ROGERSPARTNERS in the News

In 2012 three teams were selected to design three sites in Washington, DC's National Mall Design Competition. ROGERSPARTNERS Architects+Urban Designers (then Rogers Marvel Architects), with Peter Walker and Partners (PWP Landscape Architecture) was selected for Constitution Gardens, a site along the northern edge of the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Potomac River. (Other World-Architects member firms won the competition for the other two sites: WEISS/MANFREDI, with OLIN for the Washington Monument, and Davis Brody Bond, with Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, for Union Square.)

The unanimous approval by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and The National Capital Planning Commission of ROGERSPARTNERS and PWP's design for Constitution Gardens comes halfway between the competition win and the completion of the first phase of restorations in 2016, which coincides with the National Parks Service's centennial celebrations. A key element in the approved design is a pavilion that acts as a transition from the mall's high ground down to the adjacent lake. A lattice-like structure defines the porous walls and roof of the pavilion. As seen below, a mockup of the intricate structure hangs in ROGERSPARTNERS' Lower Manhattan office.

In summer 2013 the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board announced that SCAPE and ROGERSPARTNERS (then Rogers Marvel) were selected to design Water Works, a park centered on St. Anthony Falls, the only true waterfall on the Mississippi River. On 22 October the team presented the Water Works design that, per a statement, "weaves together heritage ruins, local ecology, and recreational systems into a coherent civic space on the Central Riverfront. It forms a series of flexible landscape 'rooms' and viewing terraces, links bike and pedestrian ways, and celebrates the historic gatehouse and canal in the form of a central interpretive plaza. This new Water Works landscape and park pavilion together unlock access and opportunity for Minnesotans to see, hear, touch and own the downtown waterfront."

Rob Rogers, founder of ROGERSPARTNERS, said, "This is a remarkable opportunity to re-link the Minneapolis downtown with its storied waterfront. Through significant new urban connections, and a recreational and educational pavilion, the park will provide an all-season place of respite and delight right at the site of the city’s origins – St. Anthony Falls."

The two-phase construction will see the pavilion and mezzanine level opening as early as 2016, followed by the canal and gatehouse.