MRDC | Ken Smith Workshop: city of the river

By Damian Holmes on February 7, 2011
Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition Finalist
Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop
“There’s a reason the city is located on the falls. The falls are really powerful. They’re beautiful and they really have a strong emotional response for people. I mean: you’re just drawn to them. They are what make a place. And that is why the native Americans were there; that’s why the settlers ended up there; that’s why people move from the sticks, from the little farms into the city; that’s why people move from the suburbs to downtown; that’s why people from other cities move to Minneapolis. People inherently want to be near the water. The water is the meaning of life, it’s the source, it’s the thing.”
Ken Smith, Principal, Ken Smith Landscape Architect

 

Ken Smith from MRDC on Vimeo.

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

Master Plan © Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

Muscle/Mussel Beach transitions from a dune landscape to the river © Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

Daylighting the historic channel to Boom Island adds boating and wildlife habitat. © Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

A boardwalk and piers project from a thick riparian edge on the river terrace into the river. © Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

Existing industrial structures have been repurposed to house art displays & active recreation. © Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

The Sugar Maple Grove provides terrain for activity at all times of the year. © Ken Smith Landscape ArchitectMaster Plan © Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

An artificial ice pond forms the largest rink in the Midwest and provides regulated ice for skaters © Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

A multi-use shade structure and fire place reside in a serene White Pine grove © Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition - Ken Smith Workshop

© Ken Smith Landscape Architect

DESIGN TEAM

ken smith landscape architect
SHoP architects
green shield ecology
buro happold
ETM associates
langan engineering
coen + partners landscape architecture
SRF consulting, environmental planning and engineering
frank edgerton martin, landscape history
davis langdon, an AECOM company
dr. susan m. galatowitsch, university of minnesota

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