STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

STREAMLINES

STREAMLINES is about the sheer unltered experience of

direct contact with the river and river life, in many ways, at
multiple moments. And its about weaving these experiences
back into the everyday city. STREAMLINES is also a project
about working ecologies, ecological systems and dynamics put
to work to clean, to re-constitute this working riverfront, and
to guide a longer-term transformation of the city fabric.
MULTIPLE HISTORIES, MULTIPLE CURRENTS
But it is not about a single green line along the river. Rather,
this project is about multiple threads, multiple strands; it
evokes the stories and lives of the people who live, work, and
play by the rivers edge and have done so for centuries. It
builds from the rich histories and evolving identities of the
Mississippi River, the ecological, economic, social lifeblood
of the city, and of the continent. And it puts in place a series
of working and operational landscapes, green infrastructures,
and landscape-based urban fabrics that will guide this
transformation for the next generation of city-dwellers, just as
the Grand Rounds did for 20th-century Minneapolis.

WORKING ECOLOGIES
The parks must embrace a new mind-set for park-making, in
which they are rendered engines for change, for ecological
vibrancy, and for sustainable development. And they must
not simply displace viable industry with open space. We
want to make open spaces and urban fabrics that continue to
work, that are rendered industrious: that seed and produce
energy, food, and habitat; that clean soil and water; and that
redirect waste resources to create new productive and hybrid
ecologies, new provocative and engaging urban experiences.

INFRASTRUCTURE AS PARK, PARK AS CITY

To be truly transformative, the parks must take on a broader
territory. Thus, the proposals individual strands (river park,
botanical overlooks, sporty circuits, energy forest, city and
river islands) accumulate over time and expand the rivers
reach into the urban fabric. New infrastructures are rendered
civic and social: catalysts, connectors, hosts of activity, and
iconic orientation devices. In doing so, parks and park
infrastructures can be fully infused into the rich mosaic of
Minneapoliss neighborhoods.

STREAMLINES

STRATEGY

The scope and scale of the project are quite ambitiousremake the riverfront, remake the city for next century. And the process for
getting there is complex. So how do we do this?

CLAIM

THE RIVER.

The river is out of reach up here: it is not part of the everyday experiences of city residents, and it is not part of the cultural
imagination. This is in part due to the layers of infrastructure and industry that have occupied the larger river corridor between the
neighborhoods of North Minneapolis and Northeast Minneapolis.
Before anything happens, then, we must lay claim to the river as civic space, and as a territory for multiple uses: ecological, industrial,
and social. By doing this, the river itself becomes the park before the parks exist. And the transformational period is rendered as
exciting, engaging, and robust as the parks that will emerge from it.

SEED

THE PARKS.

There is much work to be done, much to be cleaned and prepared for human and ecological life, funding to be garnered, communities
and neighbors to be consulted, plans and designs to be drawn. This will take time.
We want to leverage time, and the tendencies of the various ecological, hydrologic, and functional systems and processes invoked, to
help seed and stage the parksto prepare the ground and, in part, to do the work of construction for us. Remediation elds, holding
landscapes, working spaces for green technologies; emergent river-islands (and habitats), water cleansing infrastructures, and new
park and city islands; and the patient anticipation of new programs, activities, and resources that can be tapped down the line: all this
sets the stage for parks and infrastructures that will accumulate over a number of years. The parks will be both opportunistic and
catalytic: exibly taking advantage of new partnering and siting opportunities as they arise, while also instigating a multidimensional
transformation of existing and emergent neighborhoods.

ELABORATE

NEW MODELS FOR CITY-LIFE.

This is not simply a park plan. Rather, it is a strategy for transforming the larger urban fabric, and the everyday lives of locals and
visitors alike. It does so by tapping into larger systemsinfrastructural and ecologicaland by extending its physical reach across the
river, east-west into outlying neighborhoods, north-south to landscapes and towns that constitute the longer Mississippi corridor.
The strategy is exible, and therefore sustainableenvironmentally, urbanistically, and economically. It leverages underutilized
and waste resources; nds efciencies in collaboration and cross-fertilization between urban and environmental systems;
incorporates bridges and streets and light rail corridors as park infrastructures; and builds new synergies between work, public
life, and the landscape fabrics that support them. Importantly, it is a 50- to 100-year plan, a series of parks and neighborhoods for
the next generation of Minneapolitans. In this way, the various proposals contained herein will help guide these places gradual
transformation, making for new kinds of parks and public infrastructures, for new working ecologies and landscapes and city fabrics
that will come to revitalize Minneapolis for decades to come.
2

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

UPPER HARBOR
TERMINAL SITE

NORTH LOOP
NICOLETTE
ISLAND

ST. ANTHONY
FALLS

HISTORIC MILLS
DISTRICT

STREAMLINES

MARCY-HOLMES

STONE ARCH BRIDGE

MISSISSIPPI STRANDS
RIVER +
FLOODPLAINS

+
EXISTING
PARKS

+
RIVER
PARK

PUBLICLY
OWNED LANDS
(CITY + MPRB)

BOTANIC
OVERLOOKS

SPORTY
CIRCUITS

RIGHTS-OF-WAY +
UTILITY CORRIDORS
ENERGY
FOREST

RIVER
ORCHARDS

CONTAMINATED
SITES +
VACANCIES

+
NEW PARTNERS,
NEW CONNECTIONS

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

PROPOSED PARK
FRAMEWORK

WEBBERCAMDEN

RIVER
PARK

MARSHALL TERRACE

MCKINLEY

GREENHOUSE
DISTRICT

NORTH
MINNEAPOLIS

NORTHEAST
MINNEAPOLIS
INDUSTRIOUS PARK

NORTH
RIVERFRONT

CITY
ISLANDS

NORTH LOOP

DOWNTOWN

ACCESS
The North Riverfront is re-networked with walking + running
paths, recreational trails, bicycle lanes, sporty circuits, a
riverwalk, skating loops, bridges, street cars, and light rail.
Safe multi-modal corridors allow current industrial uses to
co-exist with new social and recreational activity.

STREAMLINES

DISTRICTS + NEIGHBORHOODS
Districts and neighborhoods are crucial to a successfully reenergized riverfront. Five neighborhoods are imagined here.
Although each is distinct, they share a common thread: all are
connected directly to the Mississippi and to parkland, vital to
the future of Minneapolis and its citizens.

CLAIM THE RIVER!

ACTIVATING
The river up here needs an identitypeople need to reconnect to it. Infrastructural corridors and industrial uses
have long separated North and Northeast neighborhoods from
the river, so that its physical closeness is imperceptible.
Thus, to change peoples perceptions, and to re-make
the northern riverfront within the cultural imagination
and daily lives of city residents, we propose a three-part
activation strategy. These projects are easy to execute and are
purposefully conceived to have a signicant impact along the
entire north riverfront, from the Falls to the citys limits; they
also buy us time, while site preparation, property acquisitions,
and design drawings proceed.
To this end, we imagine dancing lights in the sky, bobbing
luminescent rowboats, and oating barges re-fashioned as
bandshells, amphitheaters, and swimming poolsall creating
new communities, new experiences on and along the river
before the parks exist. This activation phase would also
include the designation of ve river access points on both
sides of the river, located at existing parks and boat ramps,
and at moments where city streets meet the river.

FLOW INTERSECT
FlowIntersect is a light-scale light sculpture by interactive
public artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer that allows people to see
the meandering of the river across the city. The installation
consists of a number of powerful search lights placed at
regular intervals along both shores of the Mississippi River.
The lights are visible from a ten mile radius. Each pair of
facing lights (one on each side of the river) is controlled
together; the beams of light create two vectors intersecting
directly above the river. The apex of their intersection
changes in height and position based on data from sensing
devices that will be placed in the river and which will measure
speed, turbulence, and other environmental data; in this way,
the light responds to the changing dynamics of the river itself.
Importantly, their positioning and timing can be coordinated
so as not to interfere with bird migrations or nearby uses.

LIGHT-BOATS
Light-boats are luminescent berglass rowboats which offer
residents and visitors immediate access to the river above the
falls. The boats, which will become a signature feature of the
project, resemble white contoured pods during the day and
glow evocatively at night.

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

AMPHITHEATER

FLOATING / MOBILE
PERFORMANCE PLATFORM

PERFORMANCE CANOPY
USED AT MULTIPLE SCALES

The light-boats can be adapted with outboard motors, with

sails and centerboards, and with runners for ice for use in all
seasons and in response to many forms of weather. Their use
and number can be expanded as the parks develop over time.

SMALL-SCALE USE

SINGLE OR DOUBLE SIDED

PERFORMANCE PLATFORM

EXISTING BARGE

RE-FASHIONED BARGES
Through the adaptive reuse of existing barges for recreation
and performance, the project also engages the Mississippis
rich history as a working river and transforms the river for
occupation by a broader public. The barges mobile character
allows them to activate the river at multiple locations, acting
as mutable catalysts which can extend and reinvent how
the people of Minneapolis understand and experience their
riverfront.

ADAPTIVE REUSE

SHELTERED STAGE
FOR LARGE-SCALE USE

SHORE-BASED AUDIENCE
FOR LARGE-SCALE USE

The Swimming Barge creates an unprecedented opportunity

for recreation in the rivers midst by inserting a series of pools,
a diving platform, an outdoor terrace, and a cafe on an existing
barge. Organized as a pleated topography of pools and
platforms that echo the barges linear character, it provides a
new vantage point to view the riverfront and the city beyond.
A second barge provides an extraordinary platform for
performance on the water: the Amphitheater Barges twinned
shape creates a seating bowl above the barge deck below,
providing an intimate space for performance. Beneath its
lifted form is a broad space sheltered from the elements,
a stage for larger-scale performances where the audience
remains on the adjacent shoreline or on individual watercraft.
An oculus at the barges center links these two levels, allowing
cables anchoring its cantilevered wings to pass between,
framing the sky above.
These barges can be mobilized early on and can work as
ferries, bringing people from the Central Riverfront, through
the locks, and up the entire length of the North Riverfront.

STREAMLINES

RIVER PARK

WORKING FIELDS
The river park is very much a working landscape, one that
cleans the siteand the cityas it grows. It supports a full
range of social and recreational activities, and ecological life:
nesting sites, skating canals, elds for ying kites, vibrant
meadow habitats, shady groves for lazy days on the river.

PHYTOREMEDIATION + PLANT SUCCESSION

SHOWING REGULAR COPPICING OF POPLARS AND
EVENTUAL UNDER-PLANTING OF SUCCESSIONAL FOREST

STORMWATER CHANNELS + ISLAND FORMATION

WATER CLEANSED FROM NEARBY URBAN FABRIC
GENERATES RIVER ISLANDS + DELINEATES UPLAND
ISLANDS IN THE PARK

A water-cleansing system structures the park. Rain washes

particles of soil, grit, and other materials off streets, parking
lots and roofs in nearby neighborhoods. This stormwater
is intercepted by a sedimentation chamber and periodically
emptied; clean extracts of the sediment can be used in
shoreline and island building. Wetlands of nutrient-tolerant
species receive the stormwater next, removing ne sediment
and pollutants; here indigenous wet meadow species such as
sedges, cordgrass, blue-joint and wildowers would thrive.
Meanwhile local runoff in the park ows through lter strips
and into polishing wetlands connected to the system. In
downstream retention and detention areas, deeper water
stands for longer periods, and nitrogen is removed in aerobic
and anaerobic conditions. Plants here are able to root in water
and withstand ooding: arrowhead, bur-reed, aquatic sedges,
bulrush, and other marsh plants. Water then ows into the
rife stream and bivalve bed. All along are native plants,
naturalized soils, and insect life which provide organic matter
to the stream, forming the base of the food chain. The highly
oxygenated, shallow water supports several mussel species:
cylinder mussel, giant oater, fat mucket, creek heelsplitter.
At the deeper mouth of the stream, the black sandshell, plain
pocketbook, white heelsplitter, Lilliput and strange oater
would be found. Mussel species common to big rivers will
mingle with the stream species in the side channel and
perhaps downstream of the island at the stream mouth.

RIVER ISLANDS

INDUSTRIAL CULTURAL COMPLEX

ON NEW PARK ISLAND

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

Restoration of island habitats is proposed as part of this design

effort through benecial use of dredge maintenance (bed
material load) from the navigation channel and settlement
of non-cohesive material from proposed stormwater
tributaries. Restoration of islands will be encouraged at
select locations, adjacent to the navigation channel (in
depths ranging from 5 to 7 feet NGVD), as well as the outlet
of the proposed stormwater channels. Initial construction
of islands is proposed to be performed with available dredge
material. Stabilization of the material with small armor stone
around the perimeter will be performed to ensure stability
of the islands; natural stone (rock vanes, groins) may also
be employed to alter the local hydrodynamics, encouraging
deposition and sedimentation, allowing the islands to grow.

INDUSTRIAL CULTURAL COMPLEX

The Upper Ports domed concrete structures are reimagined
as an intensive yet surreal cultural complex that re-makes
a piece of the rivers industrial history. Two existing domes
include an experimental stage supporting a Guthrie satellite
location and a visual art space supporting a Walker Art
Center satellite. A third dome is planted, and a fourth used
as a rock climbing center. Finally, two new domes will be
constructed: the rst, clad in a louvered rainscreen, houses
a recreational natatorium; the second, clad in ETFE pillows,
is a greenhouse. To the west, a retail distribution center and
parking structure spans I-94, green roofs across its stepped
top connecting the park to the residential district to the west,
allowing the residents of North Minneapolis to nally connect
to the river so close to them. Piers stretch from the adjacent
riverbank, providing a permanent home for the performance
and swimming barges.
STREAMLINES

FRESHWATER MUSSEL FOOD CHAIN

A KEYSTONE SPECIES FOR WILDLIFE + HABITAT
DEVELOPMENT

BOTANIC OVERLOOKS

INFRASTRUCTURAL ECOLOGIES
The Botanical Overlooks are a new kind of public garden
one that draws on the waste heat of the power plant and
infuses the city with a new kind of ecological cyborg: an
infrastructural park in which regional native ecosystems
are contrasted with more fanciful and exotic environments.
These are provocative urban botanical gardens fed off the
waste of the city: a place for yellow warblers and steamy hot
tubs, for native cottonwoods and exotic bromeliads alike.

WASTE HEAT AS SOCIAL CATALYST

GREENHOUSES AT EDGE OF GARDEN

DISTRICT WASTE HEAT CYCLE

BOILER - HOT TUB - SWIMMING POOL - GREENHOUSE SNOW-MELT PLAZA

Waste heat produced by the boiler at the nearby Xcel Energy

power plant is transported through a network of superinsulated distribution pipes to nearby park overlooks. The
warmest heat powers a series of public outdoor hot tubs that
overlook the river. The waste heat in the pipes gradually
diminishes in temperature as it moves through a sequence
of public swimming pools and greenhouses, which serve as
sheltered community gardens and interior winter gardens for
neighbors. As the distribution pipes make their way back to
the power plant, they pass under plazas situated nearest to
Marshall Street; here heat can be released to aid in snow melt
during the winter, thereby reducing salt and contaminant
runoff to the river. During warmer months, these plazas are
planted with more tropical and exotic species of plants,
like orange trees, that can be wheeled out in pots from the
adjacent greenhouses. (When the power plant is not running,
this system can be fed by a eld of solar hot water heaters on
adjacent lands.)

STORMWATER, TOO
These social activation strategies are overlaid with water
cleansing strategies as the gardens reach back into nearby
neighborhoods via water boulevards. These extended blue
strands collect and clean stormwater and bring it through the
overlook parks as irrigation.
Together, the hot pools, greenhouses, and botanical gardens
provide a luxurious and sustainable resource for both
recreation and relaxation. And they signal the regions Nordic
roots and winter culture in a most evocative way.

10

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

STORMWATER BOULEVARDS
REACH BACK INTO EXISTING NEIGHBORHOODS + SERVE AS
RIVERFRONT CONNECTORS

STREAMLINES

11

ENERGY FOREST

CITY-STRANDS
We cant just work along the riverwe need to extend and
expand its inuence in order to allow the river to begin to
permeate all aspects of life in the city. In this way, we want to
engage a broader territorylayers and strands set back from
the river, like an expanded social and civic oodplain.
To this end, we imagine re-making the I-94 corridor as an
energy forest, lled with trees that create new vegetated
habitats, reduce heat radiation, and clean air pollutants from
passing vehicles. The forest consists of native trees adapted
to local climate and soil conditions: hackberry, basswood,
northern pin oak, bigtooth aspen, smooth serviceberry, refruit hawthorn, red cedar and white pine. When mature, each
tree removes 1-2 pounds of pollutants from the air annually:
ozone, particulates, nitrogen and sulfur dioxide, and carbon
monoxide. Each tree also takes up carbon dioxide and stores
the carbon in its wood and roots, giving up oxygen to the air
and reducing atmospheric greenhouse gases. Within the
forest, the nighttime temperature will be several degrees
cooler than surroundings, lessening the air conditioning
burden in nearby homes. And by intercepting and transpiring
rainfall, the forest removes up to half the water in the corridor,
which would otherwise be diverted into storm sewers.
Where the forest extends to the east to inltrate and help
structure the proposed Industrious Park, it expands to include
integrated stormwater treatment swales and inltration
groves in this new urban neighborhood.

LANDSCAPES OF ENERGY
ALTERNATE WIND TURBINES
CORNELL UNIVERSITY VIBRO-RESEARCH GROUP, LED BY
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR FRANCIS MOON

Along the median of the highway, vibrating energy generators

can be erected to capture prevailing winds that move through
and across this corridor; they can also be powered by the
turbulence created by passing vehicles on the highway. The
proposed Vibro unit, currently in research and protoyping
phases of development, is less expansive, more adaptable
to urban conditions, quieter, and more bird-friendly than
traditional wind turbines. Power can be transmitted to
adjacent neighborhoods or sold directly to the grid.
The central median can also be used, eventually, for a new
high-speed regional light rail expansion, bringing efcient and
sustainable public transportation to the seam between North
Minneapolis neighborhoods and the new Live + Work district
and park precincts to the east. Light rail stations can be
integrated into proposed air rights developments and building
bridges at designated cross-streets.

12

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

SPORTY CIRCUITS

LANDSCAPES FOR WORKING (OUT)

Over time, we imagine re-occupying leftover spaces along
the existing rail spur in the Northeast (between California
and 2nd Street); this spur is currently used only occasionally
and at low speeds to service the industries along it. A whole
new precinct of sport elds, ball courts, and playgrounds,
connected by biking and walking and running circuits
can emerge incrementally over timeeventually creating
an active, energetic zone of sweaty bodies and sports.
Consolidation of neighborhood recreation elds here will also
free up existing elds near the river, allowing those spaces to
be converted to new river-specic park uses.
Over time, the linear connective spine that ties these
spaces together can grow; as fewer trains use the rail spur,
recreational use can increase. The spine will eventually
continue across the river on the existing BNSF rail bridge,
which can be modied to accommodate small sports
programs over the river; it will then extend as pedestrian
circulation south through the Circuit Plazas at the east edge
of the Industrious Park. (The rail line can be left in place for
occasional trains and special-event streetcars). In the winter,
this spine can be ooded to create a 3-mile linear skating track
that connects to downtown.
Green ngers extend laterally from the corridor into existing
neighborhoods, establishing new forest linkages from these
communities to the sports elds and west to the river.

ENGINEERING SOILS
Given that most of the soils that will be utilized in this area
may have some level of contamination and/or compaction,
an essential aspect of the successful execution and long-term
sustainability of the design will be the management of soil
resources. This is true of the project at large: from sports
elds to stormwater bio-treatment units to creation of new
ecosystems, soil management and design is central to success.
All soil resources with each project area will be characterized
and inventoried; this database will form one of the important
overlays in decision-making during planning. As each phase
is designed and moves into documentation, soils appropriate
for each use-context will be chosen from the soils inventory
within that phase or designed to be manufactured from
available earth components. By using soil management
principles developed from the Sustainable Sites Initiative, the
project will stand as a national example for both economic
and ecological stewardship.
STREAMLINES

13

CIVIC-MINDED
INFRASTRUCTURES

A
D
E

F
H
I
K

J
M

B
C

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
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P
Q
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S
T
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NATURE CROSSING
CAMDEN BRIDGE
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY BRIDGE
SAUNA BRIDGE
AIR-RIGHTS BRIDGE BUILDING
CURLING BRIDGE
AIR-RIGHTS BRIDGE BUILDING
LOWRY BRIDGE (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
RIVERWALK CROSSING
SPORTS BRIDGE / BNSF RAILWAY
RIVERWALK CROSSING
AIR-RIGHTS BRIDGE BUILDING
BROADWAY BRIDGE
PLYMOUTH AVE. REPLACEMENT BRIDGE
PLYMOUTH AVE. BRIDGE
WELCOME CENTER BRIDGE
NICOLLET ISLAND RAILROAD BRIDGE
HENNEPIN AVE. BRIDGE
THIRD AVE. BRIDGE
FALLS LOOP BRIDGE
STONE ARCH BRIDGE

BRIDGES: ICONIC DESTINATIONS

A family of bridges linking the rivers banks makes physical
connections between districts; creates new icons along the
long, linear site; and establishes new spaces for occupation
and activity hovering over the river. The bridges are not
only places to cross, they are destinations: stepped benches
and sloped roofs become exible platforms for events and
recreation, with the skyline in the distance. They provide
moments of reprieve from winter cold, spaces to stretch out
in summer warmth, and new gathering spots for July 4th.
Water in its many forms is the focus: swimming pools, hot
tubs, skating rinks, steam and sauna rooms. Importantly, this
is a menu of possibilities: each bridge enriches the overall
framework, but all are not required to fulll its promise.

P
Q

S
T

EXISTING
PROPOSED
14

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

The Bridges are linked to one another via the Riverwalk

and the parks, and they link commuters from Northeast
Minneapolis to a proposed light rail corridor on the western
edge of the site. Integrated photovoltaic panels and sh-safe
turbines at each structural pier allow the bridges to function
as zero-energy structures, providing energy for lighting and
conditioning. Together, they create a more sustainable and
integrated network of living, transit, and recreation.

FALLS LOOP BRIDGE

At the sites southernmost edge, a rst bridge arcs across and
around Saint Anthony Falls, providing an extraordinary, direct
experience of the falls and the power of the Mississippi before
making its way north along the entirety of the rivers edge.
Passing beneath the lower and upper spillways and in and
around the larger bridges which crisscross the site, the Loop
Bridge links the central riverfront with the rivers northern
reach; its wood-clad deck provides new vantage points,
integrated seating, and a warming hut.

FALLS LOOP BRIDGE

PROGRAM BRIDGES
New bridges north of the Falls incorporate a diversity of
programs, each a nexus that both bridges the river and
connects to the activity along its banks. Spanning from 4th
Avenue at the northwest edge of downtown to Boom Island
Park and Nicollet Island, the crossed form of the Welcome
Center Bridge connects these precincts and creates a new
front porch for Minneapolis; its multiple decks can house the
Park Board and the National Park Service, welcoming visitors
as they come from downtown into the park. A Sports Bridge
inserted upriver on an existing rail bridge tapers to include
an ice rink and a seating bowl which surrounds it, echoing
the recreation located along this spine as it continues north.
Curling and Sauna Bridges could be deployed further north,
the latter to connect Saint Anthony Parkway and North 40th
Avenue, and branching to connect to the Riverwalk north and
south. Its sauna and steam rooms utilize waste heat from the
adjacent power plant; at its eastern end, it widens into a series
of terraces, framing the river below.

WELCOME CENTER BRIDGE

SPORTS BRIDGE

REPLACEMENT BRIDGES
The structural and programmatic logic which informs each
of these bridges is expanded to a larger scale, addressing
key replacement bridges over time, as conditions warrant.
Beginning with the Plymouth Avenue Bridge, the nk truss
that supports the program bridges is extended above and
below the adjacent roadway, creating a light, economic
structural solution that is also an extraordinary icon at this
key junction between the central riverfront and the rivers
northern reach.

SAUNA BRIDGE

I-94 CORRIDOR BRIDGE BUILDINGS

Community-building development can span the I-94 corridor
at Broadway, Lowry and Dowling, incorporating public
program (community centers and small-scale retail), and
connecting the riverfront, a new regional light rail corridor,
and the neighborhoods of North Minneapolis.
STREAMLINES

PLYMOUTH AVE. REPLACEMENT BRIDGE

15

NEW URBAN PROTOTYPES

INDUSTRIOUS PARKS
LIVE + WORK
NEW CATALYSTS FOR URBAN LIVING
Real estate development is not merely a vehicle for the
funding of parkland. Instead, our proposal includes clearly
dened and differentiated new neighborhoods that spawn
new ways of living in the city and along the river. Rather
than mimic other successful local neighborhoods such as
the Mill District or propose generic mid-rise residential
development, each of our proposed new neighborhoods is
seen as an excitingand marketablealternative to existing
development patterns and lifestyle choices, in Minneapolis
and across North American.
Importantly, the plan does not require the removal of active
industrial usesbut it does anticipate ownership and use
change-overs that could come. It also acknowledges that
both park construction and the implementation of new
urban districts will facilitate the eventual and inevitable
redevelopment of areas along West River Road as mixed-use
riverfront extentions to downtown.

INHABITING THE RIVER IN NEW WAYS

The Mississippi and its new park Strands are the impetus
here. A new and comprehensive landscape infrastructure
for the City will catalyze unprecedented kinds of urban
neighborhoods along and within the networkneighborhoods
that will be as distinctive and unique as existing areas of the
City. Our proposal imagines three such neighborhoods, each
projecting a specic lifestyle and mix of uses. Importantly,
each of these neighborhoods both leverages and provokes
specic landscape responses that are local to the cultural
history, hydrology, and ecology of the diverse sites.

MEDIA TOWERS

LIVE / WORK UNITS

20,000 SF X 3 FLOORS = 60,000 SF

60,000 SF / 1,500 SF = 40 UNITS
20 X 1.5 = 30 JOBS
20 X 1.5 = 30 RESIDENTS
SOLAR ENERGY &
STORMWATER
MANAGEMENT

LIGHT INDUSTRIAL /RETAIL

A new water and landscape infrastructure brands this bluegreen district for downtown, in which rigorous sustainability
standards and lush green infrastructure will support and
attract companies that promise blue-collar job growth for the
next generation. The introduction of new ngers of parkland
and feeder swales will not only make the area perform
better ecologically, but also will provide a foundation upon
which the City can market the neighborhood to potential
investors and attract start-up companies into live/work
studios. Although some additional public investments will
be needed, the proposed framework maximizes the potential
for public realm and infrastructure implementation by the
private sector, establishing new guidelines to govern property
redevelopment without burdens to development pro formas.
Along its east edge, working freight yards may double as
public plazas when not in use, linked along the existing rail
spur to the River Park to the north, and to the Sporty Circuits
to the northeast. This corridor accommodates a streetcar line,
for special events or should densities further north warrant.

50,000 SF / 2,000 SF/P = 25 JOBS

10,000 SF / 1,000 SF/P = 10 JOBS

16

The Industrious Parks Live+Work district has been conceived

as a model mixed-use district, a revitalized and enhanced
21st century industrial district that is near the city center
and rail and truck distribution networks. Rather than a
single-use neighborhood, live/work loft housing is proposed
on the upper stories above warehouse and industrial spaces
(diagram at below left). The proposal is also predicated
on an intensication of industrial and commercial uses to
provide a better job base for the adjacent North Minneapolis
neighborhood.

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

greenhouse
district
industrious
park

city
islands

GREENHOUSE DISTRICT
GARDEN OVERLOOKS

CITY ISLANDS
RIVER ORCHARDS

The Greenhouse District re-imagines underutilized parcels on

the East Bank of the river as sites for public gardens, focused
on public greenhouses that also contain associated community
amenities. This neighborhood is seen as a natural complement
and extension of the existing community of Northeast
Minneapolis. The landscape and greenhouses take advantage
of west- and south-facing orientation and a slight rise in the
grade of the riverbank to create the ideal conditions for fourseason community use.

The City Islands are envisioned as a natural extension of

the lifestyle and character of Nicollet Island: city living, in a
park, on an island, in the river. Rowhouses and townhouses
are scattered among working orchards and gardens, which
are tended by the island community but are accessible to
everyone. These edible landscapes offer an affordable food
source and an opportunity for citizens and school-children to
engage in a working, learning landscape. A landscape spine
structures the new neighborhoods, and with small pedestrian
bridges and walkways, establish clearly public routes across
the new and reconstituted islands.

Multi-purpose pavilionsgreenhouses, schools, community

gardens, recreation centers, and exhibition hallswill be
perched along the riverfront, providing programmatic
connections between this burgeoning community and the
new riverfront, amenities that will engender economic
development upland that is unique to the existing community.
Implementation of these new destination pavilions and
amenities will rely on limited public capital investments and
sustainable operating structures spearheaded by promising
pavilion users. Although it is too early to determine particular
programs for particular pavilionsthey must correspond
to a more rigorous study of community needs and likely
implementation partners and long-term stewardsthere are
several nancial models for these pavilions that can prove
scally prudent.

STREAMLINES

The scale of orchard and marina housing to the south reects

the scale of the nearby Boom Island Park neighborhood.
Buildings grow in size and shift orientation to the north, away
from established neighborhoods and in response to the rivers
bend. The largest buildings within this zone branch apart in
section, allowing views over and under into the surrounding
parkscape. All are set above the 100-year oodplain.
This world-class urban park and variety of housing typologies,
governed by strict guidelines that mandate sustainability
requirements and design quality, will help bring new people to
Minneapolis. It will not just accommodate projected growth,
but also will become a driver of that growth. Capital and
operating funds for parkland development could easily come
from master developers, an estates management model under
which long-term leaseholds or property disposition provide
the funds to support the public realm.

17

FIRST STEPS

STAGE 0
CLAIM THE RIVER
Reclaiming the river as public space can happen immediately
and with minimal investment. FlowIntersect captures public
interest and imagination, while the reclaimed barges and
boats offer new recreational opportunities in the short-term.

Beyond this, three areas of strategic importance are identied

for priority implementation. Together they offer a mix of
sustainable landscape strategies, locations / politics (eastwest-central), and cost-revenue models.

STAGE 1A
BUILD FIRST BOTANIC OVERLOOK
This dramatic addition to the park system establishes a new
benchmark in sustainability and civic experience. Alternate
sites on either side of the power plant are noted: the southern
is MPRB-owned, while the northern is Xcel-owned (a
potential land-swap acquisition with parkland to the east).
OR

STAGE 1B
SEED + STAGE PART OF RIVER PARK
A toehold on the west side could also begin immediately, on
the city-owned dredge pile site, but known contaminants
would take time to be addressed. Nevertheless, rst stage
remediation and planting of a phyto-eld would initiate
a process of transformation; stormwater channels and
scaffolding for the rst river islands could follow.

STAGE 1C
PREP CITY ISLANDS (APPLES + $$)
Initial work down south could begin to transform Boom
Island Park and the lumber yard site (now MPRB-owned)
through excavation of channels, reinforcement of shorelines,
and island construction. Early orchards and neighborhood
development could be established thereafter via publicprivate partnerships.
18

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

INVESTMENTS

Unit Price

First Steps*

Quantity

Cost Range

CLAIM THE RIVER

FlowIntersect

Temporary (4 week light rental + installation)

$30,000/light

30 lights

$900,000

Permanent (lights + foundations + construction)

$176,000/light

20 - 30 lights

$2.7 mil - $4.1 mil

$18-25,000/boat

30-50

$540,000 - $1.3 mil

$2.0 mil/barge

1 barge

$2.0 mil

Light-Boats (custom boats)

Amphitheater Barge - Barge Retrot (assumes donated barge)
Swimming Barge - Barge Retrot (assumes donated barge)
Barge Access Docks

$1.3 mil/barge

1 barge

$1.3 mil

$200,000/dock

1-2 docks

$200,000 - $400,000

FIRST BOTANIC OVERLOOK (9 acre southern site - landscaping + pools + utilities)

$14.5 mil

RIVER PARK SEED + STAGE

$3.3 mil

Site prep + initial planting

13 acres

$2.6 mil

Construct rst river island

1 island

$670,000
$34.8 mil

PREP CITY ISLANDS (excavate channels, reinforce new islands, initial island landscaping; 50 acres)

private investment % TBD

PUBLIC
INVESTMENT

PRIVATE
INVESTMENT

$250-350 mil

$37 mil minimum

$45 mil

$442 mil

$230-445 mil

$90-120 mil

$18 mil

$83 mil

up to $458 mil

$370 mil minimum

$5.5 mil

TBD

ENERGY FOREST: forest landscape, vibrowind turbines

$28.2 mil

$0

SPORTY CIRCUITS: sport elds, park landscape, streetscape forests

$31.5 mil

$0

Total Project Costs (include rst steps where applicable)**

RIVER PARK: testing, working elds (phytoremediation), stormwater polishing channels, new shoreline
reinforcement groin construction for all new emergent river islands, park landscape, industrial cultural
complex (retrotted domes, new domes)
CITY ISLANDS: private/public collaboration, excavation and reinforcement of river islands, river
orchards, civic park landscape, low, mid and dense developments.
BOTANIC OVERLOOKS: greenhouse district buildings, botanic garden renovation including hot tub,
pool, and wetlands, neighborhood stormwater infrastructure, district waste heat system and solar
water heater back-up; private residential development, parking
INDUSTRIOUS PARKS: stormwater inltration streetscape, live/work typologies, circuit plazas
BRIDGES: falls loop bridge, oating riverwalk, land riverwalk, welcome center bridge, plymouth ave
replacement bridge, air-rights bridge Broadway, riverwalk crossing 1, riverwalk crossing 2, sports bridge
/BNSF railway, air-rights bridge Lowry, curling bride, air-rights bridge Dowling, sauna bridge, nature
crossing Weber
TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE: Street car line running on the existing rail line, 5 stops at plaza stations
along the length of the western site. Coincidental bikeways and transitscape in the right-of-way

* estimated construction costs

** estimated construction costs + soft costs
all costs are preliminary; investments to be made over 20-50 years

STREAMLINES

19

IMPLEMENTATION

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The proposal is founded upon the fact that high quality public
realm design, high performance sustainability infrastructure,
and market-appropriate land uses create new economic
development opportunities opportunities that will fuel the
next generation of downtown growth in Minneapolis and
allow the City to enhance its ability to attract a greater share
of jobs and residents in the decades to come. The economic
development infrastructure of our proposal is organized
around catalytic and pragmatic visions for three distinctive
neighborhoods lining the northern Mississippi Riverfront,
each with its own economic purpose, corresponding design
strategy, and resource-efcient implementation structure.
Some of the methods and tools that will be utilized work
as private and public partnerships, like the City Islands.
The plan for this area makes it possible to secure master
developers for the island. Depending on the timing of
market recovery and the potential for public investments,
several strategies could be implemented to realize this vision,
including requiring capital and operating funds for parkland
development to come from master developers. Likewise the
initial investment in areas like the Industrious Park will bring
people and attention to this new growth district. Although
some additional public investments will be needed, the
proposed framework maximizes the potential for public realm
and infrastructure implementation by the private sector.

BUILDING MOMENTUM
In addition to these next generation visions for land use and
development, we propose a low-cost investment strategy that
will ensure this plan is actionable and catalytic in the short
term: we will leverage local resources and international best
practices to program the riverfront and the river itself with
high quality art, cultural programming, and community events
that attract attention to the effort immediately and maintain
it through the decades-long process required for successful
implementation. FlowIntersect will be commissioned. Boats
will be launched. Art shows will be produced. Volunteer
events will coordinated. Concerts and performances will
be initiated. All of these programming opportunities, some
produced by neighborhood community-based organizations,
others by the philanthropic community, others by the
Parks Board, will be geared towards bringing people to the
riverfront and establishing a national brand for the North
Riverfront district as a whole, attracting new media attention
as well as interest from new employers and residents.

20

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

NEW TYPES OF ACCESS

The creation of the new neighborhoods, public parks and
amenities represents a unique opportunity to integrate
streetcar lines into the new riverfront community, providing
a catalyst for sustainable transit-oriented development in
live-work neighborhoods that are within an easy ride of
downtown. Potentially, two branches can easily connect with
the planned West Broadway streetcar, providing a quick
downtown connection along North Washington Avenue. Their
unique alignments allow each to provide high-frequency
transit only steps away from the entire district.
These new modes of transport create the opportunity to bring
transit access and measured amounts of transit-oriented
inll development to an existing residential neighborhood,
helping to provide new transportation options, accommodate
additional residents without impacting local trafc, and
support new local retail with no need for extra street or
parking capacity. By introducing the streetcar early in the
redevelopment cycle of this western riverbank, an entire
community can evolve successfully and sustainably in a place
that traditional paradigms would call inaccessible and
isolated due to the lack of direct I-94 access and the barrier
of the river itself. Instead, this neighborhood can serve as the
heart of the combined sustainable transportation district that
can communicate quickly and easily with downtown and its
surrounding neighborhoods without the use of the car.

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION
Beyond physical interventions, the sustainable transportation
district would incorporate the latest thinking in the
ownership and operation of properties along each riverbank.
This separation of parking cost from property cost would
essentially unbundle the auto-oriented culture from
productive living or work space helping to reward those
who choose not to own a car with lower property lease
and ownership costs, while motivating those who choose
to lease or purchase parking to maximize the return on
their investment by sharing its cost and minimizing the
overall supply of parking. Sustainable transportation will
also facilitate the creation of neighborhood alternative
transportation collaborative that operates like a transportation
management association, offering transit passes, guaranteed
rides home, ride-sharing services, car-sharing, and
information about biking and walking networks.

BRANDING

MANY STRANDS, ONE IDENTITY

The graphic identity for the project is based around a
set of lines, a set of strands that come together. Theyre
multicolored, and theyre in different weights, but together
they form a kind of diverse whole, something that both weaves
around the river and envelops it, and looks towards the future.
One of the key points of this graphic identity is also that its
not a static thing; it is always in motion. Like the river itself,
the graphic identity isnt simply a xed markit is something
that can move and evolve over time. It can be animated, and
it can take a number of forms. This identity can be used on
everything from a bus to a sign to a t-shirt or a scarf. It works
at all scales, is immediately recognizable, and carries forward
the optimistic energy of this proposal.

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE, LOCAL LINEAGE

In thinking about this identity we also wanted to acknowledge
the history of Minneapolis. The primary display typeface is
called Bryant Condensed and was designed by Eric Olson, a
Minneapolis-based type designer. It is a rounded, monoline
sans-serif typeface derived from early industrial lettering kits.
As such, it has a connection to history, a contemporary and
open feel, as well as a direct connection to the Twin Cities.
The primary font is complemented by a secondary typeface,
which you are reading now: Mercury, a beautifully rened
contemporary serif typeface by Hoeer & Frere-Jones type
foundry. It is used for subtitles and general text on brochures
and in reports like this.

STREAMLINES

21

GROWING THE STRANDS

OVER TIME AND ACROSS THE CITY

STREAMLINES IS STRONG + DISTINCT,

YET FLEXIBLE.

YR 0

Parks accumulate over time, as sites and resources materialize.

STREAMLINES IS GENERATIVE.
YR 5

It prepares the ground, catalyzes development, and reimagines city- and river-life.

STREAMLINES IS TRANSFORMATIONAL.
We want people to make connections to the river when they
least expect to.
YR 10

STREAMLINES IS ROOTED...
...in the pragmatism and science of ood control, of ecology, of
environmental remediation, of stormwater cleansing, and of
sound economic development principles.
Importantly, its a strategy that stakes new claims to the river,
that seeds new growth, and that broadens the rivers reach. It
draws on the energy of the Mississippi, in order to re-energize
Minneapolis; it extends the experiences and qualities of being
at the river throughout the neighborhoods north of the falls.

YR 15

And its an energy that can eventually ow downstream,

too, carrying rich sediments and working ecologies along
Minneapoliss entire Mississippi corridor.

YR 20

A RIVER, A PARK, & A CITY,

INEXTRICABLY INTERTWINED:
ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMICS, HEARTY
WORK, AND RICH SOCIAL LIVES
TOGETHER WEAVING MULTIPLE
THREADS FOR A NEW GENERATION,
JUST AS THE MISSISSIPPI HAS WOVEN
FOR CENTURIES.

YR 25

22

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

+
GRAND ROUNDS
(EXISTING)

STREAMLINES

=
MISSISSIPPI STRANDS
(EXTENDED)

THE NEXT GENERATION

OF PARKS

23

TEAM + CREDITS
STOSS LANDSCAPE URBANISM
LANDSCAPE + URBANISM

Xcel Energy, Energy Constituent Group

MICHAEL MALTZAN ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE + INFRASTRUCTURE

Hennepin Avenue Bridge at night, 2007, photographer unknown

(http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5777761)

UTILE, INC.
URBAN DESIGN

The Mississippi River from the Stone Arch Bridge, 2005, photographer
unknown (http://www.ickr.com/photos/popabigballs/4217503511/sizes/l/)

Reconstructing St. Anthony Falls, by Peter Gui Clausen, 1869. Courtesy of

Minnesota Historical Society
St. Anthony Falls, by Henry Lewis, 1848-1849. From First Came the River
National Park Service Minnesota National River and Recreation Area
Brochure

RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER, ANTIMODULAR INC.

INTERACTIVE PUBLIC ART

Hennepin Bridge, 2010. Courtesy of Applied Ecological Services

CLOSE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE +

ASSOCIATE LANDSCAPE + PLANNING

Looking up West bank of Mississippi River when sawmills and lumber piles
abounded, 1890, photographer unknown. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical
Society

APPLIED ECOLOGICAL SERVICES

ECOLOGY + NATURAL RESOURCES
BURO HAPPOLD
SUSTAINABILITY + INFRASTRUCTURE
HR & A ADVISORS, INC.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PLANDFORM LTD
ECOLOGY + ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
PROJECT PROJECTS
IDENTITY + ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHICS
MOFFAT NICHOL
WATERFRONT + HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
NELSON\NYGAARD
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
DAVIS LANGDON
COST ESTIMATION
PINE & SWALLOW
SOIL SCIENCE
JIM TITTLE, NICE PICTURES
VIDEOGRAPHY
ERIC SILVA
AUDIO
24

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

Falls of St Anthony, High Water, photograph by Benjamin Frankiln Upton,

1818. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

Mississippi Logging Industry, photographer unknown. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society