THE SPINE

ULI Hines Student Urban Design Competition

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2021

International Design Competition

Honorable Mention

Two weeks

Team Leader

Prof. Val Rynnimeri, Prof. Kevin Curtis, Clarence Qian

Mallika Jain, Ryan Dunham, Natalia Horna, Poorna Patange

Kansas City, Missouri

The Spine, an innovative masterplan expansion in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, embodies principles of awareness, ambition, and accessibility in its design. Anticipating that the area will grow by more than 9,000 new residents in the next 10 years, our project will support this new growth by offering 1,380 homes and 193,328 sq ft of commercial retail and office spaces, forming a community of 3,230 residents and 1,250 new jobs. A linear park encourages alternative modes of transportation, such as new LRT routes, pedestrian walkways, and grade-separated bike lanes. The KCMO Arts and Culture Hub includes the Kansas City Indian Center and Black History Museum.

Climate-conscious, the Spine will meet the 2030 living building challenge and LEED neighbourhood certification through careful urban design. Our focus on inclusivity includes designating 40% of new housing provided to be affordable. This is achieved through strategic partnerships with Liberty Bank’s rent-to-own program. The Spine will also provide a new campus for State Tech College of Missouri’s Health Science programs, which will provide quality education and new economic opportunities in the medical industry. Overall, the Spine aims to uplifts Kansas City with mindful, ambitious, and inclusive design, enriching the lives of residents by building an inclusive community for all.

AWARE: CREATING CULTURE

AMBITIOUS: GREEN LIVING

ACCESSIBLE: SOCIAL EQUITY establishing the place to be providing a sustainable life housing and education for all context: cultural venues within the surrounding area context: sustainable infrastructure context: education and housing

Future development: the 25-year master plan

Along with providing a fun and livable neighbourhood for Kansas Citizens, the Spine provides opportunities for future growth in the Greater Downtown core along with the creation of a larger Innovation District. The next 25 years present development opportunities beyond the boundaries of the proposed masterplan redevelopment. This growth will use pedestrian and transit-orientated design to connect new and existing developments to the larger metro area.

The Spine: aerial view looking across the entirety of the development and its proposed programming and city connections

RESILIENT REGENERATIVE DESIGN Comprehensive Design Studio

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2020

4B Final Design Project

One month

Prof. Emeritus Andrew Levitt

Leslie Spit, Toronto

A resilient and responsive design reduces its impact on climate change while using global temperature increases to open new avenues in material and structural solutions. This project is designed for the climate of 2050, where the average temperature in Toronto is predicted to rise by 2.30C. In this environment, bamboo is now a viable plant species that can be grown within the surrounding environment.

Following on the notions of resiliency and sustainability, this project constrains its design to incorporate local, rapidly renewable materials as the main building component. A super-structure made solely out of bamboo grown on the site envelopes the various public programs introduced at the southern peninsula of Leslie Spit. Given the local environment’s ecological sensitivity, the entire structure projects off the shoreline into the lake. A boardwalk of wood post suspends the project 2m above the highest recorded flood water rise. As an attractor of public activity, at the end of the wooden boardwalk is the lakeside amphitheatre that allows visitors to jump off into the cool water of Lake Ontario.