d’Arte Board

I’m not sure what kind of national press this has received so far, but in St. Louis, the project to revitalize the St. Louis Arch’s grounds for its fiftieth anniversary has been a huge topic of conversation. It will certainly be an undertaking of massive scale for the region, with cost estimated at upwards of 500 million dollars (for perspective, that is about what it cost to build Millennium Park in Chicago). The problem with the park grounds as it stands is mostly that an interstate slices it off from the rest of the city making access complicated. It appears that all of the teams are looking to emphasize the natural landscape, and at first, I felt that this was a bit of a disappointment, given that St. Louis already has one of the country’s largest and best landscaped public parks with Forest Park (where many cultural institutions, like the art museum, zoo, history museum, and science center, are located and are all free to enter). In my mind, I had hoped that the wonderful Citygarden concept would be extended to the riverfront. However, I can appreciate what adding another beautiful green space will do to the city. Hopefully, St. Louisans will take the cue and spur a litany of green design around town, which would really center the city as a hub of the ecologically based movement and bolster the local economy. Whatever the result, there is a lot of change in the air in St. Louis, and I am very happy for the opportunity to be experiencing it firsthand.

Here are a few pics from the five finalists in the associated design competition, followed by a video from my favorite team. The winner will be announced on September 24, 2010.