West Bottoms Reborn: A Vision Study for a System of Public Spaces, Phase I

HICKORY LOTS

UNION LOTS

FORRESTER VIADUCT

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WEST BOTTOMS

KANSAS CITY DESIGN CENTER 2017 KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

REBORN A VISION STUDY FOR A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC SPACES

Content This publication documents the processes and findings of Phase One of the West Bottoms Reborn project, occurring during the spring academic semester of 2017. This publication was written and designed

by Travis Snell and Kylie Schwaller under counsel of Vladimir Krstic, Kansas City Design Center Director and Instructor.

The Kansas City Design Center is made possible by two generous support grants from the William T. Kemper Foundation and the Hall Family Foundation. This project was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Kansas City, Missouri Office of Culture and Creative Services.

This publication cannot be sold, duplicated, or published electronically or otherwise, without the express written consent of the KCDC. The purpose of this publication is academic in nature and is intended to showcase the research, scholarship, and design work of the students of the KCDC.

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FOREWORD 4-5 PROJECT INTRODUCTION 6 - 15 CHAPTER 1: THE WEST BOTTOMS 16 - 45 CHAPTER 2: WEST BOTTOMS REBORN 46 - 63 CHAPTER 3: SITE SELECTION 64 - 101 CHAPTER 4: SITE ANALYSIS 102 - 201 CHAPTER 5: DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS 202 - 293 PHASE ONE CONCLUSION 294 - 295 APPENDIX 296 - 304

Table of Contents

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Foreword This publication represents the first part of the Kansas City Design Center’s work on the two-year long study for the system of public spaces in the West Bottoms of Kansas City. This study is funded by NEA Our Town grant which was awarded to the KCDC in collaboration with KCMO Office for Culture and Creative Service and the Historic West Bottoms Association.

We are honored to have the continuous trust of the city and the community and can work together with them on shaping the vision for the constructive capture of the public realm in an area rich with industrial history and on the precipice of impending development which, while long coming and welcome, also raises concern about preservation of the identity of the place. Six years ago, the KCDC completed the first comprehensive urban vision study for the West Bottoms which has since become one of the reference documents for the subsequent, professionally-generated improvement plans. Our present work is a testament to our mission to build staying capacity with the community and remain a committed academic partner in helping shape a progressive vision for the advancement of the urban environment.

The question before us is one of uncharted territory, of an urban environment that has risen in a spontaneous manner born out of utility of industry and ad hoc manner of acting - both in terms of building and destroying - where architecture and infrastructure cannot be separated, and where no traceable evidence of public space or the public realm exist. And yet, the power of the residual quality of so created unintentional spaces and the sense of raw materiality of urban artifacts that produce it is by far more distinct and present than anywhere else in the city where reason, purpose, and formal intent gave shape to things. So, the initial challenge was to find a way to qualitatively analyze and understand such a condition, to capture, apprehend, and measure something that eludes normativity and formal training, to learn how to see what it is on its own terms and recognize the possibilities that lie within. Consequently, much of the work presented in this publication is about finding a method for both analyzing and recognizing inherent qualities that can become possibilities, and in doing so, trying to uncover and create a 4

system of relations and taxonomy of potential places [spaces] that can give birth to an organized whole that is resonant with the identity of the place.

Ultimately, the hope was to uncover a series of possible public spaces and set the stage for their subsequent articulation through design that solely centers on their inherent, place-born qualities.

The art, the artists embedded in the studio, and the project were critical lenses through which this process was made possible. We aspire to continue to build our collaborative process toward developing an innovative design approach that can serve as a model for similar future undertakings where art and architecture intersect as a means of producing a more meaningful urban environment.

In addition to our project partners, we remain indebted to the three artists on our design team: James Woodfill, Miranda Clark, and Carmen Moreno.

Without their participation and involvement, our work would not have been the same, bereft of illuminating insights and inspiring challenges.

The studio has had the profound privilege of working with the renowned Portuguese architect Gonçalo Byrne, who was the 2016-17 KSU Architecture Department Distinguished Regnier Visiting Chair and had provided an invaluable project mentorship both through the living experience of his work in Portugal, and his critical engagement with the students on the project. We owe him much for the inspiration and guidance.

Finally, I want to recognize the talented and committed group of students whose diligence has produced the work worthy of this publication. They have been additionally guided on project-related efforts by my colleague, Associated Professor Dr. Jason Brody. I particularly want to thank Travis Snell and his editorial partner Kylie Schwaller who diligently labored through the summer to make this publication possible. Their studio mates and myself owe them a debt of gratitude. Thank you.

– Vladimir Krstic 5

Project Introduction Public spaces are a critical element in the fabric of the city. Public spaces are available for all to use, regardless of age, income, ability, or background. These spaces become democratic commongrounds for citizens to communicate, debate, rest, play, and experience life. When properly designed, public spaces foster ties between communities and provide the platform for the expression of multitudes of cultures.

The West Bottoms is a post-industrial area that is devoid of designated public space. On the verge of urban redevelopment, the West Bottoms must reconsider and strengthen its public realm. The development of public spaces must grow in tandem with its private spaces in order to foster commongrounds for its various existing and future communities.

The growth of the private realm threatens to erase and displace the rich heritage of the West Bottoms. While urban change is constant and inevitable, public space has the power to capture and enhance the essential histories, physical peculiarities, and human cultures of the West Bottoms.

West Bottoms Reborn is a creative placekeeping project that aims to use the medium of public space and public art to capture these essential qualities. This project is a study to envision the opportunities for the creation and sustention of a public realm in the West Bottoms that connects its heritage with the demands of forthcoming redevelopment.

The project design team consists of the KCDC Urban Design Studio and three professional artists: Jim Woodfill, Miranda Clark, and Carmen Moreno. Their biographies, inspirations, and intended roles are explained on the following pages. West Bottoms Reborn is a threephase project. This document reports the findings of Phase One.

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“My interest in this project resides in the physical – our ability to understand the formal aspects of place as an indication and manifestation of our cultural condition.”

Signal, Third Rig - Moving In Moving Out 8

Jim Woodfill West Bottoms Reborn is a complex undertaking and, as a team, we have worked diligently over the last year to define our course as well as our individual roles. With the help of our advisors from LISC and Policy Link through a special Technical Assistance grant, we have found common ground within our team to construct a value system that allows us each to bring our practice to bear on the project while building a collaborative consensus. For me this means a responsive stance emerging from my long-term studio engagement.

For the last 35 years or so my practice has been, at its core, a studio making process – a research and development laboratory that manifests not only through gallery installations, but through public projects and interventions. Experimentation with an intermingling of systems on a variety of scales has led to broad definitions of material, process, and composition with normal hierarchies leveling out in lieu of situational relationships. These entanglements lead to new, emerging outcomes, offering new frames for the perception of our surroundings.

Contrasts between the rare and the quotidian often define my work, and this has allowed me to form a unique view of the everyday aspects of our built environment. Specifically, my process has fostered an understanding of the “physical” Kansas City, especially its infrastructural ethos. My formal studio decisions are continuously mapping my understanding and experience of place, in a variety of scales, and the part that I am playing in it. My response to the cultural environment is to examine and tinker with the built environment that it has spawned.

I have witnessed, over the span of my career, enormous changes in the urban core. Through both this historical lens and my current situation – for the last few years the West Bottoms has been home to my studio

practice – I see a relationship between our cultural ambitions and what is cared for or abandoned in the physical space we inhabit.

Thus, my interest in this project resides in the physical – our ability to understand the formal aspects of place as an indication and manifestation of our cultural condition. The West Bottoms has been, for a while now, a place where our city’s infrastructure operates, efficiently or not, without concealment. The degree of our collective commitment to the support structures that carry our daily activity are in full view here.

This focus on the built outcomes will necessarily reflect the vast array of other perspectives our team is collating. My hope is that the creative work that I add will be one aspect of many that coalesce to compose an honest and constructive response to the West Bottoms.

Pulse - George E. Wolf Parking Structure

Pedestrian Strands - Main Street Bridge, 2015

Photo credit: Mike Sinclair

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“I explore the physicality of personal memories through sculpture supplemented by drawing and photography. The 24-mile long Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge in my home of New Orleans, Louisiana cultivates the architectural presence within my practice.�

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Miranda Clark I am a sculptor residing in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2014 I received my BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and went onto complete a twoyear residency with Charlotte Street Studio Program.

“My pieces are mainly generated by my interest in science, art, philosophy, color theory, quantum mechanics, synesthesia, chaos theory… basically everything.”

Carmen Moreno I am a person who feels deeply about the beauty and mystery of life.

I am motivated by difficult existential questions, and have a large appetite for the process of learning and understanding. I am a person who strives to practice compassion and believes in the power of transformation. I have an innate connection to the earth, planetary body and literal soil. I come from generations of peoples who have practiced a deep care and respect for the land. This sensibility and nature is innate to my character and creative identity. I was born to a Mexican Man and American Woman, my cultural identity is a part of my story – both cultural sensibilities reside in my being and artistic practices unfolding new traditions and inherited knowledge. I do my best to listen to wisdoms that have been passed on and let their accumulated presence guide me through life. I am devoted to my journey through the unknown. As I develop my voice, I will continue to share. As I continue to live, I will continue to create. I know no other, wish infinite.

I received my BFA in 2010 from the Kansas City Art Institute in Interdisciplinary Art and Creative Writing with a certification in Community Arts and Service Learning. I am currently working as an independent artist in Kansas City and have exhibited my works and ideas in numerous places all over the world. My pieces are mainly generated by my interest in science, art, philosophy, color theory, quantum mechanics, synesthesia, chaos theory… basically everything.

I maintain a studio practice of experimentation and open-mindedness.

In applying the sensibilities of science to art, I attempt to create a visual language that transforms my emotional-intuitive experiences into innovative installations and performances.

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As a team member of the West Bottoms Reborn Project, my role is to act as a design consultant in the realm of architecture via arts, culture, and technology. As a part of my work I will be hosting a series of activities featuring but not excluded to: walking tours, lectures, cultural investigations, workshops, social platforms, and map-making exercises. These activities will work to reveal the interconnectivity of narrative structure, world view, and identity present in the West Bottoms. The collaborative cross-disciplinary research will challenge the conceptual framework of "urban fabric" and will work to explore and analyze spacial organization as a stage to human activity.

Revolution: Hypothesis to Dream

Learning from the West Bottoms It is commonplace to say that buildings and cities have a life of their own. Permanence of built fabric is dependent on its use and it lasts as long as life inhabits its “containers”. But built fabric becomes vulnerable when human life moves away. Cities may become resilient if they are able to bring life back again.

Vulnerability may be triggered by natural causes – like flooding in West Bottoms – but also by man-made interference from warfare, planning actions, or absences that may cause destruction, obsolescence, abandon, and ruin. Technology is the foundation of West Bottoms when livestock industry meets train transportation, but it is also evolving technology that contributed to the decline and deterioration of the same once tremendously alive central piece of Kansas City.

City life is coming back in contemporary West Bottoms. Re-cycling is maintaining logistics, train, and truck industrial activity. Adaptive re-use is transforming superb architectural warehouses, offices, and other remaining typologies into residential artist apartments and studios, cultural activities, art galleries, commercial, and leisure to become a 24-hour mixed-use neighborhood that may enact a future local centrality. Crowded, seasonal events are calling a lot of incoming outsiders. And yet, besides this important ongoing re-habilitation there is a lot to do, both on the remaining abandoned buildings and even more so on the voided public space system where a degradation is still very visible.

Looking into West Bottoms in a complementary perspective, the West Bottoms Reborn design team focused on its unique pattern of voids.

This vision may not seem so obvious since popular building culture insists mostly on self-referential objects erasing the importance of the void space between them, in spite of its very essential nature as the 14

real common ground of the city. Like a unique fingerprint, urban void systems represent some sort of genetic code where one can almost recognize its changing patterns along time: from foundation to its actual presence. In each case common shared public space experience communicates the memories and consolidates common identity.

Photos from last nineteenth to early twentieth century show how intensively city life took place in West Bottoms public space. These same void patterns are still present, despite the passage of time.

Analytical interpretation is central to understanding what specific characteristics can differentiate its identity and diverge from a generic approach where nostalgic gentrification design tends to homogenize old urban areas, erasing memories and local values into pragmatic banal scenarios wherever they belong.

The sense of belonging that a deep-rooted public space may transmit is of main importance on any re-habilitation process and should be improved through a very deep engagement and a very smart comprehensive methodology. This process took place in studio, on the ground, through local participation feedback, and meeting with stake holders in a progressive converging process that reached a wide spectral understanding of West Bottoms’ public space qualities.

Architectural design of public space is a transitional process from its specific unique conditions into its precise special, sensory, new condition which will be open to a new understanding by future incomers and out-comers. Architecture is also a public art, and public space is exactly where it can mix together with artists and different narratives to enhance its qualities and be open to everyone in the continuous city life performance. – Gonçalo Byrne 2016-2017 Regnier Distinguished Visiting Chair

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INTRODUCTION TO THE WEST BOTTOMS 18 - 21 WATER 22 - 25 RAIL 26 - 29 INFRASTRUCTURE 30 - 33 INDUSTRY + DISTRIBUTION 34 - 37 MATERIALITY 38 - 39 LIFE 40 - 43 CONCLUSION 44 - 45

CHAPTER ONE

The West Bottoms

Introduction to the West Bottoms The West Bottoms is rich with the evidence of its industrial past, from the rail ties embedded in new asphalt to the fading paint of original manufacturing company signage on 19th century red brick warehouses.

Its heritage, style, and spirit has not only a need of celebration, but a desire and demand to be cultivated and safeguarded like a rare book.

The history of the West Bottoms is that of a place that has undergone change time and time again. Human interventions include the railroad, streets and highway infrastructure, industry and distribution facilities, all the way down to the buildings, their occupants, and the life it hosts.

Born at the confluence of the Missouri River and Kansas River, the West Bottoms was historically the industrial engine of Kansas City.

The West Bottoms is bordered by steep bluffs to the east and rivers bounding both north and west. The low, flat topography of the floodplain meant that it was easy to construct railroads and access the river for sending and receiving goods, causing Kansas City to emerge as a major national link. Its central continental location was ideal for the distribution of livestock in the days before refrigeration. Due to destructive floods, fires, disinvestment, and abandonment, the West Bottoms slowly deteriorated. This neglect was strengthened by the creation of raised highways that connect the downtowns of Kansas City Missouri and Kansas City Kansas, but pass over and physically divide the West Bottoms.

The layers of regenerative attempts and degenerative destructions serve as scars of economic fluctuation over the years. The street grid shows remnants of once-vibrant street life and reminds us of its current fragmented state and unclear future. The three districts of the West Bottoms include the Riverview District, the Historic Core, and the Stockyards District .

Chapter 1: The West Bottoms

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Today, the inexpensive property values, rugged environment, and big open spaces are three qualities that appeal most to its main inhabitants: artists, industrial businesses, and developers. Artists take advantage of vacant brick warehouses by retrofitting the large, open floor plans into residences and studios. Industrial businesses utilize the available swaths of land for large-scale operations; they also benefit from proximity to the interstate highways and city center while simultaneously maintaining a safe distance from residential neighborhoods. Developers look to the West Bottoms for the same reasons: existing, inexpensive open spaces are an opportunity to gain profits by creating rentable apartments and space for small businesses.

Bolstered by the emerging art scene, developers see the potential for making the West Bottoms a vibrant and marketable neighborhood.

In an area rich in history but filled with yet untapped potential, it is difficult to determine the fate of the West Bottoms. The area is shaped by history and driven by industry, but its unique character lies not only in stacked red brick buildings or in the looming giants of highway viaducts, but more so in the leftover spaces. Social groups such as artists, entrepreneurs, industrial workers, and external consumers have brought a new social dynamic and must influence the future of the West Bottoms.

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These two photographs show Union Street and the Union Depot only three years apart (in the 1900 photograph, Union Depot is on the right; in the 1903 photograph, it is on the left). Since 1878, Union Depot was a major station for passenger trains traveling to and from Kansas City. Damage from the 1903 flood encouraged the Union Depot to be removed and replaced up on higher ground as Union Station in 1914. The removal of passenger train traffic was a first major step toward disinvestment in the West Bottoms.

Source: Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.

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Water For its entire history, the West Bottoms has had a double-edged relationship with water. The Missouri and Kansas rivers have served as a national transportation system for centuries. The floodplains' low and flat topography made it ideal for railroad industry growth, however floods periodically decimate the infrastructure in these areas.

Two major floods altered the future of the West Bottoms' industry: The floods of 1903 and 1951.

On June 1st, 1903, the first major flood covered the entirety of the West Bottoms. Many bridges, businesses, and neighborhoods were destroyed and never returned. The first Livestock Exchange building was damaged up to the second floor, and later was entirely replaced.

The destruction of all but one bridge crossing the Kansas River caused the Intercity Viaduct to be constructed, known today as the Lewis and Clark Viaduct.

Friday, July 13th, 1951, the Kansas River breached the 35-foot tall levees and 8-foot tall flood wall and deluged the West Bottoms. The stockyards and other industries had little time to save their stock, machines, and resources. After the flood, a few businesses made repairs and resumed their work, but many meatpacking operations moved out of the West Bottoms and closer to the ranchers and farmers in the countrysides.

"During the 1950's and 60's, Kansas City began a slow but steady decline as a great meatpacking center. By 1976 all of the 'Big Four' had left Kansas City. Armour began phasing out operations in 1965 and closed its Kansas City plant in 1967; rising labor and transportation costs were mostly to blame. It was the trend then, as well as now, to build smaller, more efficient plants in towns near the grain- and livestock-producing areas. The era of the great meatpacking families with their huge plants employing thousands of people had come to an end."1 Edward T. Matheny Jr. 2014. "Cowtown: Cattle Trails and West Bottoms Tales."

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Chapter 1: The West Bottoms

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The response to the 1951 flood included the installation of a system of levees, locks, and lakes to mitigate wild fluctuations of river levels due to unusual rainfall. Tuttle Creek Dam was constructed in Manhattan, Kansas to help control flooding of the Kansas River (the flood of 1951 also flooded downtown Manhattan). The dam proved its effectiveness by reducing the effects of another flooding event in 1993. The 1993 flood was higher than even the 1951 flood, but the new systems of dams and levees protected Kansas City.

Today, water is still a prevalent force affecting the West Bottoms. The area's low elevation is very close to the water table, resulting in major puddling after storms. One puddle is so large and persistent that it has been given nicknames such as Laramie Lake and Lake West Bottoms.

Current stormwater management infrastructure is not sufficient, due to the fact that the existing system is used for both stormwater and wastewater. During heavy rain, the combined sewers overflow and a mixture of stormwater and wastewater enter untreated into the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. This river pollution damages ecosystems, taints drinking water, and restricts beach access. Kansas City Water Services is investigating green infrastructure techniques in the West Bottoms to help slow the flow of stormwater into the combined sewer and therefore mitigate further river pollution.

While the levees protect Kansas City from flooding, they also completely restrict citizens' access to the riverfront. Once entirely dependent on the river for drinking water and transportation, today the West Bottoms has become disengaged and fearful of the rivers that once gave it life.

Chapter 1: The West Bottoms

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The railroad has always oriented the development of the West Bottoms and Kansas City. These two photographs from 1900 show the vastness of the railyard. The photograph below shows the Union Depot to the left as well as the bluff in the background that downtown KCMO would eventually move up to.

Source: Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.

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Rail Riverboats were the initial method of transporting both passengers and cargo when Kansas City was still a port community. Eventually trains replaced riverboats as a faster and more efficient method of transportation. Due to its location on the floodplain, the West Bottoms' low and flat elevation made it ideal for railroad construction. Kansas City's central location in the United States further incentivized the area's growth in railroad infrastructure.

Kansas City grew along with its rail network. In 1869, the completion of the Hannibal Bridge became the crossing point over the Missouri River and allowed train connections to Chicago and the northeast. This sparked immediate growth and the West Bottoms emerged as the main rail center of Kansas City, which in turn became a national crossroads.

This key location led to the creation of the Kansas City Stockyards, a myriad of meatpacking houses, and the Livestock Exchange building, resulting in a livestock industry second only to Chicago.

In 1878, the Union Depot was completed in the West Bottoms, becoming Kansas City's first major passenger train station. The area was quickly becoming the economic heart of the growing city. Due to the series of floods in the late 19th century, many railroads were damaged and in turn prompted the Union Depot to be dismantled and relocated to higher ground as the Union Station. Industrial relocation to higher ground, in combination with the later and even more catastrophic flood of 1951, led to the demise of the Kansas City Stockyards. The loss of many industries that called the West Bottoms home contributed to the decline of the rail yards during in the late 20th century.

Chapter 1: The West Bottoms

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This map locates the various railroads

While the railroad industries have dwindled over time, the railroads still maintain a powerful presence within the West Bottoms. The railroads shaped the West Bottoms and its influence can still be seen today in the irregular street grid, the curved building facades that accommodate trains' turning radii, and the loading docks attached to warehouse buildings. Many abandoned rail lines remain, some of which have been covered by pavement or reclaimed by natural growth.

However countless tracks are still used to haul material from one side of the country to the other. Kansas City remains the second largest rail hub in the country.

Life in the West Bottoms orients around the train. Streets that intersect with railroads are periodically severed by a wall of slow-moving railcars. Day or night, incoming train engines must blare their horns to warn vehicles and pedestrians of their presence. Drivers interrupted by passing trains must wait powerlessly for an uncertain period of time before the street is free again. Until the train has passed, the West Bottoms is essentially cut into northern and southern halves. Some street infrastructure is specially made to maneuver over the trains, including the various highway viaducts: Forrester Viaduct, James Street Viaduct, and Woodswether Road. A few railroad bridges spanning the Kansas River remain active; others are abandoned ghosts of their past, now used as a playground for urban explorers.

Chapter 1: The West Bottoms

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Infrastructure The West Bottoms has an eccentric relationship with infrastructure.

The Bottoms has transformed over time because of infrastructural implementations, or due to the lack thereof. Because of geography and industries, infrastructural elements are dominant features of the West Bottoms. Since the adoption of the interstate highway system, the West Bottoms has become fragmented and the dominance of the rail has been lost. Viaducts float over the Bottoms and obscure its presence to the commuter. At the ground level, the viaducts tear through the urban fabric and result in barren, dead space under their bellies.

Although I-670 highway does connect to some points within the West Bottoms, the speed and volume of traffic, along with the massiveness of the viaducts, causes it to separate more than it connects.

Levee infrastructure protects the West Bottoms from wild fluctuations of the rivers, however the levee also acts as a barrier separating the West Bottoms from the waterfront. Within the streets, current sewer systems do not have the capacity to fully capture and drain the volumes of stormwater that descend into this low land.

Kansas City has the capacity to reconnect the West Bottoms to itself and its neighbors through rethinking, repairing, or repurposing underused infrastructural remnants. To generate an urban form that is not fragmented and will withstand the forces of time, infrastructure must remain as in-flux as the development of societies and behaviors.

By exploring possibilities and re-fusing these neglected infrastructural fragments through a network of designed trails and public spaces, not only will a multitude of amenities for the city and its districts become connected, but also community engagement, exploration, education and celebration of history, and economic generation of a self-sustaining city will be promoted.

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Building Morphology

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Figure Ground New Construction Removed Construction

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Industry + Distribution The life fuel of West Bottoms can largely be credited to its industries and the distribution infrastructure that they rely on. Numerous industries moved into the area because of the central-continental location, the vast amounts of open space, as well as the distance from many neighborhoods where they might otherwise disturb the peace.

They subsequently built multi-story brick warehouses along railroad lines for easy transportation of their products across the nation.

During the late 19th and into the 20th centuries, these numerous industries employed thousands of workers that typically lived in the West Bottoms or commuted via the streetcar system. The stockyards held and distributed all sorts of livestock from surrounding farmers and ranchers, whom also took advantage of the farming products available for purchase in the area. The Great Floods of 1903 and 1951 both influenced the stockyards and other industries to move their operations out of the floodplains. Dislocation of residents, workers, and industries slowly resulted in disinvestment of the West Bottoms.1 Today, industry and distribution maintains its existence in the West Bottoms, however technology and lifestyle changes have altered the way these industries function. Refrigeration and the Interstate system allowed for the introduction of the semi-trailer, reducing the need for rail and rendering the multi-story brick warehouses inefficient and obsolete. This leaves the beautiful and historic structures largely vacant and in need of repair. Many other areas of Kansas City have a similar history, and have found a way to convert such buildings so that they have a new use. It is important to think about the impacts of such a shift in use, and to consider how to make a positive impact on an area so rich in history.

Edward T. Matheny Jr. 2014. "Cowtown: Cattle Trails and West Bottoms Tales."

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Many factories, industries, and distributors maintain their work in the West Bottoms. They each take advantage of the area's low, flat, and open lands as well as close proximity to both the railroad and the highways.

Over the past few decades, dislocation of businesses and changes in technology have resulted in abandoned, obsolete rail lines and multi-story brick warehouses.

New communities have been clever enough to claim and retrofit some of these warehouses, introducing new programs to the West Bottoms.

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Materiality The West Bottom's histories are embedded in its material. Solid red brick walls tell of a construction technique lost over time. Sett stones that used to pave the streets now only peek out from under eroded areas of the more contemporary asphalt. Flora breaks through cracks and gaps and entangles walls with vines and grasses in search of sunlight. Layers of multicolor graffiti compile over brick walls, limited to the height that a human can reach. Piles of rubble from decaying buildings and sharp glass from broken windows accumulate in parking lots and sidewalks.

Rails that haven't been used by a train for years lay dormant. Some rails have been forcibly encased into new pavement and bisect asphalt roads. Scraps of rubber, trash, and metal mottle the ground. Water often puddles after rainfall and hangs around for a few days or weeks.

Gravel roads mark less-public and less-formal vehicle pathways.

Heavy timber beams and railroad ties litter many areas and hint at an earlier time. Rivets speckle thin steel columns and beams that stoically support elevated ribbons of roadway.

All of these scenes are present in the West Bottoms, and all add to the rich and ad-hoc nature of the place. Instead of erasing and replacing these grungy materials, these moments ought to be preserved and enjoyed both by those who come for the rare visit as well as those who inhabit the space daily. A creation from these materials is of the West Bottoms.

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Life Despite decades of disinvestment, natural disasters, and decaying infrastructure, the West Bottoms is far from dead. Clever people have repurposed the open-plan warehouses into offices, residences, and studios. Many people find the West Bottoms to be the perfect host for their lifestyles. Many people call it home.

Artists make use of the West Bottoms' stock of cheap, open, and grungy warehouses by reusing them as studios and residences. The Hobbs Building contains many floors of artist workshops. The Livestock Exchange building hosts artists studios as well as many small business offices. Independent artist studios are mottled throughout the area.

Galleries throughout the West Bottoms showcase the talent of these artists. These galleries creatively occupy warehouses, streetscapes, and even shipping containers.

The population of the West Bottoms fluctuates with periodic events and social gatherings. Many antique shops, food trucks, and other small businesses only open during the weekends and attract visitors who are enchanted with the histories for sale. Parking lots, loading docks, and sidewalks are all temporarily appropriated with tables camouflaged with trinkets. Every month, First Fridays and First Saturdays feature gallery openings as well as the usual weekend menagerie.

During the autumn season, numerous haunted houses attract the brave (and the cowardly). The Beast, The Edge of Hell, The Macabre Cinema, and The Chambers of Edgar Allen Poe all brood within multiple floors of brick warehouse buildings in the Historic Core.

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Motorcyclists can gather at the numerous garages and repair shops, participate in slow drags, and then recharge at Blip Coffee Roasters who feature biker merchandise as well as local coffee.

Bars of the West Bottoms attract night life and express niche cultures.

The Ship features weekly jazz performances, the Stockyards Brewery craft their own array of beers, and Amigoni Urban Winery contrasts the brewery with their own wines made from grapes grown in nearby vineyards.

Numerous restaurants dot the West Bottoms. There is a strip along Genessee Street in the Stockyards District that features a wide array of gourmet dishes. The Lunch Box is conveniently close for truckers and industry workers in the Riverview District. Many bars are also restaurants, so one can enjoy a fine meal during the day and a cold drink at night.

Industrial operations occur at all hours of the day. Like blood cells of the body, semi trailers exit from major highways, weave through the arterial streets, and then restock at the various distribution centers in the Riverview District before returning to the highway.

Evidence of covert activities is present as graffiti tags and murals that line the darker, more obscure corners of the West Bottoms. Alleyways, bridges, trailers, and railcars are all clandestine canvases.

Although some see the West Bottoms as only a place to visit during the occasional event, countless others consider this place home. No matter what category one might fall under, the West Bottoms is an area that is full of life.

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Conclusion Water, rail, infrastructure, industry, materiality, and existing life are all major elements of the West Bottoms. They are essential to its histories and its current sense-of-place. While these forces are constantly changing, it is fatal to totally erase even a single one. Water must be respected. Rail must be accepted. Infrastructure must be advantageous. Industry is vital. Materiality embodies history. And life activates it all.

The newest emerging element is the public realm. Currently, public spaces do not exist in the West Bottoms. However, there is opportunity to realize the potential of all of the existing elements in the creation of the public realm. Traditional and normative urban design will not hold in this unique and unprecedented context. The West Bottoms' major elements present particular challenges and opportunities that will require a non-traditional approach to urban design. The cumulative potential of all these elements must be engaged in order to envision their future possibilities and then create a rich and unprecedented public realm.

Utilizing existing infrastructure such as rail bridges, viaducts, vacant spaces, buildings, water systems, along with other infrastructure, provides an opportunity in the West Bottoms for the creation of social infrastructure. Public space should perform on many levels, and it must be able to adapt with urban and societal transformations. Not only should such a public place consider all forms of future use, but it should also commemorate the past and respond to the present. In this way, a public space design provides a community amenity which takes into consideration all aspects of the West Bottoms: what is has been, what it is today, and what it might become.

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WEST BOTTOMS REBORN + NEA OUR TOWN GRANT 48 - 49 PROJECT TIMELINE 50 - 51 MAIN OBJECTIVES 52 - 53 ARTIST COLLABORATIONS + COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 54 - 55 PLACEMAKING + PLACEKEEPING 56 - 57 PUBLIC SPACE + PUBLIC ART 58 - 59 GENTRIFICATION 60 - 61 PHASE ONE DESIGN PROCESS 62 - 63

CHAPTER TWO

West Bottoms Reborn

West Bottoms Reborn + Our Town Grant In 2015, the Historic West Bottoms Association (HWB) approached the Kansas City Design Center (KCDC) and the City of KCMO Office of Culture and Creative Services (OCCS) for help in addressing development of the public realm of the West Bottoms, with the hope that improvements would engage the unique heritage of the area and sustain its emerging arts industry without demeaning it.

The KCDC worked with HWB and OCCS to apply for a National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Our Town Grant. "The NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America."1 The NEA believes that art helps us understand and express our world, which results in creativity and innovations that better all of our lives.

"The Our Town grant program supports creative placemaking projects that help to transform communities into lively, beautiful, and resilient places – achieving these community goals through strategies that incorporate arts, culture, and/or design. Creative placemaking is when artists, arts organizations, and community development practitioners deliberately integrate arts and culture into community revitalization work - placing arts at the table with land-use, transportation, economic development, education, housing, infrastructure, and public safety strategies. This funding supports local efforts to enhance quality of National Endowment for the Arts. 2017. "About the NEA" www.arts.gov/about-nea National Endowment for the Arts. 2017. "Creative Placemaking" www.arts.gov/artistic-fields/creativeplacemaking 1

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life and opportunity for existing residents, increase creative activity, and create or preserve a distinct sense of place."2 The Our Town grant realizes the power that multi-disciplinary design work has. Instead of solely relying on architects, engineers, or urban planners to work on community revitalization projects, the Our Town Grant promotes the idea that intersection of multiple perspectives, backgrounds, and professional disciplines can create a vetted, more successful project outcome.

In spring of 2016, the NEA awarded a $100,000 Our Town grant to the City of KCMO, 1 of 64 awardees nationwide, for the West Bottoms Reborn project. As project lead, the KCDC will ensure the West Bottoms Reborn Vision Study for a System of Public Places builds upon the Greater Downtown Area Plan (extends downtown boundaries to the West Bottoms), Arts Convergence Plan (nurturing city-wide artistic production), the KCDC 2011 West Bottoms Vision Plan, and the Urban Land Institute’s Rose Fellowship Study (economic development). This project will also coordinate with an existing streetscape and wayfinding plan and a green infrastructure plan that is currently underway.

The main objective of the West Bottoms Reborn project is to capture and preserve the essence of the West Bottoms through the medium of public art and public space. The creation of a system of public spaces centered around public art will strengthen the public realm and highlight the spirit of the West Bottoms as it faces urban change.

West Bottoms Reborn is a two-year project consisting of three major phases aligning with academic semesters. The following pages contain a timeline that details the objectives of each phase.

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Project Timeline The KCDC applies for an NEA Our Town Grant in partnership with the HWB and OCCS.

2015

2016

The NEA Awards the City of Kansas City, Missouri $100,000 for the project in spring 2016.

PHASE ONE

The project commences in the fall of 2016.

In Jan 2017, two artists are competitively selected to join the design team.

2017

PHASE TWO The three sites are selected and the design phase begins. This phase centers on the exploration of conceptual and programmatic scenarios for the deployment of arts at each individual site across all media.

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The KCDC design team conducts a rigorous research and analysis phase, engaging community members, artists, and business owners, with the goal of selecting three sites in the West Bottoms for prototypical public space design.

PHASE THREE

2018

Design development and implementation of support infrastructure for the eventual art installation begins on one of the three sites. The project culminates in a public celebration at this site in spring 2018.

Phase One The Spring Semester starts at KCDC

On February 23rd, the first public meeting is held in the West Bottoms. Guests were asked to provide feedback on KCDC's initial analysis of the West Bottoms, and if they had recommendations for potential sites.

JAN 2017

FEB

Analysis of the West Bottoms begins.

Historical, current, and future conditions are documented through mapping, photography, and research.

Site Selection begins. Potential public spaces in the West Bottoms are identified and eventually narrowed down to twelve potential sites. Further analysis for each site is conducted to help decide which sites hold the greatest potential.

MAR On March 16th, a second public meeting was held. Guests were asked for feedback on 12 potential sites selected by KCDC. This feedback was used to help narrow down to five potential sites.

On May 9th, a third public meeting was held at the Kansas City Design Center. Guests were asked to provide feedback on initial design proposals for public spaces on five sites. This feedback will guide design development in the fall semester.

APR

Schematic Design begins. Schematic ideas for public space design are applied to five sites based off of the extensive knowledge accumulated though analysis, public feedback, and artists' collaborations.

FALL 2017

MAY PHASE TWO

A new semester begins at KCDC. The team will further develop designs for public space in the West Bottoms.

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ART-CENTERED DESIGN

Create an understandable system of interrelated public spaces

Design public space that is activated through public art

PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY

IMPROVE CONNECTIVITY

MAINObjectives OBJECTIVES Main

Address unsolved environmental issues by integrating sustainable strategies

Connect the Riverview, Historic Core, and Stockyards Districts

Create public space that is accessible to everyone regardless of income, ability, and background.

Create public space that can facilitate public art of any media

Reinforce a place’s identity by accentuating its inherent qualities

Preserve, reuse, or repair existing infrastructure in the creation of the public realm

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Artist Collaborations To ensure comprehensiveness in the formation of a system of public spaces, three professional artists are embedded into the West Bottoms Reborn design team. These artists include Miranda Clark, Carmen Moreno, and lead artist James Woodfill, whom all differ in media and concepts explored in their work. The Reborn project will only benefit from the intersection of knowledge from many disciplines.

Throughout the design process, the three consultant artists will guide the urban design studio through the creation of artifacts, offering creative critique, and adding their knowledge to the team's pool of information. Artist collaborations will contribute another layer to a vetted public space design.

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Community Engagement A key aspect of the project is the integration of public feedback throughout the design process. It is essential that the public is informed of and has a voice in the design process of their space. The people who have prior knowledge of potential sites can provide valuable information about the site's history, recent changes, current usage, and desires for the future. Public engagement is not limited to those who live in the West Bottoms, as many people visit the West Bottoms but have equal opportunity to utilize a public space. “Both theoretical and empirical research supports the idea that collaboration and participation of stakeholders in the decisionmaking process is critical for a successful development and project implementation‌ These interactions should be conducted through actively engaging community interests in a meaningful way and openly sharing information with stakeholders in an approach that satisfies multiple interest positions."1 The most important aspect of community engagement is that it is a two-way street. There is a need for trust and mutual understanding between the designers and the public so that both sides can come to an agreement. Stakeholders must be open to share their opinions about what the place means to them and how they feel about the design. In turn, the design team must be prepared to listen to constructive criticism and act accordingly in order to reach a mutually-agreeable solution. This interaction will range from guided and recorded discussions with visual aids to hands-on design charrettes.

Public meetings are conducted by the students of the KCDC studio. Students are able to more clearly articulate their design proposals to the public, whom in turn directly provide their feedback and critique to the design students.

Various organizations provide resources and support to the Reborn Project.

These organizations include the Office of Culture and Creative Services, the Local Initiatives Support Cooperation, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, and the Historic West Bottoms Association. The KCDC will conduct many meetings and collaborations with these partners as the West Bottoms Reborn project progresses.

In order to keep the communities' cultural memories and draw upon stories, the continual involvement of the West Bottoms community is crucial in determining the appropriate progression of the project.

Khaleghi Kerahroodi, Mehraz. 2016. "Meaningful community engagement in public-private partnerships: A case study of Manhattan's downtown redevelopment project."

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Placemaking + Placekeeping The West Bottoms is a distinct historical area that requires a different approach to urban design than traditional, normative methods. West Bottoms Reborn proposes the method of creative placemaking as an alternative that will be able to more fully realize the potential of the place and result in a more successful outcome for creation of the public realm.

The concept of placemaking encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to the designing of places. "The rigid planning processes of the 20th century have become so institutionalized that community stakeholders rarely have the chance to voice their own ideas and aspirations about the places they inhabit. Placemaking can break down these silos by showing planners, designers, and engineers the broad value of moving beyond the narrow focus of their own professions, disciplines, agendas."1 Placemaking integrates artists, community stakeholders, and other expert knowledge into the design process.

However, placemaking is often the subject of critique. "A blind love of creative placemaking that is tied to the allure of speculation culture and its economic thinking of ‘build it and they will come’ is suffocating and unethical, and supports a politics of dis-belonging employed to manufacture of a ‘place’,"2 argues Robert Bedoya, an advocate of artscentered cultural developments. Intentional or not, gentrification and displacement are two negative consequences that have resulted from past placemaking projects.

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Project for Public Spaces. 2009. What is Placemaking? www.pps.org/reference/what_is_placemaking/.

Bedoya, Roberto. 2013. Placemaking and the Politics of Belonging and Dis-belonging. GIA Reader.

Placemaking is a new and developing design theory. As with all theories, it requires years of research and trials to learn about the particular subject. Future placemaking projects should aim to use past placemaking projects as precedents for successful and unsuccessful practices. Therefore, the documentation of the processes and outcomes of placemaking projects is essential to further the evolution of placemaking. The West Bottoms Reborn placekeeping project will provide a precedent for future placemaking/keeping projects. It is this project's important task to further the science of placemaking and contribute to the evolution of its meaning.

The Kansas City Design Center's first major step toward this evolution is renaming "placemaking" to "placekeeping." Roberto Bedoya explains placekeeping as, "‌not just preserving the façade of the building but also keeping the cultural memories associated with a locale alive, keeping the tree once planted in the memory of a loved one lost in a war and keeping the tenants who have raised their family in an apartment. It is a call to hold on to the stories told on the streets by the locals, and to keep the sounds ringing out in a neighborhood populated by the musicians who perform at the corner bar or social hall."3 The West Bottoms is an area already brimming with histories, cultures, and lifestyles, and Reborn public space intervention needs to recognize and support these existing qualities. The project will not make a totally new place for the West Bottoms. Instead it will preserve the essential qualities of a space at the onset of urban change. The project's design interventions will not craft a new identity for the West Bottoms, but will rather accentuate its existing identity.

Bedoya, Roberto. 2014. "Spatial Justice: Rasquachification, Race and the City." Creative Time Reports.

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Public Space Public spaces are a critical element of the urban fabric. Public space can be broadly defined as social space that is open and accessible to all people for a variety of activities. Spaces such as streets, plazas, temples, markets, and parks have traditionally carried the moniker of public space. Dating back to the Grecian agora, a place where all life happened in Grecian society, public space is seen with a positive connotation recalling a sense of democracy, openness, and debate. In this sense, democracy and public space are ideologically inseparable1. The importance of public space is derived from its ability to simultaneously represent both the public sphere and public life.

Public space needs to be accessible to every human regardless of age, income, ability, or background. "Public space means simultaneously: open to all, well known by all, and acknowledged by all… It stands in opposition to the private space of special interests.”1 Anyone from “activists, architects, community organizers, graffiti artists, homeowners, immigrants, parents, planners, sex workers, squatters, students, teachers, and even urban farmers”2 have a place under the umbrella of community.

The West Bottoms currently has zero designated public spaces. Its past industrial purpose never supported the creation of a public space.

With new life and new communities emerging in the area, it is critical to forge public spaces that have a symbiotic relationship with the place and its people. However, the creation of a public space in this non-traditional post-industrial setting raises a significant number of problems and uncertainties. Simultaneously, this setting creates as many opportunities to rethink the formation and functions of public space in a way that appropriately addresses its unique context and echoes the needs of its communities.

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Public Art Public art can be an effective medium for placekeeping. Public art has the ability to enhance and bring attention to the physical structure or environment, engage or enhance the meaning of a place to its community, teach and tell stories, and commemorate and celebrate.

This can be done through a multitude of methods such as temporary installations, performances, urban play, and so on. “The experience of viewing public art is dynamic. The relationship between the work and its site, its audience, and other contextual factors all contribute to its impact. Successful public art evokes meaning in [its community] while retaining a high artistic quality.”3 Through experiencing public art, communities can form bonds and begin to develop or strengthen a collective identity amongst themselves.

Some see public art “as a way of enhancing or personalizing otherwise impersonal spaces. Others view it as a means to activate civic dialogue or provide a vehicle for the community to express its identity”3 Artists are able to make a connection with their communities through their expressions. In turn, public observers may start a dialogue about the themes and meanings of the art. This dialogue may incite new debate and ultimately social change. Public art has the power to facilitate community problem solving.

There is a looming apprehension that critical aspects of the West Bottoms will be lost if they are not recognized through public art and public space. The West Bottoms Reborn project must use both public space and public art to address the public’s common fear of losing the character, people, and ultimately the collective memory of the place due to the threat of rapid urban development and resultant gentrification or change of place.

Marcel Hénaff and Tracy B. Strong. 2001. "Public Space and Democracy."

Jeffrey Hou. 2010. "Insurgent Public Space: Guerrilla Urbanism and the Remaking of Contemporary Cities."

3 Jack Becker. 2004. "Public Art: An Essential Component of Creating Communities."

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Gentrification Gentrification can be defined as “the social, cultural, economic ‘upgrading’ of a neighborhood, and the displacement of existing residents and businesses as a result.”1 Citizens have voiced their concerns about the West Bottoms becoming gentrified and therefore the subject to radical change within their neighborhood.

Gentrification is often the result of increased investment and development of a previously disinvested neighborhood. This new attention can bring updated infrastructure, new building stock and businesses, amenities such as public transportation and sidewalks, and overall increased economic activity.

However, the most critical yet commonly overlooked aspect of gentrification is that of displacement. Gentrification brings in money that could lead to the erasure of the inherent qualities of an area.

The misuse of art by developers can erase or re-brand an area in an inauthentic way, a process called art-washing2. Destruction and replacement causes a change in a place's identity and can destroy the public's collective memory of a place and encourage disbelonging and exclusion.

In public spaces, gentrification calls for physical changes in the public realm that improve safety and deter 'undesirable' activities.

Unfortunately these physical changes are hostile by design; the exclusion of certain social functions excludes certain demographics from using the public space and therefore incites displacement and disbelonging. "Gentrification does indeed have an oppressive element to it, limiting the range of behaviors available to the residents of these neighborhoods."4 Examples of hostile architecture include spikes or Juliet Kahne. 2015. "Does Placemaking Cause Gentrification? It's Complicated." Project for Public Spaces.

Elijah Chiland. 2016. "Boyle Heights Battling Fiercely Against Gentrification."

3 Walter Thabit. 2003. "How East New York Became a Ghetto."

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benches with many arm rests that make it impossible to lie down or use a bench for any other purpose than to sit facing forward. Other examples of offensive public design include playing loud classical music into a space or overly bright street lighting. These oppressive elements do nothing to address the causes of homelessness or delinquency, but instead displace these activities and cause them to concentrate in different areas5.

Placekeeping will encourage public space design that does not directly inhibit any activity or exclude any demographic; it will encourage spaces that can be used by anyone regardless of age, income, ability, or background. The project's design intervention will not summon a new identity to a place; rather it must be of-its-place and enhance its existing identity.

Lance Freeman. 2006. "There Goes the 'Hood': Views of Gentrification from the Ground Up." Gordan SaviÄ?ić and Selena Savić. 2012. "Unpleasant Design"

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Phase One Design Process Phase One used analysis to understand the physical conditions of the West Bottoms in order to arrive at a systematic solution for public space design. The design team first conducted extensive analysis of the West Bottoms' conditions. Historical and current conditions were discovered through research, mapping, photography, diagramming, interviews, and other methods. The data-collection process educated the design team on the complex assets and issues of the West Bottoms.

Patterns began to emerge, culminating in the formulation of an urban order: a System of Urban Connections. This system is the framework of the histories and current conditions of the area. The resultant data was used to formulate a process for site selection.

The ultimate goal of the site selection process was to identify which places in the West Bottoms contain the most potential for becoming public spaces. The selection of a site is a critical, delicate process, as the designation of a space to be for the public affects not only immediate neighbors but the entire public realm. A list of criteria was created based off of the data accrued in the analytical portion of the project. All potential sites in the West Bottoms were evaluated based on these criteria. The site selection process resulted in a list of sites that had strong relationships with the System of Urban Connections.

This still-extensive list of sites was presented in the first public meeting in order to verify the public's recognition of and recommendations for potential public spaces in the West Bottoms.

The site selection process led to the identification of twelve potential sites for a public space. The design team believes these twelve sites contain essential qualities of the West Bottoms and embody its history, culture, and users in a way that rejected sites cannot. In order to identify these essential qualities, extensive site analysis was conducted on each of the twelve potential sites. The design team gathered information 62

on each site's land ownership, assets and liabilities, spatial qualities, visceral qualities, and connection to other potential sites, to name a few. The results of the site analysis process was presented at a second public meeting. The intention of the meeting was to have the public select which few of these twelve sites held the most promise for becoming a public space.

The results of the public meeting informed the design team's decisions on which sites to conduct design investigations on. Although it was stated early on that three sites should be selected, the design team determined that instead five site design investigations should be considered in order to fully investigate what public space could look like in the West Bottoms. These investigations are schematic-level design proposals that demonstrate how knowledge of the West Bottoms, analysis of the site, and research on creative placekeeping can apply to the creation of a public space. Each of the five designs consider site-specific data and issues and then respond with careful yet minimal interventions. Together, the design investigations address a wide range of critical design issues facing the West Bottoms, including water management, community disconnections, and the need for preservation of the place's essential qualities. These investigations are idea-generating exercises that open up the realm of possibilities for the public space. At a third public meeting, the five site designs were presented in order to gather the public's input on the envisioning of a public space in the West Bottoms.

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INTRODUCTION 66 - 67 A SYSTEM OF URBAN CONNECTIONS 68 - 75 SITE SELECTION PROCESS 76 - 81 FIRST PUBLIC MEETING 82 - 87 TWELVE SITES 88 - 89 CONNECTION TYPOLOGIES 90 - 91 STRING THEORY 93 - 97 SECOND PUBLIC MEETING 98 - 101

CHAPTER THREE

Site Selection

Introduction To ensure the site selection process is grounded in previous analysis of past, current, and future conditions of the West Bottoms, the design team first made an organizing framework from which to base the selection process. The resulting framework is called a System of Urban Connections, and it is comprised of Gateways, Corridors, and Nodes.

This System of Urban Connections was one of the key elements that guided the selection of potential sites. This first layer of site selection looked at which areas have the most connections to current and future conditions: the bones of the West Bottoms.

GATEWAYS Gateways are the entry and exit points. Local Gateways connect the West Bottoms to adjacent districts. Regional Gateways connect the West Bottoms to areas much further away, usually via a highway. This area is unique in that there are relatively few gateways, which means access to the West Bottoms can be restrictive.

CORRIDORS A Gateway leads to a Corridor, which are the main pathways through the West Bottoms. Corridors are complete streets, meaning there is at least a road, bike path, and sidewalk. Future street improvements as designated by Phronesis' Streetscape Plan were included. In the West Bottoms, corridors tend to be the few streets that pass through a majority of the districts, where as other roads often truncate or jog across other streets.

NODES Corridors lead to Nodes. Nodes are centers of activity. In the West Bottoms, there are three major nodes each with different sets of activity: the pedestrian Historic Core and Stockyards Nodes, and the industrial Riverview Node.

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Corridors

Site Selection Process The design team argues that sites eligible for creative placekeeping design should be able to respond to three major themes. These themes are Connectivity, Sustainability, and Art-Centered Design.

Connectivity includes not just physical connections but also social connections and other intangible relationships. Public spaces should have strong relationships with other public spaces, be able to serve a variety of nearby communities, and find meaning with individuals.

A connected public space does not exclude users based on income, ability, or background.

Sustainability suggests that new public spaces must be able to integrate environmentally-conscious infrastructure into their creation.

Sustainability also refers to public space design that can be wellused by the communities it serves and ultimately inspires a sense of ownership with these users. This communal stewardship ensures that maintenance of the place will occur over the lifetime of the space.

Art-Centered Design is the essence of creative placekeeping. Urban revitalization projects that revolve around interdisciplinary, art-based processes can prove to produce a more vetted, enriched outcome.

Public art can activate and enhance the meaning of public spaces.

Ideally, selected sites for public space in the West Bottoms should exhibit the possibility to be well-connected, creative, and sustainable.

If a prospective site does not show opportunities for all three qualities to be addressed, it is best to decline in favor of another site with higher potential. When a site's issues and essential characteristics show opportunities to address all three of these themes, it holds high potential for an interesting, engaging, and vibrant public space.

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CONNECTIVITY

ACCESSIBILITY

ART-CENTERED DESIGN

PLACEKEEPING PROXIMITY

VITALITY

SUSTAINABILITY

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Spatial Typologies

These

ALLEYS

MISSING TEETH

COURTYARDS

UNDER OVERPASSES

ISLANDS

OPEN AREAS

LINEAR SPACES DEFINED BY FLANKING STRUCTURES

SPACES DEFINED BY A PERIMETER OF STRUCTURES

EMPTY PARCELS WITHIN AN OTHERWISE FULL BLOCK

SPACES DEFINED BY ELEVATED TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

more easily compare and contrast these

Alan Berger. 2006. "Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America"

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SPACES WITH ONE ACCESS POINT

SPACES FORMED WITH MORE THAN ONE ACCESS POINT

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Site Selection Process The System of Urban Connections is the organizing framework of the West Bottoms, and so the location of a well-integrated public space must also relate to this System. If a site showed opportunities to be well-connected, art-centered, and sustainable, but did not also closely relate to a gateway, corridor, or node of the West Bottoms, it was rejected. Sites were kept if they held a strong relationship with the System. The resulting sites contain outstanding potential, as they have a strong relationship to the existing bones of the West Bottoms as well as the ability to be well-connected, art-centered, and sustainable public spaces.

After the first round of site rejections, the design team arrived at around 100 potential sites for public space. These sites are highlighted and overlayed with the System of Urban Connections in the adjacent map.

In order to continue narrowing down sites, a public meeting was held in the West Bottoms. These 100 sites were presented in order to verify that the community understood the site selection process and then gather stories of their personal experiences with any of these potential sites. The results of the first public meeting are documented on the following pages.

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First Public Meeting West Bottoms Reborn's first public meeting was held on February 23rd, 2017, at Rockstar Burgers in the West Bottoms. At this meeting the Kansas City Design Center presented the research on the current conditions of the West Bottoms as well as the first phase of the site selection process. By this point, about 100 potential sites were considered.

The main objectives of this public meeting were to update the public on the progress in the project as well as collect their feedback on not only the overall West Bottoms analysis but also the 100 potential sites being considered. Students requested the guests' knowledge of the feasibility of these sites and their personal experiences within the West Bottoms.

The feedback was gathered by means of a questionnaire as well as a series of aerial maps that guests were asked to write on in order to share their thoughts and opinions. All feedback collected from this meeting allowed the design team to gather more data about the current conditions of the West Bottoms. This information informed the design team's next step of narrowing down potential sites to twelve.

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CONSIDER THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THESE RESIDENTS

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Twelve Sites Twelves sites were selected based on three processes. The three processes include analysis of Spatial Typologies, relationships to the System of Urban Connections, and community feedback. These twelve sites embody a variety of spatial conditions, each relate to the framework of Gateways, Corridors, and Nodes, and align with the feedback received from the public.

Three of the twelve sites are located in Kansas; nine sites are located in Missouri. Two sites are located in the Riverview District; Three sites are located in the Stockyards District; Seven sites are located in the Historic Core. Two sites are located along the riverfront. Two sites are located in the underutilized spaces beneath highway viaducts. Seven sites can suggest alternative uses to parking lots. Six sites struggle with water management issues. Three sites directly connect to the Riverfront Heritage Trail. The twelves sites interrelate through not just proximity but through common problems, histories, and experiences.

In order to discover the relationships between them, the set of twelve sites were analyzed with two methods: Connection Typologies and String Theory. These two analytical methods unveiled layers of physical and experiential connections across sites. In this way, the sites can be understood not as individual entities but as a network of multiple public spaces that work together to forge the West Bottom's public realm.

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Connection Typologies These twelve sites are best not viewed as individual entities but rather as parts of a larger network of public spaces that compliment each other and work together to improve the public realm. When they are understood as related spaces, the public experience becomes enriched: one space can provide experiences and amenities that another does not.

The twelves sites have been categorized based on their location: Contextual, Hidden, and Destination. These Connection Typologies acknowledge that a set of public spaces will not relate to each other or to the existing conditions of the West Bottoms in the same way, meaning that design interventions must be deeply conscious of their outer context.

DESTINATION DESTINATION

HIDDEN HIDDEN

CONTEXTUAL CONTEXTUAL

Destination Sites are spaces that one would most likely intentionally travel to, because unlike Contextual and Hidden Sites, they do not have many nearby uses. One would not be likely to stumble upon a Destination site without wayfinding or some adventure.

Connections to Destination Sites are usually made via the trails system, where automobiles cannot travel.

Destination public spaces must more carefully consider how its users will travel to and from the site.

Hidden Sites are similar to Contextual sites in that they tend to occur as the interstitial spaces between existing buildings; however Hidden Sites are more difficult to find.

These sites may have a few restricted access points or may be located off of the beaten path. A Hidden public space can be more intimate and secretive, however to be wellused it may require wayfinding and safety improvements.

Contextual Sites are those that have a well-defined context and many neighbors that influence and are influenced by this space. Contextual Sites tend to occur in the Historic Core district, due to its relatively tight urban fabric.

Many Contextual Sites are the interstitial spaces between existing buildings or other infrastructure. A public space of this typology must carefully consider all of its context.

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String Theory

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String Theory

INFRASTRUCTURE

MOMENTS

BODY

NOISE

USE

LIGHT ACCESS

ENCLOSURE

SITE OVERPASS OPEN ALLEY COURTYARD MISSING TOOTH CONTEXTUAL HIDDEN DESTINATION SUNNY WINTER SHADY SUMMER ACTIVE PARKING ACTIVE STORAGE INACTIVE PARKING INACTIVE USE TRAIN NOISES TRUCK NOISES HIGHWAY DRONE BRICK CONCRETE DOWNTOWN VIEW WATER TOWER PLANES RAILROAD GRAFFITI LOSS + VOID NIGHTLIFE BRIDGE RAILROAD WATER LOADING DOCK FLORA

12 ST ALLEY

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LIBERTY UNDER CENTRAL NORTH COURTYARD VIADUCT RIVERFRONT

String Theory

Enclosure

Accessibility

Light

Use

Noise

Body

Infrastructure

These graphs visualize String Theory's results. Eight categories of themes each show different ways to create a network of public spaces through experience.

Through the addition of photographs, these graphs directly show the instance of the theme on each site.

Moments 96

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Second Public Meeting West Bottoms Reborn's second public meeting was held on March 16th, 2017, at Mulberry Room in the West Bottoms. At this meeting the Kansas City Design Center presented the site selection process, the overall system of public spaces, and the initial site analysis for each of the twelve potential public spaces.

The main objectives of this public meeting were to update the public on the progress in the project as well as collect their feedback on not only the site selection process but also on the twelve potential sites.

Guests were asked about their personal experiences with the sites and what they envision occurring on these sites. Feedback was collected through booklets and large maps that the community was asked to write on to share their ideas about what makes a good public space.

Public feedback for individual sites were included in the comprehensive site analysis, shown in the next chapter. The feedback collected from this meeting guided the decision on which five of the twelve sites to focus on for schematic designs for a public space, shown in Chapter Five.

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INTRODUCTION 104 - 105 NORTH RIVERFRONT 106 - 113

HICKORY LOTS 154 - 161

CENTRAL AVENUE VIADUCT 114 - 121

LARAMIE LAKE 162 - 169

LIBERTY COURTYARD 122 - 129

12TH STREET ALLEY 170 - 177

FORRESTER VIADUCT 130 - 137

I-670 VIADUCT 178 - 185

SANTA FE COURTYARD 138 - 145

STOCKYARDS 186 - 193

UNION LOTS 146 - 153

SOUTH RIVERFRONT 194 - 201

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Introduction Twelve sites were selected based off their networking possibilities through Connection Typologies, their visceral and historical qualities through String Theory, and the community feedback received through public meetings. Each of the twelve sites holds outstanding potential to become a significant public space in the West Bottoms. In order to more specifically determine the conditions and qualities worth keeping or addressing through public space design, the team co nducted further site analysis.

COMMON SITE ANALYSIS ELEMENTS: ȃȃ Defining a site's spatial extents ȃȃ Drawing the site's section ȃȃ Photographing its visceral moments and views ȃȃ Identifying the public right-of-way vs. private land ownership ȃȃ Documenting noise intensity and sources ȃȃ Comparing assets and liabilities ȃȃ Requesting feedback and knowledge from community members By adding deeper site analysis to the existing pool of information gathered from Connection Typologies, String Theory, and the System of Urban Connections, the studio began to identify key issues that future public space design investigations must respond to.

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North Riverfront The North Riverfront site is located at the northwest corner of the West Bottoms' Riverview District. This site is at the intersection of many unique features. Regarding water, the site is bordered by the Kansas River, very close to its termination at the Missouri River.

Another border is the man-made levee, owned by the Army Corp. of Engineers. The levee – and therefore this field and the river – is legally inaccessible. Seasonally, the water table rises and lowers along with the river. When the water is low, a field of marshy land is revealed at the foot of the levee. This marshy land used to be covered in trees and brush, but has recently been cleared and left open and grassy.

At the top of the levee is the Riverfront Heritage Trail. The trail begins just east of Berkly Riverfront park and continues westward under the Lewis and Clark Viaduct as a pedestrian and bike path until it terminates at 4th Street and Armstrong Avenue. Under the viaduct is a series of public art installations by Stretch Rumaner. These pieces are steel and glass interpretations of Native American symbols for the sun, stars, and water. Adjacent to the Lewis and Clark Viaduct is an active railroad bridge whose rail runs parallel to the viaduct for a short time and then branches off to form the northern border of the West Bottoms.

When standing at the top of the levee, there is the unique moment of having clear panoramic views of both downtown Kansas City, Missouri and downtown Kansas City, Kansas. In the foreground are numerous trucking and distribution industries common in the Riverview District.

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Right: Under the Lewis and Clark Viaduct is the Riverfront Heritage Trail. It is a popular path for strolls, biking, and running. The path continues under I-70 and offers a stunning cathedral-like promenade under its steel and concrete structure.

Below: At the top of the levee, one can enjoy panoramic views of downtown Kansas City, Kansas, the Kansas River, and the various bridges bordering the site.

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North Riverfront

The North Riverfront site is one of the few locations one can see both downtown Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. Most prominent on the Kansas City Kansas side is St. John Baptist Catholic Church.

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“NOISY AND STINKY”

ONT -

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“I SUNBATHE” “I PICNIC” “I CYCLE”

WEST BOTTOMS

“CONNECTIONS TO HERITAGE TRAIL, GREAT INTO WB! WOULD UNITE EAST AND WEST!”

“PEDESTRIAN/CYLCIST ACCESS”

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Direct connection to Riverfront Heritage Trail Multi-modal intersection

SENSORY

Visual connection to KCMO & KCK Near existing public art

PHYSICAL

Wetland field floods Near Butler trucking Waterfront access Overgrowth blocks river Proximity to train Plenty of sun Levee owned by Army Corps

N. RIVERFRONT

SENSORY Train noise

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Central Avenue Viaduct Central Avenue Viaduct connects James Street – one of the main arteries of the West Bottoms – to Kansas City, Kansas. This area was once an intersection of the streetcar and the freight lines. This streetcar stop was one of the major lines to and from KCK and traveled along the underside of this bridge. The freight lines facilitated the transportation of goods to various industries in the area. The area inside the bend of the Central Avenue Viaduct was once home to railcar storage that serviced meatpacking, agricultural, and other related industries.

Today, the rails have been removed and the lot paved, leaving what is now a relatively large yard of open public right-of-way.

Parallel to the length of the yard is 1st Street. This road services milling and concrete facilities to the southwest. During the work day, concrete trucks pass back and forth in front of what was first MauerNeuer meatpacking, and then became Midwest Industrial Services, and is today vacant. Because of its neglect and erosion, this building is now a canvas for graffiti artists and an attraction for urban explorers whom have named it “The Lab” due to its previous function as a waste management facility. Surrounding the backside of this building is a lot for the storage of shipping containers, operated by Double V.V. There are other light industrial uses to the south and north, some of whom use the yard for parking.

The newest users come from Hickory Union Moto. After moving from Hickory Street in the Historic Core, this DIY motorcycle repair shop has chosen an old fire station for their new location on the outside of the viaduct off of James Street and Central Avenue in the Riverview District. Since their opening day in the spring of ‘17, they have created a considerable amount of social energy in an industrial atmosphere which fits their vibe as a motorcycle community. Nearby, this area is also host to a much different scene – a nightclub called The Wave.

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Central Avenue Viaduct

The Central Avenue Viaduct is deceptively alive. The oddly-shaped bend of the viaduct creates a dynamic, if leaky, space. Industrial uses animate the space, especially the frequent traffic of cement trucks that must quickly make it to their job sites across Kansas City. The viaduct shelters a seemingly abandoned trailer that has attracted the attention of the same taggers and graffiti artists that leave their mark on The Lab across the street.

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VE SA

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Connects Kansas side to Missouri side At major gateway In public R.O.W

SENSORY

Views of KCMO, Strawberry Hill and Stockyards Viaduct acts as roof

Proximity to truck routes Unclear program

CENTRAL

PHYSICAL Space not well defined Wayfinding Drainage issues

SENSORY Truck noise

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Liberty Courtyard Taking its name from the avenue that used to run through it, Liberty Courtyard stands as a reminder of what the West Bottoms used to be and as a hint of what it can become. Raised loading docks line the base of the brick warehouses that touch the courtyard, providing evidence of the past loading and unloading that occurred as the nearby warehouses relied on the railroads to transport their goods.

The Liberty Courtyard boasts a rich material palette that embodies the industrial history of the West Bottoms. There are eroding reveals of sett stones and abandoned rail lines underneath the gravel and asphalt. Due to the orientation around the train and its turning radii, the brick facades rise in unconventional angles that give the courtyard a funneling sense of motion.

The Hobbs Building on the courtyard’s northern edge hosts many artist studios. The Abernathy Building is destined to be repurposed into small apartments with a few small commercial uses at the ground floor. At the base of the Abernathy is a series of graffiti murals known as Art Alley. These murals are popular backdrops for amateur and professional photographers alike. Recently, just outside of the courtyard, a sculpture made out of rail line, deconstructed shipping containers, and a deconstructed water tower was installed by artist Ben Wolf in collaboration with BNIM.

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Liberty Courtyard

The Liberty Courtyard is dense compared to it surroundings. The courtyard provides comfortable, defined enclosure in the midst of the leaky, open spaces that emerge as one moves further out of the Historic Core.

It's almost like discovering a cave in the middle of a forest. The marks of history are abundantly evident through ghost signs, brick warehouse buildings, loading docks, revealed sett stones, and graffiti murals.

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“REALLY COOL ENCLOSED SPACE, PROVIDES SEVERAL HIERARCHIES OF SPACE, PASS-THROUGH SPACE OPPORTUNITYTO MOVE PEOPLE, MORE ACCESSIBLE,HAS CONNECTION TO ALLEY PATH.”

WYOMING ST

“BLUE ANGELS FLYING OVER”

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Variety of spaces Historic character Interesting oblique views of brick warehouses

SENSORY

Within public R.O.W. Graffiti Variety of ground material Popular for photography Used for parking & loading By future devs

LIBERTY CTYD

LIABILITIES

PHYSICAL Well used as-is Poor water drainage

SENSORY

Noise from trucks and trains Intervention may impact graffiti Intervention may impact photo appeal

Forrester Viaduct Forrester Viaduct is located on the northern edge of the Historic Core district. The bridge allows automobile traffic to cross over railroads and enter the West Bottoms to 9th Street or exit the West Bottoms via Beardsley Road. Currently, the land under the viaduct is barren except when used as a staging ground for various construction projects occurring in the area. For example, in this photograph the land is the staging ground for the replacement of nearby railroad ties and pavement infill for the rail's intersection at Mulberry Street. The site is bisected periodically by passing trains, whom must blast their horn when crossing street intersections. Airplanes also frequently pass over the site as they land or take off from Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport.

From this site, one can see downtown Kansas City Missouri, the bluff leading down the West Bottoms, passing trains at the railyard, and numerous historic brick warehouses. Directly south of the site is a large, abandoned concrete industrial block. This building was previously the Weld Wheel factory that manufactured racing and highperformance wheels. There are plans for this building to be repurposed into apartments and commercial space.

Forrester Viaduct is very close to two other sites: Santa Fe Courtyard and Union Lots. It is possible that rather than individual sites, a public space design can conceptualize these as a series of highly-connected public spaces.

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ST

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Left: Under the touchdown of Forrester Viaduct is an odd leftover space: drosscape. The Viaduct acts as a roof to the entire site, but creates a comfortable and intimate "room" at this particular location. Its proximity to the sidewalk means this nook has high potential for a mini, intimate public space.

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Forrester Viaduct

Below: The Forrester Viaduct's main function is to allow vehicles to cross over the busy rail lines to the east. The site has an intimate relationship with a variety of transportation modes: train, auto, plane, and pedestrian.

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8TH ST

8TH ST

UCT -

“NEAREST TO ACTIVITY”

WEST BOTTOMS

9TH ST

9TH ST

“POSSIBLE COMMUNITY GARDEN” ST. LOUIS AVE

ST. LOUIS AVE

“COULD INVEST IN MORE INTERESTING AREA IN WB”

UCT -

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Easily networks with other sites Along major corridor

SENSORY

Views of KCMO Viaduct acts as roof

In public R.O.W. Railroad proximity

FORRESTER

PHYSICAL Space not well deďŹ ned Space is used for construction staging

SENSORY Train noise

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Santa Fe Courtyard Santa Fe Courtyard is located at the periphery of the Historic Core and adjacent to the Forrester Viaduct site. The courtyard was not intentionally built, but rather is the void of a building that was destroyed in 2006. The building was structurally integrated to the surrounding buildings, and these structural connections – including concrete columns, doors, and roof line – remain. Inhabiting the space is surreal and ghostly due to the overwhelming evidence of the past and time's eroding effect on the space. The void's footprint is covered with wild vegetation and trash. Reachable wall space is covered in graffiti murals and tags. A breezeway interrupts the alley that would otherwise connect the courtyard to 8th Street. Looking through the breezeway gives a framed view of the Kansas City Community Release Center.

The site is only accessible from one location, just off of 9th Street and Santa Fe Street. Its entrance is very close to an active rail line.

When inside of the courtyard, one is enclosed on three sides by tall brick walls. However, when a train passes the fourth "wall" is created and for a while the site is entirely enclosed. When the fourth wall is created, a new emphasis is put on the vertical plane and the sky above.

If occupying at the right time, the four walls will frame airplanes that are landing at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport to the north.

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Left: A panoramic view from inside the courtyard reveals the numerous structural connections, ghost signs, and other remnants from the fallen building.

Sliding fire doors have lost their fireproofing purpose, yet indicate the locations the fallen building connected to the remaining building.

Right: The courtyard's hidden and ghostly qualities make it easy to tag and dispose of garbage. It only increases the space's grunge and suspension of time.

Far Right: Temporarily, passing trains create the fourth wall and entirely enclose the courtyard, which then emphasizes vertical views of the brick walls and the sky with descending airplanes.

Below: This panorama is the view seen when at the threshold of the Santa Fe Courtyard's entrance. The railroad is intimidatingly close by. One can also easily see downtown Kansas City, Missouri and Forrester Viaduct.

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Santa Fe Courtyard

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“ASK ABOUT PRISON RELEASE DATA. WHERE DO THEY GO AFTER? TRANSITIONAL CENTER OR FREE FOR ALL? SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PLANNING. CONSULT THE HOMELESS POPULATION.”

YARD -

8T

“VERY COOL STRUCTURE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION OF THE EXISTING”

WEST BOTTOMS

“COOL BRICK!” “BY THE TRAIN”

TER

RES

FOR

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RD

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“DESIGN FOR ECOLOGICAL DEMOCRACY BY RANDOLPH HESTER”

OURTYARD -

B

T

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T

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0

0 dB

0 dB

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dB | AVERAGE 90.0 dB

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Enclosed Hidden Historical remnants

SENSORY

Framed views of trains and planes Industrial elements

Train noise Train proximity

SANTA FE CTYD

PHYSICAL Privately owned Enclosing buildings in use

SENSORY

Area in disrepair Views of prison

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Union Lots The Union Lots are an odd "plaza" bordered by many historic warehouses. The site is diagonally bisected by a series of rail lines. Since these lines intersect Hickory Street and Mulberry Street, the frequently passing trains must sound their horns to alert vehicles and pedestrians.

The sound of the train's horn reverberates off the surrounding buildings.

Another frequent sound is the passing of descending airplanes as they head north to Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport. The Union Lots are adjacent to both the Forrester Viaduct site to the north and the Hickory Lots site to the south.

The site under investigation is currently an unused and deteriorating parking lot. The pavement is cracking and contains patches of wild growth. There is currently a pile of sett stones on a small portion of the parking lot – the portion owned by the railroad. The site's proximity to the rail lines poses both as an asset and a liability.

The tallest building adjacent to our site is the abandoned concrete warehouse that used to be home to Weld Wheels whom manufactured racing and other high-performance wheels. There are plans for this building to be repurposed into apartments and commercial space.

Other nearby building uses include artist studios, motorcycle repair garages, and distributors.

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HWY 670

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HICKORY ST

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ST

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GENESSEE ST

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LIBERTY ST

WYOMING ST

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150

Union Lots

The Union Lots exist in the middle of a perimeter of historic brick and concrete warehouse buildings. The site is diagonally separated into two by the rail lines and passing trains. Standing at the right location at the right time, one can see the intersection of all three major modes of transportation that pass through the West Bottoms: trains, planes, and trucks.

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HICKORY ST

HICKORY ST

H ST

“TRAIN PASSING THROUGH”

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ST. LOUIS AVE

WEST BOTTOMS “I REST”

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ORY ST

S AVE

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“TOWN SQUARE”

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ST. LOUIS AVE

AVE 0 dB

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Underused parking lot Large courtyard space Along two major corridors Networks easily with other sites

SENSORY Planes overhead Cobblestone pile

Train bisects site Train proximity

UNION LOTS

PHYSICAL

Currently fenced off Privately owned Part of future development

SENSORY

Noise from planes and trains Needs cleanup

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Hickory Lots The Hickory Lots is located in the heart of the Historic Core district.

The most prominent feature on this site was the group of mature trees – some of the few trees in the entire West Bottoms. Their wide canopy shaded a gravel parking lot below. During First Fridays and other events in the Historic Core, this parking lot is well-used as it is adjacent to numerous shops as well as the haunted houses. A group of antique stores inhabit warehouse buildings south of the site, a series of automotive shops exist north of the site, semi trailer parking and railroad border the west edge of the site, and a boxing club and more gravel lots form the east edge. The site suffers from leaky, undefined boundaries and therefore no clear sense of space and place.

It was the mature trees that captured KCDC's attention when first considering this site. However, during our site selection process, the trees were cut down and removed from the site, leaving only their tall stumps to mark their existence. The trees were dying and posed a threat to the vehicles parked below them.

Due to the openness of the site, one can experience a prairie-like setting that allow for extreme views – downtown Kansas City, Missouri to the east, the 12th Street Viaduct to the south, and the rail lines as well as the trains that frequently pass by to the west. Many of the surrounding buildings have scars of their past lives that give a sense of void or loss to the site, compounded by the remaining tree stumps. Referred to as "the piazza of the West Bottoms" at the first public meeting, the space is ideally located to become a new center of activity for the already bustling Historic Core.

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ST

13TH TERRACE

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GENESSEE ST

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LIBERTY ST

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

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- STOCKYARDS

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STATE LINE RD

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Hickory Lots

Today, the stumps are the only remains of the stoic trees. While our initial interest in the site relied on keeping the trees, there is a new realm of potential with the stumps.

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HICKORY S

OT -

“PRIVATE PROPERTY WILL LIKELY BE PARKING FOR BUILDING DEVELOPEMENT TO THE NORTH. NOT ENOUGH ENCLOSURE, ART AS OBJECT SPACE”

“PIAZZA OF THE WEST BOTTOMS”

“I REST”

“TRAIN PASSING THROUGH”

UNION AVE

UNION AVE

ST. L“IO UIS SMOKE” AVE

WEST BOTTOMS

“I WANDER” “I GET SOME AIR HERE”

11TH ST

UNION AVE

11TH ST

“UTILITY!” “ALMOST TOO BIG TO BE A SPACE (NO ENCLOSURE)”

E LOT -

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12TH ST

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SENSORY

Interesting oblique views

Dead trees Loading dock

HICKORY LOTS

PHYSICAL

No pavement Well used as parking

SENSORY Trucking noise

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Laramie Lake Laramie Lake, also known as Lake West Bottoms, is the affectionate term for a stormwater drainage problem located in the Historic Core. A more accurate term for the water body is a puddle. It is the low point in the middle of a gravel parking lot. The parking lot is well-used at nights that The Ship is open, as well as during First Fridays and weekends that antique shops are open.

The water enigma fluctuates in size; it can dry up completely, cover the entire parking lot, or mottles it with puddles. The water deters people from parking and its size can vary the available space to park.

To the east, the site has a panoramic view of downtown Kansas City, Missouri and the passing trains at the railyard. This site has a great vantage point to see the last remaining water tower in the West Bottoms, perched above Blip Roasters. This view is possible because of the fallen building between Blip Roasters and The Chambers of Edgar Allen Poe. The structural connections of this building, including floor plates and doors, still exist and hearken to what the void used to look like.

At the west edge of the site is The Moline Building. It is the previous home to Moline Plow manufacturing. This building has tentative plans to be repurposed into a mixture of residential and commercial functions.

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Laramie Lake

Right: Due to the "missing tooth" caused by the fallen building to the south of the site, one can see the its structural remains, the last water tower in the West Bottoms, toward another potential site: 12th Street Alley, and then the 12th Street Bridge. The Hickory Lots site can be seen down 11th Street.

Below: Laramie Lake has a panoramic view of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, the rail yards, and 12th Street Bridge.

166

Laramie Lake is really a stormwater management issue that affects the daily routines of many in the West Bottoms. Drainage of the site requires infrastructural changes that could be addressed with the creation of a public space: two birds with one stone.

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T S E RR

FO “SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE, TO HAVE ART INTERACT WITH WATER,RAINGARDENS, COMBINATION OF OPEN AND ENCLOSED SPACES, COMBINED TO OPEN SITE LINES”

12TH ST

WEST BOTTOMS

SANTA FE ST

12TH ST

SANTA FE ST

“CONNECT 12TH STREET AND LARAMIE LAKE AS ONE SPACE”

LARAMIE LAKE -

7

0 dB

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TOTAL 75.4 dB

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dB

WEST BOTTOMS

“GRANT COVER INFRASTRUCTURE OR GREEN SPACE UPKEEP, PRIVATE PROPERTY, ALL THE WATER”

SANTA FE ST

“INTRODUCE ORGANIC GREEN SPACE”

UNION AVE

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LEGEND SOUND SOURCE

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Proximity to users and businesses Networks with other sites Loading docks

SENSORY

Utilized day and night Panoramic view of KCMO

Proximity to haunted houses Lake is an icon

LARAMIE LAKE

PHYSICAL

Informal parking No sidewalks Well used as-is Private property No pavement

SENSORY

Water management would remove icon Mosquitos Train noise

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12th Street Alley This alley is located between 11th and 12th Streets to the north and south, then bound by Santa Fe Street and Mulberry Street to the east and west. Despite its position in one of the densest and most active locations in the Historic Core, this site's existence is not evident.

The height of the adjacent brick warehouses along with its narrow entrances obscure its presence from the streets.

Its enclosing brick warehouses host a variety of building uses.

Motorbikers and those looking for refreshments can be found at Blip Coffee Roasters. Antiquers can find treasures every weekend at Ugly Glass & Co., Goldie & Myrtle's, or The Painted Sofa. Seasonally, the brave can trudge through the Macabre Cinema House, The Edge of Hell, or the Chambers of Edgar Allen Poe. But within the alleyway itself, activity is scarce. Evidence of incognito activities are left as various tags and graffiti art that cover the first six feet of the brick warehouses.

The 12th Street Alley can boast of its excellent view of the last remaining water tower in the West Bottoms. Other views outward include Downtown KCMO and passing trains in the railyard to the east and then a handsome glimpse of the 12th Street Viaduct to the south.

The void along the northern edge of the site holds strong evidence of the warehouse building that once stood there. Individual floors and structural connections are articulated in the sides of the adjacent buildings to which it was once attached. The footprint of this void is currently fenced off and privately owned.

This site is very close in proximity to other potential public space sites, namely Laramie Lake and the Hickory Lots. These sites could be thought of as a series of public spaces instead of individual spaces.

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HWY 670

MULBERRY ST

HICKORY ST

LIBERTY ST

ST ES JAM

12TH

ST

13TH TERRACE

- I-6

GENESSEE ST

14TH ST

LIBERTY ST

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

BUTLER WAY

16TH ST

- STOCKYARDS

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

17TH ST

- SOUTH RIVERFRONT

NID

E AV A R

SA

CE

MISSOURI

STATE LINE RD

Z

VE HA

EC W 25TH ST

- LARAMIE LAKE -

12TH ST

172

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8T

8TH ST

VE NA LYO

TH STREET ALLEY

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12th Street Alley

Left: Sun and shade are strikingly apparent in this dense site. The tall buildings only allow small windows of time for sunlight to enter the site, often dramatically projected onto the ground. During sunsets, light filters through many layers of fire stairs and cast long filigree shadows onto the site.

Above: The site's narrow enclosure by tall brick warehouse buildings result in framed views outward, such as of Downtown KCMO and the railyard to the east and then of the 12th Street Bridge to the south.

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A FE ST

WEST BOTTOMS

MULBERRY ST

“SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE, TO HAVE ART INTERACT WITH WATER,RAINGARDENS, COMBINATION OF OPEN AND ENCLOSED SPACES, COMBINED TO OPEN SITE LINES”

MULBERRY ST

12TH ST

12TH ST

T ALLEY -

SANTA FE ST

A FE S

SANTA FE ST

“CONNECT 12TH STREET AND LARAMIE LAKE AS ONE SPACE”

WEST BOTTOMS

7

0 dB

0 dB

ST

dB

dB

176

N 63.7 dB | MAX 92.2 dB | AVERAGE 79.7 dB

nd

and n i

10 dB

10 dB

d i a da

20 dB

n i nd

20 dB

30 dB

i

a

30 dB

40 dB

i n i

40 dB

50 dB

a a

60 dB

50 dB

70 dB

60 dB

80 dB

70 dB

80 dB

90 dB 100 dB+

TOTAL 74.8 dB

90 dB 100 dB+

d and d d gi TOTAL n i 74.8 dB n

fi

in

i

a

ASSETS PHYSICAL

Framed views of KCMO Narrow, strong enclosure Last historic water tower in the WB Historic character

SENSORY

Compressing and expanding spaces Fire escapes and windows create texture

Train noise Graffiti Hidden quality

12TH ST ALLEY

PHYSICAL Enclosure poses a possible safety concern

SENSORY Pigeons

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I-670 Viaduct Once part of the rigid street grid of the West Bottom’s Historic Core, the space underneath Interstate 670 now reads as a massive tear in the area’s urban fabric. The site sits on the border between the Historic Core to the north and the Stockyards to the south. The Historic Core is densest just to the north of this site, and hosts numerous antique shops, artists studios, event spaces, and offices. To the south, there are a few garages, industrial suppliers, and vacant buildings. The barren space under the viaduct lacks pedestrian activity except when used for event parking, such as First Fridays, antique weekends, and the haunted houses.

Kansas City Water Services and HNTB are partnering up to design and deploy stormwater management improvements to the West Bottoms.

I-670 is one of their sites for these infrastructural improvements.

A second site is the Liberty Lots, a parking lot directly south of I-670. There is opportunity for the West Bottoms Reborn project to coordinate with their CID Green Infrastructure project to improve both water management and the public realm at the same time.

The experience of the site is shaped by the highway overhead and the columns that support it. The vast viaduct provides shelter from the elements. The concrete column structures repeat in a way that makes the space underneath resemble the interior of a cathedral or a path of torii gates. The noise of constant overhead traffic gives the site a steady rhythm and provides a hint of the motion above. There is a slight gap between the two viaduct roadways. This gap appears as a line of light in the midsts of the dark underside of the viaduct. During sunsets, the sun projects a line of light through the gap and onto the gravel ground. During storms, the rainwater drips through the gap as a wall of water, moistening a line of earth below it, juxtaposed to the dry earth underneath the roadway.

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KANSAS

MARK ET ST

- NORTH RIVERFRONT DSW

ST ES JAM

LE VE E

AV E

WOO

IO

OH

ETHE

R RD

E AV

HW

WYO MIN G ST

Y 70

E AV

D

RR

HE

SANTA FE ST

MULBERRY ST

W VIE ER RIV

WO

ET

SW

OD

WOODSWETHER RD

MA

1ST

VE NA

O DIS

E AV DS OL YN RE ST

T DS 2N

3 - LIBERTY COURTYARD CENTRAL AVE

HICKORY ST

R RD

ESTE

FORR

- FORRESTER VIADUCT

ST. LOUIS AVE

ST ING EW

6 - UNION LOTS ST.

UNION AVE

VE IS A

U LO

SANTA FE ST

ST

WYOMING ST

9TH ST

GENESSEE ST

ES JAM

- CENTRAL AVENUE VIADUCT

- SANTA FE COURTYARD

9TH ST

STATE LINE RD

VE LA

RA

NT

CE

- HICKORY LOT 11TH ST

WYOMING ST

13TH ST

HWY 670

MULBERRY ST

HICKORY ST

LIBERTY ST

ST ES JAM

12TH

ST

13TH TERRACE

- I-6

GENESSEE ST

14TH ST

LIBERTY ST

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

BUTLER WAY

16TH ST

- STOCKYARDS

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

17TH ST

- SOUTH RIVERFRONT

NID

E AV A R

SA

CE

MISSOURI

STATE LINE RD

Z

VE HA

EC W 25TH ST

- LARAMIE LAKE -

12TH ST

180

T

HS

8T

8TH ST

VE NA LYO

TH STREET ALLEY

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I-670 Viaduct

The massive viaduct results in a swath of barren land underneath. The viaduct acts as a roof. There is a slight gap between the two viaducts. This gap appears as a line of light, and is essentially the line separating the Historic Core and the Stockyards District. Two unique moments occur because of this slight gap. At sunset, the line is projected onto the ground. During storms, rain falls through the gap as a wall of water.

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MULB

HIC

LIBE

13TH ST

WYOMING ST

WYOMING ST

13TH ST “COULD DEVELOP ON OWN BECAUSE OF SURROUNDING RESIDENTIAL”

13TH TERRACE

MULBERRY ST

LIBERTY ST

14TH ST

HICKORY ST

13TH TERRACE

ST

WEST BOTTOMS

14TH ST

13TH TERRACE 13TH ST

S-

WEST BOTTOMS

Y 670

dB

13TH ST

13TH TERRACE

7

0 dB

10 dB

20 dB

30 dB

40 dB

50 dB

60 dB

70 dB

80 dB

90 dB 100 dB+

TOTAL 77.9 dB

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10 dB

nd

20 dB

and n i

30 dB

40 dB

d i a da

50 dB

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70 dB

i

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90 dB 100 dB+

a a

d and gi n i

d d n

fi

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i

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ASSETS PHYSICAL

Easily networks with other sites Below a major corridor Viaduct acts as a roof Located at edge of two districts Subject to Green Infrastructure improvements

SENSORY

Sense of enclosure

In public R.O.W. Proximity to railroad

I-670

PHYSICAL

No eyes on the space Undefined boundaries Poor water management Brownfield site

SENSORY

Train noise Noise from traffic above

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Stockyards This site includes two caddy-corner parking lots that are connected by an alleyway. Both parking lots are underused in terms of parking, but instead are often the sites for temporary structures. For example, kiosks and tents during Boulevardia and the 50/50 Gallery both occupy these parking lots for a time. The northern parking lot is across the street from the Live Stock Exchange building, the host to many artist studios, offices, and small businesses. The southern parking lot has a direct view of the Kemper Arena, destined to be renamed the Mosaic Arena and repurposed into a recreational facility. The alleyway between the two services a strip of restaurants, such as Rockstar Burgers, Lucky Boys, Voltaire, and West Bottoms Kitchen. Two fitness facilities also use this alley, such as Freight House Fitness and Pole Worx.

This site is relatively close to the South Riverfront site, but visibility of the South Riverfront site is not clear. However, one can see downtown Kansas City, Missouri from this site.

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MARK ET ST

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ST ES JAM

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WYO MIN G ST

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E AV

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SANTA FE ST

MULBERRY ST

W VIE ER RIV

WO

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SW

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WOODSWETHER RD

MA

1ST

VE NA

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E AV DS OL YN RE ST

T DS 2N

3 - LIBERTY COURTYARD CENTRAL AVE

HICKORY ST

R RD

ESTE

FORR

- FORRESTER VIADUCT

ST. LOUIS AVE

ST ING EW

6 - UNION LOTS ST.

UNION AVE

VE IS A

U LO

SANTA FE ST

ST

WYOMING ST

9TH ST

GENESSEE ST

ES JAM

- CENTRAL AVENUE VIADUCT

- SANTA FE COURTYARD

9TH ST

STATE LINE RD

VE LA

RA

NT

CE

- HICKORY LOT 11TH ST

WYOMING ST

13TH ST

HWY 670

MULBERRY ST

HICKORY ST

LIBERTY ST

ST ES JAM

12TH

ST

13TH TERRACE

- I-6

GENESSEE ST

14TH ST

LIBERTY ST

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

BUTLER WAY

16TH ST

- STOCKYARDS

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

17TH ST

- SOUTH RIVERFRONT

NID

E AV A R

SA

CE

MISSOURI

STATE LINE RD

Z

VE HA

EC W 25TH ST

- LARAMIE LAKE -

12TH ST

188

T

HS

8T

8TH ST

VE NA LYO

TH STREET ALLEY

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Stockyards

The parking lots in question are adjacent to much of the most active parts of the Stockyards District. These uses vary from offices and studios at the Live Stock Exchange Building, restaurants along Genessee Street, fitness studios flanking either side, the art galleries of 50/50 and Haw Contemporary, and the Kemper Arena with plans to become a recreational center and renamed the Mosaic Arena.

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B

WYOMING ST

LIBERTY ST

“CID MEETING ON MARCH 23” “VERY INTERESTING PLAN”

WEST BOTTOMS

16TH ST

16TH ST

“50/50 GALLERY” 17TH ST

LIBERTY ST

16TH ST

WYOMING ST

“I PASS THROUGH”

SEE-WYOMING -

B

WYOMING S

MING WAY -

WYOMING ST

GENESSEE

“12TH AT BRIDGE COMMUNITY IS MUCH DIFFERENT. THE FREQUENCY OF TRAFFIC ON THIS SIDE IS MUCH DIFFERENT”

17TH ST

WEST BOTTOMS

16TH ST

17TH ST 7

0 dB

10 dB

20 dB

30 dB

40 dB

50 dB

60 dB

70 dB

80 dB

90 dB 100 dB+

17TH ST TOTAL 76.4 dB 0 dB

192

nd

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d i a da

20 dB

30 dB

n i nd

40 dB

i

a

50 dB

60 dB

i n i

a a

70 dB

80 dB

90 dB 100 dB+

d and gi n i

TOTAL 76.4 dB

d d n

fi

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i

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ASSETS PHYSICAL

Proximity to riverfront Accessible

SENSORY Ample daylight Utilized day and night

Surrounding restaurants 50/50 gallery

STOCKYARDS

PHYSICAL Lack of green space Spaces already in use

SENSORY Dumpsters Truck traffic

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South Riverfront The South Riverfront site is located at the edge of the Stockyards District, across from the Mosaic Arena. The site is a relatively flat plane of grass that runs parallel to the levee and the Kansas River. Due to the levee, the Kansas River is legally inaccessible. However, a few fishermen and rowing teams haphazardly navigate to the river.

Very close to the site is an abandoned railroad bridge. Investors have purchased the bridge and are looking at ways to give new purpose to it. Among their initial ideas include a restaurant, a series of shops, or a public pathway. The Riverfront Heritage Trail could expand from the North Riverfront site down south along the levee and then cross the river into Armourdale via this railroad bridge.

This site could potentially have a symbiotic relationship with the Mosaic Arena. Sports fields and open play areas could begin to populate the riverfront. Renewed activity and awareness of the riverfront could spawn new interest and desire to further engage the river – currently impossible due to the levee.

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KANSAS

MARK ET ST

- NORTH RIVERFRONT DSW

ST ES JAM

LE VE E

AV E

WOO

IO

OH

ETHE

R RD

E AV

HW

WYO MIN G ST

Y 70

E AV

D

RR

HE

SANTA FE ST

MULBERRY ST

W VIE ER RIV

WO

ET

SW

OD

WOODSWETHER RD

MA

1ST

VE NA

O DIS

E AV DS OL YN RE ST

T DS 2N

3 - LIBERTY COURTYARD CENTRAL AVE

HICKORY ST

R RD

ESTE

FORR

- FORRESTER VIADUCT

ST. LOUIS AVE

ST ING EW

6 - UNION LOTS ST.

UNION AVE

VE IS A

U LO

SANTA FE ST

ST

WYOMING ST

9TH ST

GENESSEE ST

ES JAM

- CENTRAL AVENUE VIADUCT

- SANTA FE COURTYARD

9TH ST

STATE LINE RD

VE LA

RA

NT

CE

- HICKORY LOT 11TH ST

WYOMING ST

13TH ST

HWY 670

MULBERRY ST

HICKORY ST

LIBERTY ST

ST ES JAM

12TH

ST

13TH TERRACE

- I-6

GENESSEE ST

14TH ST

LIBERTY ST

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

BUTLER WAY

16TH ST

- STOCKYARDS

WYOMING ST

STATE LINE RD

17TH ST

- SOUTH RIVERFRONT

NID

E AV A R

SA

CE

MISSOURI

STATE LINE RD

Z

VE HA

EC W 25TH ST

- LARAMIE LAKE -

12TH ST

196

T

HS

8T

8TH ST

VE NA LYO

TH STREET ALLEY

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198

South Riverfront

The open, flat site allows for numerous possibilities, but it is difficult to define the extents of the site. The western edge is defined by the levee; the eastern edge is defined by State Line Road; however the north and south extents are leaky.

The South Riverfront site provides the easiest opportunity for the public to reengage with the river. It could also forge a symbiotic relationship with the development of the railroad bridge and the Mosaic Arena.

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“GREAT CONNECTION WITH TRAIL LATER ON”

“TRAILS/RIVERS/ROADS = NEXUS”

WEST BOTTOMS

“I LISTEN TO THE RIVER” “I WATCH BOATS” “I WATCH FOR EAGLES”

STATE LINE RD

17TH ST

“PLACEMENT NEAR THE ARENA MAKES THE FEELING EMPTY”

WEST BOTTOMS

STATE ST STA ATE A TE LINE RD

TH RIVERFRONT -

STATE LINE RD

STATE LINE RD

ONT -

7

0 dB

10 dB

20 dB

30 dB

40 dB

50 dB

60 dB

70 dB

80 dB

90 dB 100 dB+

TOTAL 74.8 dB dB

B GEND

D SOURCE

200

0 dB

nd

and n i

d i a da

10 dB

20 dB

n i nd

30 dB

i

a

40 dB

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70 dB

d and gi n i

80 dB

90 dB 100 dB+

d d n

fi

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ASSETS PHYSICAL

Access to riverfront Accessible

SENSORY Ample daylight Near future developments Views

Railroad bridge is being repurposed

S. RIVERFRONT

PHYSICAL WayďŹ nding Flooding Ownership (Army Corps of Engineers)

SENSORY Water can smell Wind

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CENTRAL AVENUE VIADUCT 204 - 227 LIBERTY COURTYARD 228 - 249 HICKORY LOTS 250 - 263 12TH STREET ALLEY 264 - 279 I-670 VIADUCT 280 - 293

CHAPTER FIVE

Design Investigations

Central Avenue Viaduct Unlike the Historic Core, the Riverview District can be characterized by continued industry despite Kansas City's evolution into a modern industrial economy. This transformation has not been entirely complete; businesses have been thriving in what might be considered the aftermath of the Stockyards. Tucked behind the businesses that front the main arteries are larger distribution and industrial facilities which have long-thrived partly thanks to the low land value. The area has garnered an interesting culture that booms in between the pulsing of industry and embraces the disuse of infrastructure.

The design for Central Avenue reacts to the unique context of industrial uses, new communities, and awkward infrastructure. The design includes a permanent and a temporary intervention. The permanent intervention defines the extents of the open asphalt ground plane as well as integrates new, necessary infrastructure to address stormwater management and lighting needs. The temporary intervention is derived from local artifacts on the industrial site, namely an abandoned semi trailer. This trailer is reclaimed and refitted to be able to host a myriad of temporary functions in nearly infinite configurations, and then can be packed up and stored away until needed again. Another temporary design feature includes a modular block that can be stacked and arranged to form benches, tables, steps, or other platforms to accommodate the existing and new communities that will interact with this place.

204

History

CENTRAL AVE..

AL TR EN

E..

AV

RD YA ILRA

Streetcar 206

.

ST

CENT RAL VIA DU CT

ES

M JA

C

O DH

TE VA

E EL

HO

GS

OT

A Hidden Site The building that originally served Mauer-Neuer meatpacking was later operated by Midwest Industrial Services from where it gets its current name: The Lab. Major structural decay and indirect access to James Street have left this building vacant after its industrial users. Nearby buildings that lose their function are often demolished, although the void at this crossroads seems to breed new life. Hickory Union Moto, a thriving DIY motorcycle repair shop, has recently made use of an nearby abandoned fire station. The streetcar generator house has seen a few iterations including a sculptural artist’s studio. The underside of the viaduct, where the streetcar once rode, is now a place where people enjoy the river through its grated floor. The vacancy and disuse of The Lab creates an introspective, archaeological atmosphere used as a canvas by graffiti artists and appreciated by many urban explorers.

To the south, Fordyce Concrete and Mid-South Milling Company are the neighbors between the railhead and the viaduct and the sole users of 1st Street. Employees park here and concrete trucks occupy 1st street throughout the workday, juxtaposing their barrels against The Lab's vacancy and neglect.

AL VIADUCT -

WEST BOTTOMS

N LYO

E AV

RA

NT

CE

CENTRAL AVE

VE LA

ES

JAM ST ING

EW ST

Site Sections 208

SCALE: 1”:50’

Site Section Cuts N

LEGEND SCALE: 1”:50’

ST

1

ST

TR

E AV L A N CE

T

SS

E JAM

ST

1

ST

TC

Placekeeping

CENTRAL VIADUCT -

N

LEGEND GROUND PLANE N-S PLANES

210

E-W PLANES

WEST BOTTOMS

TEXTURE MAP - UNDER VIADUCT |

CENTRAL VIADUCT |

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WEST BOTTOMS

KANSAS

STRAWBERRY HILL -

DOWNTOWN -

WEST BOTTOMS

WEST BOTTOMS

MISSOURI

STOCKYARDS -

WEST BOTTOMS

KANSAS CITY | MO KANSAS CITY | KS

CENTRAL VIADUCT SITE | WB

Spatial Experience

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ST

1

ST

TR

T

SS

E JAM

ST

1

ST

214

E AV L A N CE

Design Concept

CENTRAL VIADUCT -

WEST BOTTOMS

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216

East Elevation: The length of the interior of the viaduct is dominated by the viaduct and The Lab which bound it on all but the southeastern edge.

East Elevation: Looking onto the outside of the viaduct The open space inside the viaduct is accessible through a gap between the fence around Hickory Union Moto's building and at the edge of the base of the viaduct.

South Elevation: Space is created in the disuse of space caused by the viaduct with the installment of a bioswale. This is further augmented with a modular spatial system.

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218

Water Management Infrastructure

Chapter 5: Design Investigations

219

220

Chapter 5: Design Investigations

221

Modular Functionality

222

Chapter 5: Design Investigations

223

FINAL SEATING CONCEPT

10’

NG Seating DULAR SEATING

6’

5’ 2”

WEST BOTTOMS

WEST BOTTOMS

NG ODULAR SEATING 3’

224

1’ 6”

WEST BOTTOMS

MODULAR SEATING

WEST BOTTOMS

Boxes

ULAR SEATING

MODULAR SEATING

WEST BOTTOMS

SCALE: 1”:4’

AR SEATING

STACKED

MODULAR SEATING

SCALE: 1”:4’

WEST BOTTOMS STACKED

SCALE: 1”:4’

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Liberty Courtyard In the past, the Liberty Courtyard was the location of railways that allowed the loading and unloading of cargo from rail cars to the surrounding warehouse buildings, including the Abernathy Furniture Company, the Fadco Furniture Company, The Hobbs Furniture Building, and Ryley Wilson & Company Grocers Building. Today, the brick warehouses remain as well as the loading docks that were used to service the train, but the rails have been removed and now automobiles pass through or park in the space. The Hobbs building is well-used as artist studios and small business offices, and the Abernathy building has plans to be renovated into apartments.

There is a undeniable charm to the Liberty Courtyard. The comfortable sense of enclosure by authentically historic brick warehouses is only enhanced by its off-kilter street grid, which results in stunning oblique views of these buildings. The loading docks maintain their presence, however they have lost their original purpose as loading and unloading for rail cars. Impressive graffiti murals coat various walls of this courtyard, especially along the eastern face of the Abernathy Building.

Another form of paint is the ghost signs, the lasting yet fading branding of each of the warehouses.

The design intervention seeks to preserve the beauty and history of the brick warehouses while simultaneously giving new purpose to the loading docks and giving higher purpose to the deteriorating ground plane. A second, temporary design intervention seeks to customize the shape and functions of the courtyard to whatever situation is needed at the time, and then disappear when not needed.

228

230

Existing Site The Liberty Courtyard has maintained much of its historical brick warehouses and loading dock infrastructure, although its railways have been almost entirely removed and replaced with a gravel road.

In one location along the easternmost loading dock abutting the Fadco Furniture Building, there are rail lines remaining yet encased in concrete. Adjacent to this is the slight reveal of the old sett stone street that has since been paved over to better accommodate modern vehicles. Due to general neglect of the ground plane, many perimeter spots have wild flora growth.

Legend: Shadiest Areas in the Summer Sunniest Areas in the Winter Most Comfortable Areas Year-Round This diagram maps out the hourly locations of shadows during both the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice. Highlighted blue are the shadiest locations during the Summer Solstice; highlighted yellow are the sunniest locations during the Winter Solstice. Where the shadiest summers and sunniest winters overlap is highlighted green: the most thermally comfortable locations of the site.

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Spatial Diagrams

Secondary Enclosure

Spatial Enclosure 232

Secondary Space

Central Space

Chapter 5: Design Investigations

233

234

Placekeeping

Chapter 5: Design Investigations

235

236

Proposed Site Plan

07

07

Chapter 5: Design Investigations

237

Pallets as a Modular Device

WYOMI WY WYOM OMIN ING NG G ST

8TH ST

REPURPOSED PALLETS FROM REARDON PALLET COMPANY CENTRAL AVE

HICKORY ST

9TH ST GENESSEE ST

STATE LINE RD

9TH ST

I EW NG ST

IS OU T. L

E AV

SEMI TRAILERS DONATED BY MARIA MOORE

UNION AVE

S

11TH ST

238

ST. LOUIS AVE

Semi trailers are locally available in the West Bottoms and pallets are designed to fit in trailers. One 52' trailer can hold 528 pallets. Ideally, this trailer would be a curtainside trailer whose sides can be removed. This allows for easier deployment of the pallets, but also allows the empty trailer to become the platform for other program. It can become a stage, a frame, or simply become an extension of the loading docks found around Liberty Courtyard.

Pallets measure 48" x 40" x 5 1/2".

Pallets are readily available from the local Reardon Pallet Company.

However, pallets themselves do not have a continuously smooth surface, and so must be topped with a sheet of 3/4" marine-grade plywood. This topping will also reinforce the pallets.

4' -

0"

33' -

4"

3/4� MARINE GRADE PLYWOOD REFURBISHED PALLET

Movement Areas Gathering Areas Action Areas

Chapter 5: Design Investigations

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Adaptable Program

524units /528 per trailer

240

528 units /528 per trailer

528 units /528 per trailer

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Adaptable Program

651 units

1012units

/1012 per duo

0 242

/1012 per duo

0

0

708 units /1012 per duo

trailers can border the space to serve

70

0 Chapter 5: Design Investigations

243

2' - 8"

Site Section

CURTAINSIDE TRAILER PALLET ASSEMBLY

3' - 7"

FLORA ALONG HISTORIC RAIL LOCATIONS

RECLAIMED SETT STONE SOIL AGGREGATE BEDDING RECOVERED RAIL OPEN-GRADED STONE

semis can deploy modular pallets to 246

trailer and then deployed on a number

248

Hickory Lots Referred to as the "Piazza of the West Bottoms" by some, this empty gravel lot is the center of activity in the Historic Core. Between the history of the site and what it is today, one can see many quintessential characteristics of the West Bottoms. Trucks drive through to pick up shipments from distribution centers, trains pass by so closely you must stop mid-conversation while they blow their horns, and cars come from 12th Street Bridge and park on the lot for a multitude of events that take place in the area.

Despite the various forms of movement that occur all around the site, the lot itself is fairly stagnant. It is a hole in the urban fabric. There is a need to define the space without fully enclosing it so that it can become a real public space instead of an open space unclear use.

Although empty, it is not devoid of character. Surrounding the space in almost every direction are loading docks, views to the various modes of movement, as well as shops, restaurants, and artist studios that visitors and inhabitants alike can enjoy.

The design investigation for the Hickory Lots intends to define the space without losing the sense of openness that makes it so unique. A relationship was established with the landowner in order to understand what the needs were on the private end as well as for the public. One lot is needed for parking during the day for the adjacent offices, and the other can become a dedicated public space. Together, the two can be combined on evenings and weekends to form a larger public plaza for events, entertainment, and leisure.

250

Hickory Lots Concept Five major themes represent the experiential conditions on Hickory Lots: horizontality, framing, fusion, contrast, and expansion.

Horizontality is the wide, open feeling that the site has. Framing refers to the set of views that occur between the walls of adjacent buildings.

Fusion of program is needed so that the site can be used as both parking and public space. Contrast can relate to the sun and shade that touches the site. The feeling of expansion is a result of the lack of boundaries and definition in the space. These elements make up the perception of the site, and are what should be addressed in order to help create a sense of place and the enhance the already interesting qualities that exist in the space.

Some of the other site conditions are not as visceral, but more factual.

The site extents are defined by the two buildings that are directly north of the site as well as by the road that bounds it to the south, however to the east and the west there is no physical boundary dividing the site. Both of the lots have the same owner. This owner is willing to be a partner in the project so long as it can be parking during the day. For this reason, both vehicular and pedestrian circulation had to be considered. The edges of the site are defined by simple L-shaped platform benches that can serve as seating or staging areas for art and any other form of activity that the area may need.

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Site Elements At the beginning of the site selection phase, three mature trees existed on the site. These trees, some of the few to exist in the entire West Bottoms, were the main attraction to the idea of a public space.

However at the beginning of design investigation phase, the trees were identified as dying and were cut down for safety reasons, as they could potentially fall in the event of a large storm. The removal of the trees caused the space to feel even more open and less defined. It was important to the design team to recreate the sense of enclosure for the area without losing the feeling of vastness all together. After evaluating the site, it was discovered that this sense of openness is hard to find anywhere in the city, and should therefore be preserved.

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This quality of the site creates a space of reflection and meditation, where one can sit and watch the passing of cars, trucks, and trains with the horizon in the distance. The fact that the site owner needs these spaces for parking helps to ensure that the space can be preserved, otherwise a building might be constructed on these lots and the unique open condition would be taken away. By using the site as parking during the day and public space at night, the entire area becomes flexible and dynamic. The changing size and configuration of the space allows for a multitude of potential public services and events.

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Spatial Design A series of studies were compiled in order to determine the appropriate boundaries and programmatic areas of the site. With the intention of simply defining the space, two L-shaped platform benches were created to be used as seating or a platform for public art.

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1 – Views to passing trains to the west and 12th Street Bridge to the south

3 – Regulating lines stemming from the faces of surrounding buildings and loading docks

2 – Boundaries drawn from vertical planes of existing context

4 – Defined edges that create a sense of space

Views are expansive and occur almost everywhere on the site. The vertical planes and regulating lines from existing infrastructure define the spatial extents. The street acts as a connector between the two halves and can be closed off during events to create one large open space. Because the space is almost always in full sun, a trellis on the south and green wall on the west were designed to help with shading.

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Adaptable Program The edges of the site were carefully designed so that different programmatic needs could take place. The edge platform is raised so that it can act as a bench or a stage, and both the existing building face to the north and the new green wall to the west can become a screen. The trellis on the south edge is not only used for shade, but can also because a gallery for art of many forms, whether it on canvas, on display tables, or free standing sculpture. Many events could take place here: a staged performance or demonstration, a film screening, an art gallery, or a space to sit and enjoy the expansive views.

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Program – Performance occurs on south edge, with spectators watching nearby

Program – Performance occurs on east end, spectators can see from both sides of site

Program – Action occurs on northwest building facade, with spectators watching from below

Program – Movement occurs behind the green wall, with spectators occupying the entire space

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12th Street Alley Already one of the most interesting locations in the West Bottoms because of its cathedral-like quality, 12th Street Alley is ripe for future use as public space. The surrounding buildings are some of the tallest in the area, and many have interesting artifacts such as fire escapes, loading docks, and a water tower on the roof. These historical elements all add to the character of the place. In the past, these brick structures served as warehouses. Today they host a coffee cafe, antique shops, offices, and haunted houses.

The orientation of the space allows for unique lighting scenarios.

Extreme sunlight angles pour through the gaps of the fire escapes and create diagonal shadows that cut across the buildings and the ground plane. The brick facades, graffiti-covered walls, and deteriorating ground plane establish a rich sense of place. Aside from these internal conditions, the adjacent buildings set up a multitude of framed views, such as the view east to passing trains and the cliff to Downtown KCMO, back west through three full blocks of alleys, and finally south to the 12th Street Bridge.

This design is intended to accentuate the existing qualities of the space while establishing a new and more-welcoming place that hosts a variety of uses. A simple platform raises the ground plane and reacts carefully to all of the existing conditions in order to generate unique relationships between what remains from the past and the new formation of public space.

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12th Street Alley Concept Five major themes represent the experiential conditions in 12th Street Alley: verticality, framing, fusion, contrast, and compression. Verticality is apparent in the tall, skinny aspect of the site. Framing refers to the set of views that the narrow walls create. Fusion occurs among programs between stop-and-go spaces. Contrast exists between the sun and shade that touches the site. Feelings of compression are due to the long, narrow corridor. These elements are the essential elements of the site's visceral experience, and so need to be preserved and enhanced in order to maintain it sense of place.

Other aspects that affect the site are less experiential and more pragmatic. The site extents are determined by the ownership of the site. The alleys are public right-of-way but the adjacent spaces are privately owned, and therefore were not included in the initial design consideration but could be added later if the property owners are interested in a partnership. The most important moments of the site include the framed views as well as the epicenter of the site where all of the experiences come together. This area then becomes the area of activity. The circulation spurs outward from this central location.

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Shadows at 7 a.m. during the Summer Solstice.

Shadows at 12 p.m. during the Summer Solstice.

Shadows at 5 p.m. during the Summer Solstice.

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Shadow Study An in-depth study was performed in order to analyze how shade and shadow affect the site. Due to the tall buildings and east-west orientation, the space is largely covered in shade at most times of the year. For this reason, it was determined that the site would be most comfortable during the warmer months of the year. Guests could avoid the summer's searing sun and comfortably rest in the shaded alley.

The shadows that occur on the site during the summer solstice were examined to determine exactly what parts of the site received the most and least amount of shade. In the morning, most of the alley is covered in shade. At noon, when the sun is directly overhead, much of the site receives sun. The shade returns again in the afternoon. All three times of day were then combined to determine the sunniest and shadiest portions of the alley.

Compiled shadows during the Summer Solstice.

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Platform Design All previous studies were compiled in order to determine the best programmatic use of the site. With the idea of simply modifying the horizontal ground plane, a platform was created to be used as public space and the infrastructure for public art of any variety.

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1 – Use vertical planes of buildings to define spatial extents of the site

3 – Define stop- and go-spaces to establish programmatic areas

2 – Views looking south to 12th Street Bridge, east through the alley, and west to the railyards and Downtown KCMO

4 – Pull back footprint in order to display existing graffiti, loading docks, and natural growth

The vertical planes define the spatial extents, the views determine which areas should be left unobstructed, the stop-and-go spaces show where the areas of activity should take place, and the existing loading docks, graffiti walls, and natural growth determine how the platform should start to pull away from the existing elements of the space.

The dark gray geometry below shows areas that receive the most amount of shade. From this the programmatic areas were further defined in order to achieve a variety of different spaces, some usually in shade and therefore more comfortable in the heat, and some that receive plenty of natural light.

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12th Street Alley Site Plan

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Adaptable Program The central area of the space was carefully designed to adapt to a multitude of programmatic needs. Because it is raised off the ground, the platform solves the issues of puddling that takes place after most storms. The existing brick buildings and graffiti-covered walls become the backdrop. A bench occurs on each platform and doubles as a barheight table from the ground plane, and a series of steps become other seating options. Many events could take place here: an art gallery that uses the existing buildings for display walls, a stage for live demonstrations, a casual space to sit and relax, and much more.

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Program – Activity occurs on highest level, with spectators staggered down below

Program – Performance occurs in central space, with observers watching from above and below

Program – Action occurs on lowest level, with onlookers gazing from every direction

Program – Movement occurs on ground plane, with viewers looking from above

I-670 Viaduct The West Bottoms is frequently divided by colossal highway viaduct structures. These elevated roads provide rapid transit for vehicles above, yet result in barren, unused drosscape beneath. I-670 is a viaduct that cuts through the middle of the West Bottoms, separating its north and south halves. Its location marks the boundary between the Historic Core and Stockyards District. Its drosscape creates a stark separation between the two districts.

Through the CID Green Infrastructure project, Kansas City Water Services and HNTB are partnering to investigate infrastructure improvements that address the West Bottoms' ongoing stormwater management problems. I-670 is one of the sites for the CID Green Infrastructure Project. A second site is the Liberty Lot just to the south of the I-670 site. During storms, the impermeable highway collects and channels rainwater down into the West Bottoms, resulting in frequent pooling underneath the viaduct. The Kansas City Design Center is coordinating with the CID Green Infrastructure project in order to investigate proposals for improving both stormwater management and the public realm.

The design must address the separation that I-670 causes between the Historic Core and the Stockyards District. A public space that can service both districts can transform I-670 from a dividing wall to a uniting commonground. The design intervention will demonstrate how careful design of a public space can also solve environmental and sustainability issues, such as stormwater management and brownfield remediation.

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From a Wall to a Threshold Today, I-670's massive size and mono-functional program has rendered it to act as a dividing element. It is the boundary between the Historic Core and the Stockyards District. The two districts have stark differences in spaces, functions, and communities. It is difficult to traverse this boundary by foot due to its sheer size and limited sidewalk paths. The vacant swaths of land underneath the viaducts leave little reason to travel here. I-670 acts as a wall.

The proposal is to transform I-670 from a wall into a threshold. Rather than divide the Historic Core and the Stockyards District, I-670 can instead become the transitioning point between the two. As a public space, the vacant land under I-670 will finally acquire a purpose and can serve the communities of both the Historic Core and the Stockyards.

I-670 can act as a uniting commonground and give reason to travel to the viaduct, rather than just pass through.

View north to the Historic Core. Many antique shops and small shops populate the warehouse buildings nearby. In the distance, the 12th Street Bridge echoes the form of I-670.

View south to the Stockyards District. This open land is the Liberty Lot, typically used for event parking. The CID Green Infrastructure Project includes Liberty Lots as a site.

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Mycoremediation The land under I-670 is a brownfield, meaning toxic substances have seeped into the soil. These toxins damage the ecology and viability of the land. The soil is a public health hazard. It is possible to use flora to break down these toxic substances and heal the soil through a process called phytoremediation. However, being under a massive viaduct, the I-670 site does not have the sunlight required to sustain the flora for phytoremediation.

An alternative is mycoremediation, a remediation process that utilizes fungi, called mycelium, instead of plants. Mycelium does not require sunlight to grow, and so is more appropriate for I-670. The type of mycelium required depends on the specific toxins in the earth, and so will require professional soil studies to determine which species should be cultivated.

Rhodes, Christopher J. "Mycoremediation (Bioremediation with Fungi) - Growing Mushrooms to Clean the Earth." Chemical Speciation and Bioavailability, vol. 26, no. 3, 2014, Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management

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Phase One Conclusion The main objective of the West Bottoms Reborn project is to capture and preserve the essence of the West Bottoms through the medium of public art and public space. The creation of a system of public spaces centered around public art will strengthen the public realm and highlight the spirit of the West Bottoms as it faces urban change.

Phase One endeavored to learn the past and current conditions of the West Bottoms through extensive research, mapping, photography, and interviews, ultimately culminating in an organizing urban framework called the System of Urban Connections. A myriad of possible public space sites exist within the West Bottoms, but the few sites selected show the most opportunities to integrate with the existing urban framework as well as capture the essential experiences of the West Bottoms. The design team's collective research, expertise, and aspirations accumulated into five design proposals for public space.

These designs are idea-generating investigations to aid the team and the public to envision the right public spaces for the West Bottoms.

We are not making public spaces for ourselves. We are making it for everyone to be able to enjoy. This means public engagement – speaking with humans who will actually use the space – is the best way to figure out the most necessary design. Phase One's best design concepts were inspired by recommendations from the public and from project collaborators, including artists and other design professionals.

Creative placekeeping argues that the integration of multiple perspectives and disciplines into the design process only enriches the project outcomes. The design team is continuing to investigate how to better-integrate artists, stakeholders, design professionals, and other perspectives into the process in order to craft a more comprehensive, successful, and satisfying project. The process is the main point of 294

creative placekeeping. West Bottoms Reborn will serve as a precedent for future creative placemaking/keeping projects.

The Phase One KCDC studio will hand off the project to a new group of students, whom will complete Phases Two and Three. This renewed design team will continue the analysis and design development of selected sites, ideally concluding with the implementation of at least one design for public space. However Phase Two and Three's design team must first address numerous open questions: To placekeep, what must be kept? Who decides what is kept? Who are the keepers?

Who will use the space, and how will they really use it? What are the consequences of designating a particular space as public? Many of these questions have varying answers depending on the site, and so further serious analysis and public engagement must occur to ensure a vetted public space proposal.

Through Phase Two and Three, the design team must continue to seek out and value the public's feedback. It has proven that periodic pubic meetings are not quite enough: the design team must endeavor to improve interactions with the public. They must figure out whose voices have not yet been heard. They must learn the stories, histories, and desires of the people and places of the West Bottoms. This can only be done through direct dialogues on-foot and within their realm – supplemented through anonymous methods of collecting this information – and serious consideration of their applications to public space design.

When all of this is considered, the outcome will be a new, conscious public space of the West Bottoms: one that considers every user, listens to every voice, and respects the place as it is now and as it continues to grow in the future.

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THE KANSAS CITY DESIGN CENTER 298 - 299 REFERENCE TEXTS 300 - 301 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 302 - 303

Appendix

The Kansas City Design Center The Kansas City Design Center is a nationally-recognized, nonprofit, partnership among local civic leaders, professional designers, and the architecture and planning programs at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas. The KCDC supports educational initiatives that help build public awareness of the factors that influence the character of the public realm. The KCDC also works to strengthen the educational experience of future design practitioners by engaging university faculty and students with real-world issues facing Kansas City’s built environment. The 2017 urban design studio consisited of fifteen interdisciplinary graduate students and a handful of staff.

STAFF: Vladimir Krstic

Sarah Kraly

Dr. Jason Brody

Thom Allen

Executive Director, Professor Professor

Executive Assistant + Project Manager Research + Engagement Fellow

Gonçalo Byrne

Architect, 2016-17 Regnier Visiting Chair

STUDENTS: Taylor Allen

Kevin Madera

Whitney Allen

Courtney Minter

Jessica Carson

Isaiah Navies

Julia Guerra

Connor Privett

Hannah Hackman

Kylie Schwaller

Eric Janes

Brandon Smith

Una Liebrenz

Travis Snell

Landscape Architecture Interior Architecture Architecture Architecture Architecture Architecture Architecture

Drew Lindsey Architecture 298

Architecture Architecture Architecture Architecture Architecture Architecture Architecture

References Becker, Jack. 2004. "Public Art: An Essential Component of Creating Communities."

Bedoya, Roberto. 2013. "Placemaking and the Politics of Belonging and Dis-belonging." GIA Reader.

Bedoya, Roberto. 2014. "Spatial Justice: Rasquachification, Race and the City." Creative Time Reports.

Berger, Alan. 2007. "Part One: Landscape, Urbanization, and Waste." In Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America.

New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

Brothers, Foutch. 2017. Foutch Brothers Portfolio: Mosaic Arena. www.foutchbrothers.com/portfolio/kemper/.

Chiland, Elijah. 2016. "Boyle Heights Battling Fiercely Against Gentrification."

Council, Kansas City Industrial. Levees. kciconline.com/about-kcic/priorities/levees/.

Freeman, Lance. 2006. "There Goes the 'Hood': Views of Gentrification from the Ground Up." HĂŠnaff, Marcel, and Tracy B. Strong. 2001. "Public Space and Democracy."

Hou, Jeffrey. 2010. "Insurgent Public Space: Guerrilla Urbanism and the Remaking of Contemporary Cities."

Jr., Edward T. Matheny. 2014. Cowtown: Cattle Trails and West Bottoms Tales.

Kahne, Juliet. 2015. "Does Placemaking Cause Gentrification? It's Complicated." Project for Public Spaces.

Kansas City Design Center. 2011. Reframing the City: A Vision for the West Bottoms.

Kansas City Water Services + HNTB. 2016. "Central Industrial District Green Infrastructure Conceptual Report."

Kaw Point Park. Overview of the Development of Kaw Point Park. www.lewisandclarkwyco.org/get-involved/parkdevelopment.

KC Studio. 2015. A Creative Transition. kcstudio.org/creativetransition-west-bottoms/.

Khaleghi Kerahroodi, Mehraz. 2016. "Meaningful community engagement in public-private partnerships: A case study of Manhattan's downtown redevelopment project."

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Missouri Valley Special Collections. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City Public Library.

National Endowment for the Arts. 2017. About the NEA. www.arts.gov/about-nea.

National Endowment for the Arts. 2017. Creative Placemaking. www.arts.gov/artistic-fields/creative-placemaking.

Phronesis + KEM Studio. 2016. "West Bottoms District Streetscape and Wayfinding Plan."

Project for Public Spaces. 2009. What is Placemaking? www.pps.org/reference/what_is_placemaking/.

Rhodes, Christopher J. 2014. "Mycoremediation (Bioremediation with Fungi) - Growing Mushrooms to Clean the Earth." Chemical Speciation and Bioavailability.

Roberts, Rob. 2015. "$45M apartment project near Kemper Arena wins support." Bizjournals. Nov 19. www.bizjournals. com/kansascity/news/2015/11/19/livestockdistrict-apartments-project.html.

Roberts, Rob. 2016. "Developer doubles West Bottoms stake with purchase of two more buildings." Bizjournals.

July 25. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2016/07/25/tony-krsnich-west-bottoms-building-purchases. html.

Savičić, Gordon, and Selena Savić. 2012. Unpleasant Design.

Stephens, Pam. 2010. "Commemoration: Art and Remembrance."

Thabit, Walter. 2003. "How East New York Became a Ghetto."

Wolf, Ben. 2017. Confluence.

Wong, C., M. Baker, S. Hincks, A. Schulze-Baing, and B. Webb. 2012. A Map for England: Spatial Expression of Government Policies and Programmes.

Zeller, Michael. January, 2016. Interview by Kansas City Design Center.

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Acknowledgments The Kansas City Design Center is thankful for all of the individuals, organizations, and institutions who have made our studio project and publication possible. We owe each of them a debt of gratitude for their trust and support.

First, the studio would like to thank the National Endowment of the Arts for their firm belief that art helps us understand and express our world, which results in creative innovations that better all of our lives.

The Our Town grant makes it possible to explore the power of art and artists in the creative processes of designing a public place.

The Kansas City Design Center studio is made possible by the William T. Kemper Foundation and the Hall Family Foundation. We thank them for their support.

We extend our thanks to each of our project partners. The studio thanks Miranda Clark, Carmen Moreno, and Jim Woodfill for their time, guidance, and creative perspectives that inspired us to think deeper about our approach to site investigation and public space design. We thank Megan Crigger of the Office of Culture and Creative Services as well as the Historic West Bottoms Association for their passion for the West Bottoms' rich history, vibrant culture, and profound potential.

We must express our gratitude to all of the stakeholders, residents, and other supporters of the West Bottoms who contributed their knowledge and questions during our public meetings. Your continued investment into this project will help ensure an outcome that can appeal to everyone in the West Bottoms.

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We thank the various organizations and institutions that provided valuable knowledge and support for the studio, including: Phronesis and KEM Studio, the KCMO and KCK Planning Departments, KCK Unified Government, KCMO City Manager's Office, Kansas City Water Services, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the MidAmerica Arts Alliance.

The studio is indebted to the numerous professionals who granted us their time and knowledge during periodic design reviews.

We would like to thank our studio mentor Gonรงalo Byrne for humbly sharing his impressive architectural expertise and for guiding our studio around his beautiful homeland in Portugal. Further, we would like to thank the Regnier family for making it possible to learn from and interact with Gonรงalo both in Kansas City as well as in Portugal.

Various staff of the Kansas City Design Center provide invaluable support to our studio. We thank Jason Brody for his extensive urban design knowledge, Sarah Kraly for managing the numerous details that keep the studio afloat, and Kohl for his unending emotional support.

Finally, the studio must thank Vladimir Krstic, our studio director and professor. His passion and dedication to the studio has instilled a deeper understanding of not only the urban realm but also of the designer's responsibility and capability to improve our world. Kansas City's public realm is incrementally becoming more beautiful, thoughtful, and sophisticated due to the collective efforts of Vladimir and the Kansas City Design Center.

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