Blostein and Overly Win Ferrous Park Competition
Associate Professor Beth Blostein and Lecturer Bart Overly, through their firm Blostein/Overly Architects, have won an international competition to design artist housing on the edge of a sculpture park in Kansas City Missouri. The competition was organized by STRETCH, a sculptor and Kansas City entrepreneur, and partners including architect Tom Stiller of SquareOne Collaborative. The group is currently developing land around “Ferrous Park,” which showcases some of STRETCH’s original sculptures, and the development will include the artist housing as well as STRETCH Sculpture’s studio and gallery. Ferrous Park is located in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, a rejuvenating industrial area that has become a destination for the local art scene, similar to Columbus’ Short North.
The competition was established to generate fresh and diverse proposals that looked at sustainable, eco-friendly solutions to new housing construction in the urban core. After an initial request for qualifications that attracted designers throughout the world, eight finalists were asked to develop proposals for the site that emphasized new construction technologies, off-site production of building components and environmentally-friendly products and means of production. Blostein/Overly’s proposal entitled “Slot Canyons” is a three story townhouse featuring a south facing “Terrace Slot,” uniquely shaped to deflect light into the living spaces and to generate solar power year-round via building integrated photovoltaic panels (BIPV). An interior slot becomes a rain garden letting diffuse light into private spaces, and provides access to a roof garden.
In addition to the Columbus architecture firm, Johnsen Schmaling Architects (Milwaukee, WI) and Rockhill & Associates (Lawrence, KS) are working with the development team to create a unique mix of housing options for the arts district. STRETCH and SquareOne Collaborative will also design rental lofts that will fill out the block.
Blostein/Overly's competition boards can be viewed via their website:
More information about the work of Beth Blostein and Bart Overly can be found at their firm's website, www.blostein-overly.com
Additional information on the design competition can be found at www.stretchsculpture.com.
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Posted: 8/2/2006