Reframing The City: Part 1

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


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.


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


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.

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.


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


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


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.


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.

city scans 65

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.

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.

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Industrial Other Commercial Retail

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

Reframing The City: Part 1

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