ CELEBRATING WORLD MUSIC
FAIR ST. LOUIS

ANDSCAPE EXHIBIT NATIVE PLANT TOURS JULY 4TH
CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT NATIVE PLANT TOURS CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT
EAST RIVERBANK PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION ARCH GROUNDS EAST RIVERBANK GATEWAY MALL ARCH GROUNDS PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION PUBLIC A
ON THE MISSISSIPPI EADS BRIDGE MEMORIAL BLVD. ON THE M
LANDSCAPE ART OPENING LIVE ON THE LEVEE LANDSC

CULTURAL INCUBATOR ARCH GROUNDS CONCERT SERIES CULTURAL
JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER

BEHNISCH TEAM
Arch grounds (view from north-east)
TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE :

A LARGER VISION CAN OVERCOME COMPLEX CHALLENGES
Over one hundred years ago, St. Louisans hosted the world in
two linked international events, the Louisiana Purchase Exposi-
tion and the Olympics of 1904. Over fty years ago, St. Louisans
reconceived their historic riverfront in order to erect a great na-
tional symbol – one that would reect the ambitions and values of
those prior American generations who had settled the West – and
then become an internationally recognized, magnetic emblem of
both the city and nation. Now, the National Park Service and St.
Louisans initiate an equal collaborative commitment to grounding
their great Arch in an expanded Arch grounds: a new design for
contemporary challenges, one that will not only respect those his-
toric ambitions, but contemplate new, sustainable ones, for the
city and for the nation. While many speak of “sustainability” in
terms of environmental awareness and responsibility or calculat-
ed, technological solutions, this civic history of St. Louis suggests
another dimension to sustainable design – that of duration, of a
lasting responsibility to multiple generations in the same place.
Removal of remaining barriers between city and river Extension and Expansion
Beyond 2015
The momentum of urban re-invention will continue in St. Louis as more projects are realized over time.
• I-70 will be closed, trafc diverted, and the overpass taken down. A north-south Metrolink line will be built using the existing underpass.
• Lacledes’ and Chouteau’s Landing will be developed as mixed-used neighborhoods.
• The Cargill plant will be relocated and the aging facility left behind will be converted into a new Arts District. Artists, set designers, musicians and many others will make use of the space.
• ‘The Bend’ amphitheater will be expanded to become ‘The Bend’ performing arts center with multiple stages, practice rooms, and ofces. Being directly adjacent to the new Arts District will lead to many synergies between artist and actor.
• The riverbank improvements and trail network on both sides of the river will be extended.
'THE BEND' TRANSFORMED

PUBLIC ART OPENING PUBLIC ART OPENING PUBLIC ART OPENING PUBLIC ART OPENING A MULTI-PURPOSE PERFORMING ARTS VENUE I-70 REMOVED
OPENING PUBLIC ART OPENING
GATEWAY MALL
RAIL ART GATEWAY MALL ARCH GROUNDS RAIL ART MEMORIAL BLVD. IMPROVEMENTS
ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATION CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT CHANGING LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT
WINTER FEST
FEBRUARY 1ST
MIXED USE NEIGHBORHOOD - LACLEDE'S LANDING
AN ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT NEW METRO LINE
ART INSTALLATION GATEWAY MALL ARCH GROUNDS PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION MEMORIAL BLVD. PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION NORTH - SOUTH SERVICE
ISSISSIPPI ON THE MISSISSIPPI EADS BRIDGE
OCTOBER 15TH - 2015 CARGILL TRANSFORMED INTO ARTS COLLECTIVE
CAPE ART OPENING LANDSCAPE ART OPENING CULTURAL PRODUCTION HUB
L INCUBATOR CULTURAL INCUBATOR RIVERBANKS EXTENDED
GRAND OPENING
MIXED USE NEIGHBORHOOD - CHOTEAU'S LANDING
2016
MUSEUM OPENING ARCH MUSEUM CHANGING EXHIBITS

AN ARTS DISTRICT
DEDICATION CEREMONY
OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER STAGE 4 : SUSTAINED VITALITY

CREDITS
Urban Design Behnisch Architekten
Gehl Architects
H3 Studio
Architecture Behnisch Architekten
Landscape and Ecology Stephen Stimson Landscape Architects

Applied Ecological Services
Climate Engineering Transsolar Energietechnik
Structural Design Schlaich Bergermann und Partner
Engineering Horner & Shifrin

Nelson / Nygaard
Limno-Tech
Schirmer Engineering
Feasibility and Cost KWAME Building Group
Lighting Loisos and Ubbelohde Associates
Theater Consultants Theatre Projects
Scholars Peter MacKeith

Eric Mumford
Graphics Behnisch Architekten

Ockert und Partner
Animation Moka Studio
Renderings Behnisch Architekten

Stephen Stimson Landscape Architects
Luxigon
Behnisch Architekten Los Angeles

Behnisch Team Arch Proposal - Full Narrative

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BEHNISCH TEAM LOS ANGELES / AUGUST 2010

New Monumentality - Life Around the River

3 GREAT RIVERS EXPO

Luther Ely Smith Square | City Pavilion

Washington Avenue Plaza

St. Louis Music Project

Poplar Street RecParc

Museum of the Arch and Westward Expansion

St. Louis River Balcony

Mississippi River Amphitheater 'The Bend‘

East Levee Esplanade

City, Urban Design

The Mississippi River

East St. Louis Riverfront

Universal Design, Accessibility

NPS, Historic Preservation

BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS 1

4 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS

The 1947 Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Competition stands as a testament to

A NEW MONUMENTALITY - LIFE AROUND THE RIVER

Our proposed new design narrative suggests a reconceived understanding of “monu-

8 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS

BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS 9

The RIVERCIRCLE urban landscape concept, framing urban, landscape, architectural

12 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS

approaches to available land.

1904 Summer Olympics, St. Louis

2010 Great Rivers Expo Begins

1948 National Expansion

1965 National Expansion

2065 100th Anniversary

FEASIBILITY STRATEGY - PUBLIC & PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS 13

Now! : Quick Wins

Our project does not have a completion date in 2015.

Before 2015 : Gaining Momentum

We propose that the city begin transforming four key

14 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS

Festival St Louis! In 2015 the Arch celebrates its 50th

Future: Sustained Vitality

Provision of a sustainable long range plan for the citizens

BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS 15

POSTERS BILLBOARDS T-SHIRTS

QUARTERLY PUBLICATIONS BLOG / WEBPAGE T-SHIRTS

16 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS

BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS 17

URBAN QUALITY - PLACES FOR PEOPLE

CHOUTEAU‘S LANDING SKATING COMPETITION CLOSE CHESTNUT FOR ICE SKATING

20 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS

STREET SPORTS OPEN UP AND OVER - THE EAST RIVERBANK OPENING

LIVE ON THE LEVEE

STAGE 2 : GAINING MOMENTUM

BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS 21

ART FESTIVAL MEMORIAL BLVD. LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT

STAGE 3 : NEW PERSPECTIVES JANUARY FEBRUARY

22 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS

Equally, alongside this shift in automotive dependence, we seek to emphasize options

C ART OPENING RESOURCE CENTER CITY BALCONY PUBLIC ART OPENING

ARCH GROUNDS TREE REPLACEMENT

MARCH APRIL MAY

BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS 23

A sustainable approach to environmental control begins with attention to existing

24 BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTEN / CITY + ARCH + RIVR / ST. LOUIS