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Part 1 of the Kansas City Design Center's Urban Vision Plan for the West Bottoms.
Citation preview
REFRAMING THE CITYa vision forthe west bottoms
KANSAS CITY DESIGN CENTER URBAN STUDIO 2011The University of Kansas & Kansas State University
This studio publication, generated during the 2010-2011 academic year at the Kansas City Design Center, was written and designed by Jesse Husmann and Alyssa Parsons with the support of Leandra Burnett and Sarah Murphy in collaboration with Vladimir Krstic, Studio Director and Instructor.
This publication is not intended for retail sale and cannot be sold, duplicated, or published, electronically or otherwise, without the express written consent of the College of Architecture, Planning & Design at Kansas State University. 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 College of Architecture, Planning & Design.
contents
foreword
the west bottoms
ANALYSIS + RESEARCHthe city in time
city scans
URBAN VISION
DESIGN INTERVENTIONSwoodswether district
historic core
multi-modal transit hub
stockyards district
james street development
APPENDIX: URBAN SOLUTIONSstreetscape
land use
water management
industry
CREDITS
13
81
123
305
317
4
THE PROJECT PRESENTED IN THIS PUBLICATION IS A RESULT OF A yearlong study on generating an urban vision proposal for the West Bottoms area of Kansas City. It marks in more than one way a signi cant step forward for the Kansas City Design Center in meeting its academic mission as an outreach and community service-oriented learning institution. The project was initially conceived and made possible through collaboration with and sponsorship by the Central Industrial District Association, Kansas City Industrial Council and subsequent sponsoring participation of the Planning Department of the Uni ed Government of Wyandotte County, Kansas City, KS and the City Managers Offi ce, Kansas City, MO.
The post-industrial urban landscape of many American, and in particular Midwestern cities represents a sobering morning after moment where in the wake of the departed industrial development party goers all that remains is an uncontainable state of vacancy. The vacancy of land is stripped of its use and structures, and the vacancy of remaining structures emptied of their purpose and function the ghosts of the former city reconstituted into an unknown and uncharted urban territory. The West Bottoms area is no exception to such a fate yet its fractured fabric resonates with the power to draw and hold. Facades deep with the will to build the city, walls weighty with texture and memory, and raw spaces spelled into vacancy of time like De Chiricos scenes mark the grit of the place that feels more real that any other part of the city.
What makes a city and what can make the city when vestiges of its past dont quite add up, its objects and spaces remain opaque to a simple grasp and the deployment of normative planning and design ideas feels hopelessly out of place? In order to pursue the question we had to learn how to dissect what it
FOREWORD
foreword 5
is, both in space and time; learn to see by inhabiting and experiencing (even if it meant occasional trespassing); and above all come to know the people who make the place. We hope that our analytical work has added to the knowledge of the place and produced a picture of the West Bottoms that did not quite exist before and that our urban vision proposals have brought into focus an engaging perspective for the pursuit of the future.
The city that confronts us today stands in opposition to our preconceptions and disciplinary boundaries through which we look at it. The vacancy of land and infrastructure demands are no longer transient and invisible conditions; they are the actual substance of the city form, and it is imperative that we nd a way to urbanize them as such. The extremes of these conditions embodied in the West Bottoms have allowed us a glimpse into that other city and its latent dimensions that hold a spectrum of discrete possibilities yet to be engaged. We tried to uncover and reframe them into an idea of urban order that is true to its place and circumstances and free of normative preconceptions.
The students and myself are deeply grateful to our stakeholders for their trust and support and for extending us such a profound learning opportunity. We hope that this publication and the studio work produced in the past year justify their belief in us and that our bond will endure, as in this process we have all become owners and custodians of the generated ideas that wed us now to the place, its draw and its future.
Finally, the work presented herein is a testimony about an extraordinary group of students I had the good fortune to work with. For many of them the project, given the enormity of its scale, complexity of issues and group work methodology, was outside previous experience yet they have taken both individual and collective ownership of it and in due course mastered their own learning. This publication aims to be more than a summary studio record; it is an attempt to further systematize, order and edit processes, ndings and propositions generated in the studio and make a case for a speci c approach to urban design. Except for the credited historic archival maps and photographs, the students are sole authors of all other work presented in this publication, including photographs and writings.
I am deeply indebted to my former students Jesse Husmann, Alyssa Parsons, Leandra Burnett and Sarah Murphy for their perseverance and dedication in conceiving, designing and editing this publication, and to a number of their studio colleagues who helped the process along. Jesse in particular was a staying power that made this publication possible. Thank you.
VLADIMIR KRSTIC
the west bottoms 7
THE WEST BOTTOMS IS AT THE HEART OF THE GREATER
metropolitan area of Kansas City. It lies at the con uence of the
Kansas and Missouri rivers and occupies land in both states. It is
a triangular district bounded by the two rivers and the bluff to
the east.
It was once the economic center of the city, when the railroads
and stockyards were the lifeblood of Kansas City. The at terrain
of the oodplain was ideal for the railroads to come through, and
with the advent of the stockyards, the West Bottoms became an
essential regional and national link. This same oodplain, while
prime for the networks of railroads, also created the threat of
disastrous oods. By 1908, the economic center had moved uphill
to the current downtown, and what was left in the West Bottoms
was largely stockyards and other industrial uses. Even today, the
threat of the oodplain aff ects development and prospects in the
THE WEST BOTTOMS
8
West Bottoms; despite the recent revitalization of Downtown, the
River Market, and the Crossroads, very little of that development
has moved westward, into the West Bottoms.
Now, locals and visitors alike drive through or pass by the West
Bottoms. The interstates cut across the site above most buildings,
well above the street level. The traffi c moves by, appearing neither
to notice nor impact the area below. The impacts, however,
are present in the form of highways creating new barriers and
borders, further fragmenting the West Bottoms from the rest of
the city and fracturing within itself. There are now several distinct
districts within the West Bottoms, each with its own character
and potential for growth.
The West Bottoms clearly diff ers from the larger context of Kansas
City. This constant rush of traffi c above, paired with an active
industrial, freight and train traffi c creates a constantly changing,
dynamic environment. The buildings form a unique density and
urban texture. The area is vibrant and has a life all its own. The
combination of these elements yields surprising spaces: some
temporary, some accidental, but all distinct to the area. Even
though the sense of abandonment and neglect is strong, the
sense of life, character, spirit and potential is far stronger.
Today, the area is referred to as the Central Industrial District. The
industrial element is a huge part of the heritage, character, and
the west bottoms 9
life of the area, but there are presently opportunities to allow for
more residential and retail development and growth in the area
by rezoning much of the district as mixed-use. This opportunity
has the potential for creative interventions, emphasizing the West
Bottoms continuing relevance for Kansas City.
Our approach was to rst analyze the site in order to understand
and identify the unique qualities and character of the West
Bottoms as an urban environment. In doing this, we gathered an
immense volume of data about the area, and created new analysis
and documentation from this raw information.
The analysis was developed without preconception, prejudice,
or affi liation. We combined information from both cities and
both states, eliminating the state line to rede ne the area of the
West Bottoms as one united neighborhood. We sought to de ne
the essential qualities and site experiences representing these
intangible qualities through graphic and spatial studies.
ANALYSIS and RESEARCH
14 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
THE PROMINENCE OF THE STOCKYARDS AND RELATED industry are historically signi cant for both the West Bottoms and Kansas City. The stockyards and the rail industry were the lifeblood for development and commerce, making it a regional and national crossroads between the West and the East, the South and the North.
Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
the city in time 15
16 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
THE WEST BOTTOMS IS SIGNIFICANT IN TERMS OF ITS
location and history as part of Kansas City. Time became one of
the primary areas of studies that was analyzed in order to form
and inform our understanding of the area.
There is a wealth of historical maps, photographs, and offi cial
documents that have recorded the growth and development
of the West Bottoms. In order to analyze trends and study the
history of the area, these raw documents were used to create
a series of maps spanning from the 1860s to the present. This
series provided an eff ective time-lapsed view, allowing us to
more objectively study the history of the area. It re ects the
grids, structures, and entities (like the stockyards) that organized
and de ned this city. The analysis brings clarity to how the city
developed over time and maps its deterioration, providing some
explanation for its now fragmented form.
THE CITY IN TIME
the city in time 17
Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
The Missouri Valley Collections were the primary resource for the historical documentation used in this analysis. The most valuable was the series of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. These maps provided accurate, regularized, and detailed information about each building and parcel, from which the majority of the gure ground maps were generated.
18 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
1878 1895
1895 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
1939 1950
the city in time 19
1939 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
1963 1977 1991 2011
historical presence
20 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
THE FORCES OF CHANGE THAT BOTH DETERIORATED AND
formed the building stock of the West Bottoms are drawn and
shown on equal level with what has remained. The urban fabric
of the West Bottoms is inseparable from the transportation
infrastructure that cuts through it. The built environment
developed parallel to the rail lines that served the area; the decline
of rail traffi c combined with the construction of the interstate
system led to the recent general neglect of the West Bottoms.
This is compounded by the tenuous relationship between
economic activity and the oodplain. Catastrophic ooding
periodically devastated the site and led to a persistent exodus
of economic activity. These two forces and their rami cations
have combined to give the West Bottoms both the industrial and
deindustrializing character it has today.
forces of change
the city in time 21
Infrastructure, stockyards, the rivers: each color depicts the change that has most aff ected the West Bottoms in a diff erent form.
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURESTOCKYARDS EXPANSIONLAND RECLAIMED FROM RIVERFLOODS
Missouri Valley Special Collections Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
The analysis of the river began with tracing the changing river boundaries. This shows how the river aff ected the development of the West Bottoms, either through shifting currents and adding land, or temporarily subtracting it by inundating the district.
the city in time 25
THE WEST BOTTOMS IS TIED TO THE RIVERS. ITS POSITION AT
the con uence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers de nes much
more than just this physical site. The impact of the rivers permeates
the history, culture and perception of the West Bottoms.
Each river has its own character. The Missouri River to the north
was the original source of discovery and commerce for this region.
It is a waterway that extends from Montana to the Mississippi. It
is wide, fast, and known for its ever-changing course. The Kansas
(Kaw) River is smaller in reach and size, and more stable.
Like many river towns, the West Bottoms has a tenuous
relationship with the rivers. Though they bring vitality, they can
also wreak havoc through ooding or by radically changing
course. Though there were many oods in the history of the West
Bottoms, the ood of 1903 was the rst to cause real damage to
at the con uence
the burgeoning development there. At that point in time
the West Bottoms was the economic center of Kansas
City, but after this ood, and the subsequent oods in
years soon after, the residential, retail, and passenger rail
services that had been in the West Bottoms relocated to
higher ground. Kansas Citys economic center began to
move to the current downtown, and the West Bottoms
was left as largely rail, stockyards and industrial uses.
The 1951 ood was the most damaging in Kansas City
history. The stockyards suff ered immense losses and
never recovered. As a result of the 1951 ood there was
a larger exodus from the area; the West Bottoms was all
but abandoned by Kansas City.
Even today, the threat of the oodplain aff ects
development and prospects in West Bottoms. The 100-
year oodplain in the West Bottoms is formed by Turkey
Creek, which has been engineered to empty into the
Kansas River further south, near the 7th Street Traffi cway.
When it oods, however, Turkey Creek will divert to its
historic course, and inundate the lowest-lying areas in
the West Bottoms. This ooding occurs behind the seven
Missouri Valley Special Collections Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
the city in time 27
The threat of ooding remains in the consciousness of those in the West Bottoms and Kansas City.
This diagram maps three major ood stages: 100 year, 500 year, and the extents of the 1951 ood.
the city in time 29
Kansas City Seven Levee System. Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
The West Bottoms is physically and experientially de ned by its infrastructure. A duality exists in the fact these infrastructures tend to create barriers themselves, even if they serve to connect.
The photo at left shows the disconnection that the levee creates between Kemper Arena and the Kansas River.
30 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
the city in time 31
levee system that serves as the ood control infrastructure for
both the West Bottoms and Kansas City as a whole.
This Seven Levee System (originally authorized by the Flood
Control Act of 1944) is designed to protect denser development
by allowing farmland on the outskirts to ood, linking Kansas
Citys protection to a much larger system.
The levee system and the levees around Kansas City were actually
in place by the time of the 1951 ood. However, the critical
dams and reservoirs upriver had not been constructed due to
resistance and controversy in the communities that were slated
to be ooded by reservoirs.
After the devastation caused by the 1951 ood, pressure mounted
to complete the entire ood protection system. The levees in
Kansas City were able to withstand the ood of 1993 with inches
to spare, but the danger of ooding and the fear of breaches in
the levees are of perennial concern. This is a huge development
hurdle for the West Bottoms and anywhere in the oodplain.
34 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
The volume of rail lines and rail yards in the West Bottoms reached a peak in 1950. Much of the area once occupied by these lines is still railroad property today.
the city in time 35
THE GROWTH OF KANSAS CITY RAN PARALLEL TO ITS RAIL
network. In 1869, Hannibal Bridge became the Missouri River
crossing point, and sparked immediate growth; the West Bottoms
emerged as the main rail center of Kansas City, becoming a
national crossroads. This led to the creation of the Kansas City
Stockyards, packing houses, and the Live Stock Exchange--
creating a livestock industry second only to Chicagos. In 1878,
Kansas Citys rst major passenger rail station, Union Depot,
was built in the West Bottoms. The area was fast becoming the
economic heart of the growing city.
The series of oods in the late 19th century damaged many rail
areas and prompted Union Depot to relocate to higher ground.
The catastrophic 1951 ood and subsequent demise of the Kansas
City Stockyards and other industries has contributed to the large
scale decline in rail yards and traffi c in the late 20th century.
rail industry
36 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
THE PROGRESSION AND GROWTH OF THE RAIL INDUSTRY, starting with the construction of the Hannibal Bridge in 1869. The rail maps re ect a livestock industry boom and later the decline in rail distribution. The map at right shows current active tracks, marking railroad property and right-of-ways.
1869 1895 1939 1963
1991
40 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
industry + distribution
SINCE THE CONSTRUCTION OF HANNIBAL BRIDGE IN 1869,
the West Bottoms has contained a signi cant portion of Kansas
Citys network of industrial distribution. The network of rail lines
have attracted industrial program with the ease and adjacency of
distribution. In fact, the majority of Kansas Citys oodplain and
low-lying areas have all developed in a similar waycreating a
riverfront completely devoted to industry.
At most points during the history of the West Bottoms, the
stockyards, railyards and other industries have lled the majority
of the land area. Even now, rail and truck distribution industries
de ne the area, making the industrial element a huge part of the
heritage, character, and life of the area.
The industrial nature of the West Bottoms has changed with
distribution trends. As highways have gained traffi c and volume
the city in time 41
of truck distribution, they have also gained more space on the
ground. Steel warehouses, loading docks, storage yards, fenced
parking lots, truck routes, truck traffi c, and diesel engines, have
become a new kit of parts for this industrial cityaff ecting the
site and experience in sensory and spatial terms.
There are also many parts of the West Bottoms that are post-
industrial. The old multi-story, brick warehouses are obsolete in
this new industrial city. Many rail lines lie inactive. All three port
facilities on the Missouri River have been completely abandoned.
The right-of-ways and speci c use of these obsolete structures
and infrastructures have created a waste landscape--posing a big
question for the future of the West Bottoms as to whether or not
development will occur after industry has left.
city scans 47
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SCAN THE CITY? PROGRESSIVE
views, separated into sections or elements, form a de nitive
understanding of the city. In an attempt to develop a program
for the city, we scanned topography, infrastructural systems, the
elevated experience, and gure ground voids.
The existing site condition in the West Bottoms is comprised of
interconnected systems, both natural and built, that order urban
space and its use. Placing the systems into de ned scales provide
a means of analysis for each series on its own terms as well as
in relation to others, forming a base understanding of individual
layers, systems, and the complex interactions between them.
Each series focuses on a single element at a certain scale of
context. Using each series as a reference to a single element can
determine where connections are present within the local and
regional context.
CITY SCANS
city scans 49
The sections, taken every 150 through the site, emphasize the relationships between the rivers, the West Bottoms ood-plain, the bluff , and downtown Kansas City, MO.
52 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH52 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
city scans 53city scans 53
The elevational scans focus on what occurs at given elevations, pulling instances of information out of the volumetric whole, and showing how the landscape builds upon itself. Taken every 10 the scans emphasize elevational relationships between regions and building heights.
CONNECTIONS
CORRIDORS
PRIMARY
SECONDARY
INTERSTATE
city scans 57
THE INTERSTATES AND HIGHWAY SYSTEMS DOMINATE THE
map of Kansas City. It is an automotive-centric city, with more
miles of highway per capita than any other city in the nation.
The infrastructure of these highways creates a new public space.
These are critical connecting elements that are the foundation
of urban and suburban life.
Even before these interstates and highways, George Kesslers
system of Parks & Boulevards organized the urban fabric and
experience of Kansas City. These boulevards have more connection
to the surrounding site and urban environment than highways. As
speeds and traffi c volumes increase, roads become increasingly
specializedeliminating this traditional street-city relationship,
instead becoming a mechanism and corridor for transit only.
automotive cityInfrastructure increasingly provides the public spaces of our cities, and the infrastructure of movement is an essential presence in the developed world. Whether for cars, bicycles or people, it is the connection of elements to one another that is the foundation of urban and suburban life.--Elizabeth Mossop, Landscapes of Infrastructure
THE WEST BOTTOMS AS VIEWED FROM I-670 REVEALS another level of the city. The speed and elevation create a completely diff erent experience than from the ground level.
elevated experience
KANSAS CITY IS A CITY WITH A CAR CULTURE; VIEWS OF THE
city from the car in uence our perception of the physical city.
The West Bottoms is particularly aff ected by this phenomenon as
major elevated arterials cut across it connecting East and West.
This creates a stark diff erence between the perception of the
city by those passing through and by those moving at ground-
level. In a way, two diff erent but parallel cities exist in the West
Bottoms: the one that is viewed from ground level, and the one
viewed from above.
This study manipulates mass, density, and time to achieve a
perspective capturing the essence of this other city. These
composite images show the city as a function of time. When
passing through an area, time does not appear linear but time
becomes embedded in both a frame and in memory.
62 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
IN ORDER TO CAPTURE THIS ESSENCE WE SCANNEDthe city using video. Stills were selected at even intervalsand converted to simple forms. The resultant images werearranged into single and compressed comprehensive frames.These composite views convert the elevated experience intoan abstract landscape.
64 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
city scans 65
66 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
city scans 67
THESE COMPOSITE ABSTRACTimages describe the characterof interaction between urbanelements and the elevated viewer.The elements rise up in an eff ort tobe visible or compress themselvesto become a new ground plane;they spread out and change orobscure themselves altogether.
These landscapes are separatedby texture, generating a smearedeff ect, such as the silo movingthrough an otherwise low, spread-out industrial surrounding.
72 ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
city scans 73
THE WEST BOTTOMS CONTAINS MANY CHARACTERISTIC
and accidental spaces that create dramatic views and
scenes often used as photographic stage sets. This study
is intended to identify and analyze these spaces in order to
understand the urban conditions and spatial relationships
that create them. Breaking down this intangible experience
into a tangible spatial study allows an objective analysis of
an ethereal experience.
Space cannot be understood in one view or one diagram.
Photographs were used initially, in order to capture a series of
views that spoke of the essence of the spaces. These photos
were then used to establish spatial maps, drawing out the
perspective to de ne the extents of the space and de ning
buildings bounded within the selected space. The study
became concentrated on establishing the space as void and
fragmented space
EACH SERIES OF SPATIAL STUDIES EXAMINES A SINGLE ad hoc space found in the West Bottoms. This excerpted study makes an intangible quality tangible. Singular experiences of the space developed from singular views. They combine to create a complete view of the spatial quality.
city scans 77
representing this volume three-dimensionally. Digital spatial
studies and physical spatial models extruded the boundaries
of the space that had been previously determined, and also
included detailed articulation of building mass and height
that were critical in de ning these spaces.
This study created a process for identifying these spaces
in other places in the West Bottoms. They are often found
as anomalies within the grid. Either formed by overlapping
and opposed grids, or by foreign, non-rectilinear paths (i.e.
railroad lines) slicing through and disrupting the grid. These
overlaps created the impetus for unusual urban constructs
and spatial qualities. Many of these ad hoc spaces in the West
Bottoms have also been created by deletion or deterioration
of the original building stockwhich creates new oblique
views and extensions beyond traditional gridded space.
Overall this study created a process for identifying spaces
with this desirable quality or areas that have the potential
for it. But it also points to ways to develop new rules for
in ll, so that the fabric with these characteristics can be
preserved or enhanced, de ning ways to treat these spaces
in the vision for the West Bottoms.
THE TEXTURE OF THE URBAN fabric is augmented by its material texture: haphazard and deteriorated development is made functional and exaggerated by signage.
URBAN VISION
82 URBAN VISION
RESPONSIVE URBAN DESIGN LOOKS FOR NEW MEANS TO
approach, connect, strengthen, and activate parts of the city.
Precedent theories of what constitutes a contemporary city
reinterpret existing urban structures and recognize the existing
city as a point of departure rather than a passive condition to
act upon. The proposal for the West Bottoms recognizes and
responds to the qualities of the existing site, and looks for design
solutions born of its potential. By developing an understanding
of the existing cityits form, and its capacity for modi cations
or transformationswe are restructuring and reforming the city
based upon its primary systems and internal logic.1 This allows
the proposal to be tied to the city and to realize its place within it.
Contemporary urban projects must be cognizant of the whole,
(while making) partial interventions, strategic moves which might
incite loops of non-linear change throughout (the) system.2 This
identifying potentialDeveloping an Urban Vision for the West Bottoms through Strategic Interventions
83
forms the foundation of our masterplan framework and approach.
A design approach through strategic, catalytic interventions
allows us to preserve and enhance the quality of the existing
city. It leads to a design that is minimal in its aff ected area but
powerful in its impact. It responds to the needs and potentials of
the area and considers the site for what it could become.
The West Bottoms is a vacant, underutilized, and seemingly
abandoned urban area. Given current economic and development
trends, it is improbable that it will recover its previous density.
This poses the biggest question for our studio: How do we
approach the design for this incomplete cityrecognizing its
incomplete state as a new form of urban order and the new
model for contemporary cities?
There is tremendous potential within the existing vacancies.
Though they are seen as waste landscapes, they are a
prevalent and natural part of the city, re ecting its growth and
transformation. Cities are not static objects, but active arenas
marked by continuous energy ows and transformations of
which landscapes and buildings are not permanent structures,
but transitional manifestations.3 The contemporary city is no
longer a condensing or place-making medium; instead it is
fragmented and chaotic, escaping wholeness, objectivity and
public consciousnessterra incognita.4 The citys vast stretch of
urbanized landscape exists as an inconsistent fabric, appearing
84 URBAN VISION
EMPTY
parking vacant lotsstorage
85
AREAS IN THE WEST BOTTOMS are vacant, seemingly abandoned, and underutilized. It is improbable that they will recover their previous density given current economic and development trends.
right-of-ways
entertainment
industry
arts
shopping
hospitality
money
basics(laundry, dry cleaners,
drug store, liquor store,market, grocery,hardware, thrift)
(nail salon, jewelry,clothing, electronics,
home decor, beauty, shoe,pet, boutique)
(museum, art,craft, gallery)
(scrap, tool, auto,lumber, truck)
(music, club, video,taxi, adult, tobacco,
gentlemens club)
(bank, atm, payday loans,pawn)
(hotel, bar, restaurant)
tsrt,ry)
ryto,k)
tynt)
eyns,n)
nteo,
ngry,s
csrs,e
Population Density
Density of Amenities
87
incomplete with holes, empty interstices, and large obsolete
spaces left over time.5 These holes act as interruptions in the
continuity of the urban fabric and are dominated by a peculiar
sense of ongoing struggle between urbanization and nature.6 The
contemporary city is de ned by these voids and inconsistencies.
The city has become impermanent, incomplete, and complex. Our
intent is to allow the city to remain authentic in this complexity,
to embrace these latent urban qualities, these incomplete and
non-traditional urban spatial and formal prototypes, and to form
a new urban order from them.
The foundation for our studio position, intent, and approach is
formed by the following points:
1. Recognize the signi cance and identity of the place.
2. Build off of the existing assets and potentials by
augmenting, strengthening and activating them.
3. Connect to and participate in the wider city, rather than
existing isolated from the whole.
Despite its former signi cance, the West Bottoms exists as a
void within the wider downtown areas of Kansas City.7 Future
development must reconnect and reestablish the West Bottoms
on the map of Kansas City. The West Bottoms will not succeed
without a place in the larger region, and the larger region would
greatly bene t from active and sustained use of this area.
THIS PLAN OPERATES ON SEVERALscales, and the interventions must respond to not only the West Bottoms but also the two Kansas Cities. This plan participates in the city; it does not isolate itself from it.
LOCAL FABRIC
REC. + RIVERFRONT
REGIONALCONNECTIONS
SYSTEMS
91
The urban (environment) is the sum of successive dwelling
periods on the land.8 The fragmented urban fabric in the West
Bottoms has developed over time, creating a spontaneous, ad
hoc, unplanned, and incomplete city, with certain complexities
and an authenticity that is desirable to maintain. Thus we must
discern where to intervenein what capacity, and over what area?
This master plan must be strategica light, agile framework that
is made up of surgical interventions; this is not a blank-slate
masterplan. Instead, these interventions are concentrated along
the most critical lines of connection between signi cant urban
elements and at crucial points within the urban fabric. The design
philosophy and proposed changes we are creating leave a large
portion of the area free to develop independently, providing for
organic growth and development that is true to the character of
the West Bottoms.
THREE ORDERING SYSTEMS
The strategic interventions can be organized into three major
ordering systems. The rst is a riverfront recreational system
that reclaims the underutilized and unprogrammed riverfront to
provide a natural amenity in the heart of the city. It ties into the
wider regional system of trails and parks. The second capitalizes
upon the existing infrastructural connections and spaces (civic
networks, systems, connections that serve the greater region, and
their resultant spaces). They are essential for access and future
92 URBAN VISION
Urban Design of West Bottoms.
93
development of this area. The third emphasizes the local fabric.
Through the creation of a local corridors, we seek to connect and
strengthen existing activity centers. This last system also creates a
set of underlying ordering systems that prepare the area for future
development and ensure its development as a coherent whole.
FIVE REGIONS
The West Bottoms is twice the size of the downtown loop. Thus
it has several truly distinct areas within it. We identi ed ve such
districts based upon their current characteristics and potential
and developed these as regions or study areas for our design
interventions. By approaching the masterplan at this scale, we
are able to study the design of the larger ordering systems in
relation to local context.
All of the ve study areas apply the initial concepts and wider
ordering systems to their individual sites; these systems (riverfront,
infrastructure, urban fabric) change, adapt and develop based
upon the needs of each region. Simultaneously, we recognize
the West Bottoms as a whole district. Our intent was to mitigate
physical and perceived barriers and to unite the ve districts into
a whole. Together, the designs proposed by these ve regions
create a composite framework where the aff ected area is minimal
and critical connections between existing nodes are established.
The result is a variable, dynamic scheme of connected parts.
96 URBAN VISION
URBAN FABRIC
The West Bottoms exists as a working city. The industrial nature of
this district is embedded in the urban fabric and the character of
this place.9 The position to maintain industry in this area implies
the intent to maintain the authenticity, character and integrity
of the West Bottoms. Industry and later deindustrialization
have impacted the underlying structure and fabric of the West
Bottoms itself. There are huge parcels and lotssome still devoted
to industrial uses, others to public right of way, and others lay
vacant, leaving vast amounts of open space.10 These vast spaces
exist in contrast with the dense fabric of small lots and parcels in
the corebut even these have degraded to the point where there
are signi cant voids and vacancies. These vacancies characterize
the West Bottoms; both the ad hoc voids within the formerly
dense urban grid and the large, vast, expanses in the heart of the
city exist as a unique asset.
The size of the vacant spaces indicates the underlying potential
and scale of intervention possible. Some areas are only capable
of being developed through large-scale action, by a large
entity, or through public domain and replatting. Others have a
predisposition to dense development, even if this is not their
current state. The accidental urban environment should be
recognized for its quality and potential for creating the impetus
for re-inhabiting the West Bottoms area. Design actions must
have a strategic impact and de ne these spacespreserving or
Parcels are coded to show size/density--lighter parcels represent a more urban precedent while darker parcels are more industrial.
98 URBAN VISION
enhancing them, and providing them as public space to be used
and inhabited.
There is potential to create a vibrant, populated city within this
industrial fabric. The incorporation of mixed-use development
would create a unique juxtaposition of city life against the fabric
of industry. This juxtaposition can propel the development of the
West Bottoms. Areas of current overlap and contrast create life
and underscore activity. The constant interaction with rail and
truck traffi c is part of the nature and pleasure of inhabiting this
city. The traffi c itself changes the map of the West Bottoms,
cutting off through streets and creating thoroughfares out of
alleyways. Industry is a dynamic force in the West Bottoms.
Introducing more mixed-used development and adding resident
and visitor pedestrian traffi c alongside the truck and distribution
traffi c has the potential to create a dynamic city.
Twenty- rst century patterns of urban industry include a range
of low impact, high performance, or mixed-use industries. These
low-impact industrial uses may intermingle with commercial and
residential uses in varying degrees,11 creating several variations
and combinations of commercial-industrial-residential use, as
well as a ne-grained, diverse, and vibrant urban environment
that is distinctly West Bottoms.
100 URBAN VISION
Industrial Other Commercial Retail
101
Through the detailed analysis of current building use and program, we aim to identify the needs and current realities of the area. Two critical conclusions were developed through this analysis. First, recent rezoning legitimizes the trend of deindustrialization taking place in some areas of the West Bottoms. Vacant industrial lots and buildings are being replaced by more residential, retail and cultural uses/functions. Second, the West Bottoms still has a signi cant number of seasonal uses. Events and seasonal attractions serve to populate the West Bottoms temporarily. These trends and current realities point to qualities of the identity of the West Bottoms that should be fostered in future plans. They may serve as catalysts for larger change.
Residential Artists Gallery Seasonal
THREE MAIN FORCES -- degeneration, permanence and transformation -- physically and ideologically act on the city, repeatedly contradicting each other.--Christophe Girot, Vision in Motion: Representing Motion in Time
104 URBAN VISION
TIME
Deindustrialization and degradation of the West Bottoms over
time has created an issue of perceived vacancy, abandonment,
and obsolescence, which serves to create a vacancy of time itself.
This is a city that has been left behindits spaces and construct
testify to the previous successes of the area and establish a design
challenge for recapturing this success.12 However, the issues of
vacancy, abandonment, and contamination of the West Bottoms
in both spatial and temporal terms indicate that it will be neither
immediately nor wholly occupiable.13 Rather, a more tenuous and
temporary inhabitation of the city must be planned for. There
is a need for a strategically phased design that accommodates
intermediate conditions. The remediation of contaminated sites
prepares (waste) land for future development. Systems for water
management and passive energy harvesting allow for new, and
diff erent kinds of urbanization to occupy and give function to vast
open spaces. These types of reclamation become integral to the
process and have in uence on later forms and design thought.14
Currently, when large scale events occur, they temporarily and
spontaneously create an active, lively city in the West Bottoms.
This demonstrates the resilience of the urban environment; a
viable city can exist through cycles of temporary events. We
should design for and foster this potential (though temporary)
inhabitation and create a system of supportive spaces that will
accommodate and adapt to this inconsistent urban environment.
108 URBAN VISION
INFRASTRUCTURE15
Because of topographical, physical, and programmatic
separation, the West Bottoms is easily overpassed on the way
to either Central Business District (CBD). The West Bottoms has
been rede ned physically and experientially by the infrastructure
that runs through (and over) it. Paradoxically, even though
they serve to connect, these infrastructures tend to create
barriersinterrupting the fabric of the West Bottoms. Our intent
is to maintain and strengthen all existing connections, mitigate
barriers, reclaim residual spaces, and provide for intensi ed,
improved connections. Infrastructure plays a key role in awareness,
accessibility, connection, vitality and functionality of this area.
These infrastructural systems become primary urban design
opportunities, as these areas are particularly signi cantif
latentmodi ers of the urban condition.16
These barriers and utilitarian spaces can be transformed into
inhabitable space. There is potential for design interventions
that exploit these barriers, no-mans lands, and residual spaces,
and convert them into multi-functional, multi-faceted parts of
the formal inhabited city17designed as a true part of the urban
environment. In order to create an interface between the human
experience and the structure of the civic environment, these
large-scale systems must be made physical/material when they
encounter the local.18
109
The massive regional infrastructural systems cutting through the
West Bottoms create opportunities for multiscalar interventions,
which operate on the scale of the West Bottoms and the region
simultaneously. Designs must consider the scale, impact and
presence of buildings along the interstates; they provide a
unique opportunity for the isolated West Bottoms to connect
with the larger metro and region. By virtue of its location, the
West Bottoms exists as a critical intersection. In designing for the
public/civic realm of the two Kansas Cities, this signi cance of the
West Bottoms provides the opportunity to create amenities that
are unique to Kansas City, and that provide critical infrastructural
connections and amenities on a regional scale.
111
THE INFRASTRUCTURES OF THE WEST BOTTOMS ARE fundamentally divisive. There is a strong dividing line along both I-670 and I-70, creating distinctly diff erent districts North and South of these interstates. The railroad eff ectively splits the West Bottoms North from South multiple times per hour, and the railyards create a constant barrier.
114 URBAN VISION
RIVERFRONT
Kansas City has designated its riverfront as an industrial zone. As
it deindustrializes, there is no need to maintain this precedent.
Certain areas of the oodway and riverfront can be reclaimed
for non-industrial and recreational uses. The West Bottoms is a
prime area for this reclamation, because of its location between
the two cities and at the con uence of the two rivers. The West
Bottoms has large areas of open space along the Kansas River,
left over from the previous stockyards and industrial uses.
In abandoned or otherwise vacant lots created in the wake
of oods, deindustrialization, and general neglect in the West
Bottoms, we can, through design, recapture a dimension of nature
which gives purpose to the vacancy.19 With some remediation,
they could become reprogrammed with recreational uses, creating
an amenity and destination that could support and provide for
existing and growing downtown population centers and the
wider regional area. It would be able to compete with exurban
developments, and provide a natural amenity in the heart of the
downtown area.
115
THE REGIONAL SYSTEM OF PARKS and trails in Kansas City has great potential. Current proposals plan for a continuous system of riverfront trails in which the West Bottoms acts as a critical link.
DESIGNED REC SPACE
EXISTING REC SPACE
DESIGNED PEDESTRIAN PATH
EXISTING PEDESTRIANPATH
PUBLIC SPACES
121
AN URBAN VISION
The city develops through visions of its future in the mid-term,
which are linked to fairly tangible and precise proposals for some
elements (i.e. infrastructure, landscape, streetscape). However,
it works simultaneously with strategies of improvement and
rehabilitation, which are based on the internal logic of the existing
construction of its fabrics and neighborhoods.20 In developing
this urban vision for the West Bottoms, our studio has worked on
both of these levels. The smaller interventions unite the districts
at local scale, but also act to connect the West Bottoms to the
adjacent downtown neighborhoods and the greater metro.
Above all, we realize that the impetus, energy, and potential for
development are latent in the existing fabric. The West Bottoms
needs to be organized along a framework that remains true
to its identity, and allows for individual actions and organic
development. This masterplan of strategic interventions
establishes a strong framework that designs for critical areas, yet
is malleable, responsive to this place and the city as a whole. It
will allow the West Bottoms to transform into a new, unique part
of Kansas City, true to its identity and signi cance.
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