In my capstone project, I experimented with the design process to investigate how a highly-layered urban riverfront site with a rich historic past could be encountered via a trail system based on experiential qualities and historical narrative.

St. Anthony Falls is the birthplace of Minneapolis. In its former glory, the cataract had a magnetic power that drew spiritual seekers and pioneering industry men alike. On the site of the former eastern portion of these falls, we find the overgrown bluffs, murky waterways, and mill ruins of Pillsbury Park. Adjacent to the park is Hennepin Island, the epicenter of river industries that have significantly altered the landscape as they sought to harness the physical power of St. Anthony Falls.

The site’s historical and cultural significance makes it an important landscape within the heritage district of downtown Minneapolis. It offers unique views of historic structures along the river, the downtown skyline, active industry on the river, and St. Anthony Falls. However current access to this important landscape is limited and the physical remains of its industry and ecology have been neglected. Tensions between movement and connection, access and restriction, historic uses and current uses, and abandonment and care make this an extremely complex site. With its layers of new and old infrastructure, Hennepin Island and Pillsbury Park are physical records of our historic exploration, use, and understanding of the power of water. As a unique site on a historic riverfront, they offer an opportunity to experience the many forms of the power of the river, as witnessed in the landscape itself.

My analysis process focused on understanding the history and the experiential qualities of the site. I developed a process of analyzing the site composition in terms of landscape features and layers, as well as the experiential qualities and movement through the site. My design process worked off this analysis, and included defining a sense of place, discovering new experiential typologies, outlining spatial and experiential concepts, and constructing a path system typology.

My vision for this site is that Pillsbury Park + Hennepin Island will be part of a larger East Bank experience in which the power of the Mississippi River is celebrated. Visitors will explore the site through exciting paths that provide a variety of experiences of the river and the river’s history.

In the final plan, an abandoned power plant becomes the Water Power Museum, which serves as an anchor to the east bank. The Pillsbury ‘A’ Mill re-opens the abandoned mill races under Main Street to provide hydroelectric and hydrothermal power to the new complex of buildings. Some of the water from this tailrace is rerouted into the park to reintroduce water to the location of the former east falls. A Highlights Loop trail off the park’s main entrance provides a quick look at the most interesting features in the park. The Water Power Heritage Loop, connecting to the Heritage Trail, provides an experience of all features of the site, stopping at points that provide views of the river and historic features. Several underground tailraces and historic tunnels are opened up for tours offered through the Water Power Museum. Hennepin Island is made accessible not only for picnicking and hiking, but would also function as flexible space for temporary exhibitions related to Xcel, the Stream Lab, or more artistic expressions related to the river.

In this urban design studio project, site performance was offered as a “premise for restructuring both site- and regional-scale systems”. Working with this concept, I explored how new municipal waste management practices could transform three underutilized parking lots in downtown Minneapolis into multiuse public spaces dedicated to reuse and production.

Current municipal waste management practices are based on the idea that waste is composed of materials that have a beginning and an end. In this mindset, our waste is collected, sorted, and disposed of in various locations, such as incinerator and landfills. As we progress in our understanding and implementation of sustainable waste management practices in the future, we will discover that that waste is a resource that can be used, reused, and modified to make other materials. Materials will be reused as many times as possible and then transformed into something else after they are no longer usable, rather than being buried or burned. With this view of the future in mind, I analyzed the flow, distribution, and lifecycle of materials that take place in the system as it currently exists and then imagined how these practices could change in the future. I proposed three phases of waste management, in which the site provides the facilities and processes to manage waste for all of the residents the neighborhood of Downtown Minneapolis East.

Using a flexible modular unit, a 40-yard dumpster, allowed me to work directly with the metrics of waste management by calculating how much waste my site could handle. It also allowed me to explore different typologies of use: how many different ways can a dumpster be modified to accommodate different uses as my site changes over time?

In the first phase of transforming the site, the parking lots cease to function for parking and become neighborhood-scale waste drop-off and transfer stations. Rows of dumpsters separate and store waste, which is dropped off by neighborhood residents. Waste trucks arrive every week on Trash Day to parade the waste down Nicollet Mall. Waste is then delivered to appropriate destination (incinerator, landfill, or a recycling center) in keeping with the current waste management practices.

In the second phase, the waste drop-off and transfer stations increasingly become site of reuse and production. The rows of dumpsters, fitted with air pipes, become an aerated static pile compost system. Between the rows of compost, access corridors allow both recreation and vehicular access for the composting process, and linear parks with native plantings form beautiful gardens that manage stormwater and mitigate urban heat island effect. Some dumpsters are modified as booths for an Exchange Market or covered bike parking.

By the third and final phase, waste levels are greatly reduced due to reuse, recycling, and new consumer practices. The site is now used for production of food, energy, and materials. Open space on site allows for recreation and transportation areas, infused with new civic spaces. An anaerobic digestor is concealed and integrated within a four-story retail/office building, treating biodegradable waste and generating compost, heat, fuel, and electricity. The building houses services related to reusing and repairing unwanted items, and renting items. Dumpsters become seating decks in front of the Minneapolis Public Library, artificial rock surfaces for outdoor rock climbing park, edges for a skate park, or in-ground planters for community gardens. Others get stacked up to create the walls of the transportation and recreation buildings.

Header photo by D’Arcy_Norman.

As a design assistant at the Metropolitan Design Center in the summer of 2009, I was asked to analyze design alternatives for a small urban park in downtown Minneapolis. Triangle Park is a small wedge of land located between the on- and off-ramps for Highway 35W, and serves as both a visual gateway for vehicles entering downtown and also as a small greenspace for the neighborhood. Architect Ralph Rapson’s original 1975 design for the park has been altered and the park is in a state of deterioration.

Working with designers from CLOSE Landscape Architecture+, I analyzed the park to understand the complex layers of the site and the current experience of the park. We formed a design thinking process to analyze the existing opportunities and limitations of the park and put together a series of design options to transform the park’s conditions. Two final conceptual design options were offered. In one plan, the existing site design is enhanced through additional seating along the street and allee paths that led to an upper lawn. The second plan focuses on creating a connection to the street and providing a visible downtown gateway; a series of raised terraces draw visitors into the park, and lighted walls and an iconic sculpture create a dramatic entrance to the city.

In July of 2009, I presented our analysis, design options, and conceptual design plans to the Friends of Triangle Park, a non-profit neighborhood group invested in the revitalization of Triangle Park as a neighborhood amenity. The project has since been moving forward through presentations to various interested political parties.

In an urban design studio focused on community service learning, we worked closely with a local arts organization for children, Juxtaposition Arts, to discover the needs and desires of the vibrant but underprivileged Broadway neighborhood in north Minneapolis. The neighborhood is adjacent to the Mississippi River but has no destination to draw residents there. I designed a site along the river that would provide a unique family-friendly, arts-activated destination for the residents of the Broadway neighborhood.

The Gateway Arts Village and Broadway Beach are for families in the Broadway neighborhood. Located on an under-utilized 2 acre site along the river with views of downtown Minneapolis, it brings together multi-use development, arts education, urban food production, recreation, ecological restoration, and family fun. The site features a river-side sculpture garden, terraced community gardens, sunning decks along the shoreline, restored native grasslands, an art gallery and studios, local cafe with community kitchen, and live-work residential units for local artists.

Project Description

Vermillion Highlands is a 2800 acre future regional park. In our group I designed the trailhead and interpretive center, which were to be located on the top of a large hill. I explored how the spaces would interact with topography and circulation. By siting the interpretive center on the southern side of the hill and the trailhead on the top – featuring expansive views – it became the perfect place to become oriented to the landscape and learn about the historic and scientific significance of the park. I designed the road to curve around the topography, giving visitors varying views around the hill and injecting the drive to the interpretive center with mystery and a sense of destination. Pathways through the parking lots lead visitors through different landscapes on their way to the center. At the trailhead, skiers, equestrians, and hikers find amenities and an interpretive viewing platform.

Using the concepts championed by New Urbanism, I designed a 120-acre planned unit development with a focus on inter-generational living and alternative transportation. My goal was to create a successful retail area integrated with a light rail station, along with dense and attractive housing options for all incomes and generations. To do this I situated the larger retail stores near the highly-visible northeast corner. Above the retail are apartments and office space. The light rail station is close to the main road for park-and-ride options. Surrounding the retail are blocks of townhouses, arranged with attractive shared open space in the center. A central common space features a library, which is situated across from a senior housing area. Thirty percent of the land, featuring rolling topography, was preserved as open space. Linear parks surrounding the dense retail core provide additional green space.

Project Description

The Lake Sarita project is an on-going University venture involving exploring new drainage solutions impacting a small wetland area which collects water from the entire St. Paul campus. The University wishes to transform the polluted lake into a recreational area, educational laboratory, and full-functioning ecosystem.

We worked in groups, researching and mapping the existing area, then proposing a full master plan. Our group focused on creating a waterfowl scanctuary by expanding the wetland area, ensuring wildlife breeding areas, and controlling storm water levels.

Individually I designed an entrance terrace which daylights incoming stormwater, allowing visitors to follow the path of the water along a walkway as it moves toward the wetland. The water flows into raised “flumes” that slow the force, thus controlling the bounce after rain events. Phytoremediation plants along the channel uptake harmful pollutants in the water.

Project Description

At the trailhead of  Vermillion Highlands, a 2800 acre future regional park, I designed an interpretive viewing platform at the trailhead which informs visitors of the cultural history of the site, both literally and representationally. From the platform one can see across the landscape toward the park’s main geological feature: Lone Rock. A ramp allows accessibility to all visitors.

Around the platform are materials that function both as climbing and sitting areas, and as material representations of one of the historical residents of the site. The grass-covered terraces represent the farming traditions. The boulder cascade represents the Dakota tribe because of its reference to Lone Rock which was a sacred site to them. This also provides an alternate climbing area since there is no climbing on the real feature. The metal wall “cutout” on the end of the platform represents the history of industry, and functions as a physical form of displacement.

Project Description

In an exploration of ecosystems, we were asked to create a collage of words and images that evoked the essence of a particular Minnesota natural area. I chose to represent the beach ridges of the Red River Valley prairie system in section, featuring hand-drawings of plants and a list of words decribing the range of feelings accompanying the openness and beauty of the prairie. 

We then translated this exploration into a small urban setting of our choice. In my desire to allow city-dwellers to experience the expansiveness of the prairie, I used long mirrors set at angles amidst angular swaths of prairie plants. Visitors would be able to explore this urban school yard, surrounded by buildings, and marvel at the seemingly infinite views of prairie created by the reflections.

Project Description

On a 61 acre agricultural site near Rosemount, MN, I designed a traditional residential development. We were given a specific density requirement, along with park area and drainage specifications. The centeral feature of Vermillion Commons is a long park that creates two separate “neighborhoods” within the development, preserves the open feeling of the site, and functions as a recreational corridor. It is equally accessible throughout the entire site and serves as a community “commons” for the whole development. Houses along the park face into the park to provide views and safety. Blocks are kept small, with all lots having access to an alley. I attempted to follow the existing topography to keep both the natural drainage and the agricultural feel of the site. The density of the development requires gutters and storm sewers, all of which drain to any of three stormwater retention ponds.