City + Arch + River Design Competition Update

For Immediate Release:

ST. LOUIS -- Contest organizers today announced the names of nine design teams selected to advance to the next round of the competition to invigorate the park and city areas surrounding the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

The lead designers and design teams are:

Behnisch Architekten, Gehl Architects, Stephen Stimson Associates, Buro Happold, Transsolar, Applied Ecological Services, Limno-Tech, Herbert Dreiseitl, Arne Quinze, Peter MacKeith, Eric Mumford

FIT (Fully Integrated Thinking) Team – Arup, Doug Aitken Studio, HOK Planning Group, HOK

Michael Maltzan Architecture, Stoss Landscape Urbanism, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Richard Sommer, Buro Happold

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Steven Holl Architects, Greenberg Consultants, Uhlir Consulting, HR&A Advisors, Guy Nordenson and Associates, Arup, LimnoTech, Ann Hamilton Studio, James Carpenter Design Associates, Elizabeth K. Meyer, Project Projects

PWP Landscape Architecture, Foster + Partners, Civitas, Ned Kahn, Buro Happold

Quennell Rothschild and Partners and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Vishkan Chakrabarti, Buro Happold, Atelier Ten, and Nicholas Baume

Rogers Marvel Architects and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Urban Strategies, Local Projects, Arup

SOM, BIG, Hargreaves Associates, Jaume Plensa, URS

Weiss/Manfredi, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Mark Dion

"The Jury had the challenge of evaluating portfolios that represented designers of international and national recognition, emerging designers and design teams comprised of individuals that provide great promise as collaborators,” said competition manager Don Stastny, of StastnyBrun Architects. “The lead designers and design teams invited to participate in Stage II represent individuals and firms that have local, national and international ties – and have the potential to come up with extraordinary solutions to the design challenges presented by the City, the Arch and the River."

The nine design leaders and teams now have five weeks to complete their teams and present full qualifications to the competition jury, Stastny said.

In addition, local contractors, minority, disadvantaged, or women-owned businesses and others are invited to meet Feb. 18 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Old Court House with representatives of the short-listed design groups for potential teaming opportunities.

“This will be an excellent opportunity for these businesses to learn about the project and to begin considering participating,” Stastny said. “We look forward to a strong turnout.”

The competition, launched Dec. 8, 2009, has three stages. Portfolio submissions in Stage I included a description of the design team, a statement of design intent and philosophy of the lead designer, a profile of the design team and examples of their work. Each team was required to include representatives of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, engineering and an artist.

Stage II involves the formation of the complete teams capable of executing the project, submission of required paperwork and a jury interview. This phase will culminate April 7, 2010, with the narrowing of the field to four or five teams.

The final stage, Stage III, to take place over the summer, will include a 90-day design concept competition to explore the finalists’ design approach and test their working methodology.

The competition’s goal is to create an iconic setting for the international icon, the Gateway Arch, honoring its immediate surroundings and weaving connections and transitions from the city and the Arch grounds to the Mississippi River, including the east bank in Illinois.

The public will be invited to two events this spring and summer. A “meet the designers night” will be held in late April. This summer, there will be a public exhibition of the designs. Details will be available soon.

The final jury pick will be announced on Sept. 24, 2010. The project is set to be constructed by Oct. 28, 2015.

The new design is called for in the National Park Service’s General Management Plan, which was developed with extensive public input over an 18-month period and approved Nov. 23, 2009.

The competition is sponsored by the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation, which includes National Park Superintendent Tom Bradley, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, community leaders from Missouri and Illinois, academics, architects and national park advocates.

Financial contributions to the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation are being handled by the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, a public charity with more than $140 million in charitable assets and representing more than 350 individual funds.

Donors to the competition include: Emerson, Gateway Center of Metropolitan St. Louis (Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park), Peter Fischer, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Civic Progress, Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation, Danforth Foundation, John F. McDonnell, Bryan Cave LLP, Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, National Park Foundation, Monsanto, Alison and John Ferring, Bank of America, David C. Farrell and others who choose to remain anonymous.

A full list of registrants for the competition, “Framing a Modern Masterpiece: The City + The Arch + The River 2015,” has also been released. It can be found with other competition information at www.cityarchrivercompetition.org.

PUBLIC NOTICE

WHAT: A Networking Session for local contractors and minority, disadvantaged, or women-owned businesses, and others, to meet competing Design Teams for possible teaming opportunities

WHERE: Old Courthouse
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, 11 North 4th Street, St. Louis, Mo.

WHEN: Thurs., Feb. 18, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

WHY: Lead Designers/Design Teams chosen for Stage II of “The City + The Arch + The River 2015” competition have until March 18, 2010, to form and present complete teams who are capable of executing project design and related construction administration services. Teams are vying for opportunity to develop designs that create an iconic setting for the international icon, the Gateway Arch, honoring its immediate surroundings and weaving connections and transitions from the city and the Arch grounds to the Mississippi River, including the east bank in Illinois. The competition is called for in the National Park Service’s General Management Plan.

FOR INFORMATION:
Janis Cooper, 314-259-2015, Janis.Cooper@CityArchRiverCompetition.org

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