Booth Street Stair
Program
Urban Landscape Stair
The City of Milwaukee commissioned us to create a pedestrian link between the newly developed “Beerline” neighborhood along the Milwaukee River and the existing Brewer’s Hill neighborhood via a steep park bluff to the North – a grade difference of approximately 67 feet. In addition, we were challenged to produce a low cost design alternative to a previously approved series of multiple retaining walls and switchback ramps while providing the same functional criteria.
Solution
Industrial Artifact
Our solution is an elegant urban sculpture borrowing from the language and materiality of the surrounding industrial buildings and nearby bridges. A large existing concrete retaining wall was utilized along with new construction to create an affordable, site specific, civic amenity blending both the old and the new. Six inch steel wide flange sections were utilized to create a series of slender gates or frames rising directly out of the surrounding prairie grass landscape. These frames support a thin, precast concrete deck which allows a bike path to pass beneath it and creates a dramatic cantilever with expansive views of downtown Milwaukee.
When viewed from a distance the steel frames are unobtrusive, thin vertical lines against the landscape and skyline. As one uses the stair the frames create a loosely defined space and their repetitiveness directs the user toward distant views of a landmark (the Gallun Tannery) of Milwaukee’s industrial past across the river. The repetition and forced perspective of the frames creates a lens focusing the user on a distant landmark and reorienting them within the cityscape. In this manner the new structure takes on the quality of an artifact itself, an exposed relic aligning itself with Milwaukee’s industrial origins.
This is a simple, elegant, and budget conscious solution for a difficult site which creates a functional piece of civic art – a project typology often outside the role of the architecture profession. It links together two distinct neighborhoods that previously had little connection because of a landscape barrier and acknowledges Milwaukee’s industrial past through the reuse of existing site elements and cleanly expressed structure. The design promotes pedestrian and bicycle travel within the city and provides a dynamic viewing platform overlooking the downtown skyline.
Overview: Milwaukee Beerline Neighborhood
Completion Date: 2004
