The Minneapolis Parks Foundation seeking to reassert a connection a particularly historic section of the Mississippi river, has commissioned the development of a new waterfront park adjacent to St. Anthony Falls. Dubbed ‘Water Works’, the design is being led by SCAPE / landscape architecture and ROGERS PARTNERS architects+urban designers, whom revealed their plans on october 22. The 16,000m² site will feature heritage ruins, wide stretches of local vegetation, bike/pedestrian pathways, a pavilion structure, and a series of flexible landscape ‘rooms’.
History, ecology and recreation are integrated to form a signature riverfront park that uniquely embraces its Minneapolis context. The complexities of the site require a nuanced and balanced approach to expressing the past, accommodating present uses and anticipating future needs. Water has literally shaped the natural and manmade landscapes here and the park design is equally inspired by the historic, water powered milling infrastructure upon which Minneapolis was built and the local bluff geology that formed the St. Anthony Falls.
The proposal is a composite of three distinct zones, each defined by an interpretation of historic resources, expression of native ecology and geology and resolves extant circulation conflicts. Along with a strategic use of architecture, occupiable, terraced bluffs make critical topographic connections within the park and beyond to its surroundings. These unique features coalesce to structure a park that could only exist in Minneapolis.
