Who should design the new arena?

[FangKC]

The arena is going to have to be much more than just a building to show off to the world. It will have to blend in well with the adjacent Power and Light district or else it could have negative overtones for that project too.

Actually, I'm not so sure that the arena should blend in at all with the entertainment district. We are not planning a shopping mall. The wonderful thing about cities, and specifically downtown business districts, is that there is a form of controlled chaos. The buildings are of all types and styles. There is rarely any sense of conformity. There are many forms and ideas fighting for attention. There is some sense of power, ego, wealth, history, and form all fighting it out -- representing the conflicts inherent in democracy and capitalism.

That is why our cities are infinitely more interesting than the aesthetic of the former East Germany for example, which represented the monotony and conformity of communism. Those buildings were all about practicality and blending in.

I would also suggest that it would be wise not to select a design that is in any way monolithic and stark. This is the Power and Light district after all. I think the arena should be a design that incorporates light as one of its main features, and give the impression of immense power as well.

For these reasons, I think it should incorporate the use of vast glass curtain walls so that light spills out of the building at night into the surrounding area. This would also be a tribute of sorts to Louis Curtiss and his Boley Building, which was one of the first structures in the nation to use a glass curtain wall.

The building should glow in such a way that its halo can be seen for blocks and generate anticipation and excitement as people approach it from blocks away. Lost people unfamiliar with downtown should be able to find it because of its light drawing them towards their destination. "It must be over there, because I can see something glowing in that direction."

This glow will also tell people that something is going on in the arena that night. This tremendous sense of light eminating from the arena will also represent the rebirth of the south loop, which has been a very dark, forbidding, and barren part of downtown for decades.

The building that has spawned the name of this district is a good example. The Power and Light Building represents powerful form and optimism. It is literally a beacon of light at night, and a representation of strength and stability during the day. It is a timeless building that one never tires of seeing. Even as a ruin, it would be beautiful.

This type of arena design will also complement the feeling of light coming from the new press building for the KC Star that is located directly across the freeway.

The arena should become a new beacon of light that draws people together and leads them in from the prairies -- much like a distant campfire did for western settlers, or a lighthouse did for mariners.

[staubio]

I think your idea regarding the high visibility/light angle would make people less aware of the fact that they were walking 3 or 4 blocks to get there. I know we've heard whining about this in the past.

[FangKC]

Those are my same reservations as well, Fang. He typically works in the desert with expansive, open sites. His buildings are generally horizontal and opaque with strategically placed apertures for light. They're quite beautiful but I wonder how his work will translate to the office high rise building type, with repetitive elements and a restrictive urban site.

Yes, the designs remind me of Ed Mell paintings. Mell is a regional painter that gives form to the southwest using a more abstract representation of nature and use of light.

[eliphar17]

Can this be moved to the P&L District forum before it gets too long?

[MidtownCat]

There needs to be a contrasting relationship.

Something similar to this.



This one's for you, Devin.

[Highlander]

The arena is going to have to be much more than just a building to show off to the world. It will have to blend in well with the adjacent Power and Light district or else it could have negative overtones for that project too.

Actually, I'm not so sure that the arena should blend in at all with the entertainment district. We are not planning a shopping mall. The wonderful thing about cities, and specifically downtown business districts, is that there is a form of controlled chaos. The buildings are of all types and styles. There is rarely any sense of conformity. There are many forms and ideas fighting for attention. There is some sense of power, ego, wealth, history, and form all fighting it out -- representing the conflicts inherent in democracy and capitalism.

That is why our cities are infinitely more interesting than the aesthetic of the former East Germany for example, which represented the monotony and conformity of communism. Those buildings were all about practicality and blending in.

I would also suggest that it would be wise not to select a design that is in any way monolithic and stark. This is the Power and Light district after all. I think the arena should be a design that incorporates light as one of its main features, and give the impression of immense power as well.

For these reasons, I think it should incorporate the use of vast glass curtain walls so that light spills out of the building at night into the surrounding area. This would also be a tribute of sorts to Louis Curtiss and his Boley Building, which was one of the first structures in the nation to use a glass curtain wall.

The building should glow in such a way that its halo can be seen for blocks and generate anticipation and excitement as people approach it from blocks away. Lost people unfamiliar with downtown should be able to find it because of its light drawing them towards their destination. "It must be over there, because I can see something glowing in that direction."

This glow will also tell people that something is going on in the arena that night. This tremendous sense of light eminating from the arena will also represent the rebirth of the south loop, which has been a very dark, forbidding, and barren part of downtown for decades.

The building that has spawned the name of this district is a good example. The Power and Light Building represents powerful form and optimism. It is literally a beacon of light at night, and a representation of strength and stability during the day. It is a timeless building that one never tires of seeing. Even as a ruin, it would be beautiful.

This type of arena design will also complement the feeling of light coming from the new press building for the KC Star that is located directly across the freeway.

The arena should become a new beacon of light that draws people together and leads them in from the prairies -- much like a distant campfire did for western settlers, or a lighthouse did for mariners.

Fang

My point was not that of architectural conformity but one of a compatible design so that visitors to the Power and Light district are not confronted with a bland, stark and lifeless wall like the the eastern side of Bartle Hall is to Barney Allis Plaza. Equally bad would be something like the OKC design (see thread in P&L district) that is setback from street level by it's apparent limited entry points and becomes an entity all to itself. The design of the arena can be and should be a nice contrast to the P&L district but it should not be a barrier or natural boundary to the district but rather part of the district. Something that does not say to the P&L visitor that you have reached the eastern limit of downtown Kansas City.

[trailerkid]

Game over...HOK+/Dream Team wins!

[KCPowercat]

it was all based on our voting I bet

[kcteen]

Gehry was at the interview according to the business journal.

edit: apparently everyone knew this my bad. thought people were saying he wasnt there

[FangKC]

OK Highlander. I agree about the blank walls of Bartle Hall being a barrier to street life and aesthetics. It's a freaking abomination.