Full Review: Behnisch Team Arch Grounds Competition Design

This is the third of five full reviews of the Framing a Modern Masterpiece: City + Arch + River design competition submissions. Each review focuses specifically at treatment of Kiener Plaza, the Old Courthouse, I-70/Memorial Drive, the Museum of Westward Expansion, the Old Cathedral, the Arch grounds north and south ends, the riverfront, cross-river connections and the east side as well as overall feasibility and overall excitement. Each of the five final design full narratives can be viewed on nextSTL here. Join the discussion in the nextSTL Forum.
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Behnisch Team

First, if you only read one full narrative, read this one. It's literally a narrative with a cast of characters: "Charles, age 75, from Memphis - Joan, age 45, from Denver, now lives in St. Louis - Michael, age 25, from St. Louis - Sahsa and Alex, ages 8 and 30, from East St. Louis - Carol, age 45, from East St. Louis and Xiao Feng, age 50, from Shanghai. Carol contemplates the new Arch grounds, "But, she muses, as she rises above the great river in a cable-stayed, smoothly gliding gondola car; that was all before - before the competition..." It's fantastic - the architecture competition equivalent of the Woot.com missives.

Kiener Plaza
I like the linear motion of the Kiener Plaza elements. Not a lot of detail is provided, but a winter garden, rose garden and fountain/ice rink are offered. Placing an active use on Kiener is a great idea and seems to fit well with the larger master plan for the Gateway Mall.