Menomonee Valley Charrette
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
C+PA participated in a public design charrette in October 1999 to proposed ideas for sustainable development and investment opportunities in an immense, underutilized industrial river valley in Milwaukee. We led an urban design team comprised of diverse participants from the public and private sectors. Our design incorporated seven major strategies: maintain and reinforce the conceptual clarity of the Valley; emphasize spatial progression along the Valley's length; juxtapose green and gray (nature and industry) to avoid creating a middle landscape; bundle and layer infrastructure; reinforce Canal Street as a strong organizing element; connect the neighborhoods; and create a series of vertical gateways linking the valley floor and vehicular viaducts above. Our proposal featured prominently in the publication, A Vision for Smart Growth: Sustainable Development Design Charrette (2000), and has since informed ongoing design improvements in the Valley.
Research Question: Can specific physical strategies be identified for an interdisciplinary (re)consideration of the design and regenerative potential of interstices, particularly through strategic architectural appropriations of transportation infrastructure, within the post-industrial landscape?
Studies for utility corridors and connection of one of the four viaducts that cross the valley to the ground.