Rhythmic Growth

2025 | SAINT PAUL, MN | In collaboration with Jesus Martinez Ramirez and Jingyuan Yao

This was a submission for the 2025 AIA St. Paul Prize Competition. All submissions can be found here: 2025 St. Paul Prize Submissions

Kellogg Park is located in a site with a rich layering of history, cultural influences, and unique natural elements. It can be described as a collage of activities and materiality. Enhancing and celebrating these features will serve to activate the park and the riverfront, by introducing residential, commercial, and recreational programming.

This proposal incorporates a grid system of beams and columns, with its spacing referencing the East Second Street underpass columns and fencing piers along the south ledge of the park. This framework allows for various programmatic elements—indoor and outdoor—to be incorporated as needed. These elements consist of modular panels and equipment. Furthermore, due to the unique geography of this site, which
includes steep topography and flooding risk near the river, this framework allows for the connection of different parts of the site that are otherwise not possible, and can provide
refuge from flooding. The overall proposed form of the grid structure is heterogeneous in form and material, and this reflects the immediate context of existing buildings of varying heights, dates of construction, and materiality.

Historic and recent events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the general transformation of the economy, have demonstrated that program needs change over time. Funding resources for public infrastructure improvements and development also fluctuate. Furthermore, priorities can evolve once proposals are offered to authorities for review and community input. For these reasons, the proposed structure is advantageous as it allows for adaptability in the planning stage as well as in the development stage. Growth can occur incrementally and at varying speeds throughout time. This proposal also allows for community inclusion by providing opportunities for contributions from a diverse set of actors, including community artists, philanthropic organizations, and private builders.

The modules establish rhythm and order linking the four levels of spaces from the park mall, to the East Second Street underpass, to the existing parking lot, to the riverfront walkway. The existing steep cliffs, railroad tracks, and highspeed roadways hinder the relationship between these four levels. The rhythmic growth and harmony of the modules links these disparate areas.