Gateway West: Pappajohn Sculpture Park

[dogbo]

This neighborhood has come a long way just in the past few years. First the renovation of Arlington-Hallet. Then the Temple for Performing Arts. Then Suites at 800. The New Library. The Papajohn Building. Ritual Cafe. DMSC. And now.. the Sculpture Park.

Other big things are ahead as well. In December, The Repertory Theater of Iowa http://www.rtiowa.com will be making its home at 1408 Locust with their premiere of "A Christmas Carol" at the Des Moines Social Club. As a member of RTI and a patron of the arts myself, I can say we are all very much looking forward to the prospects this neighborhood holds for becoming the center for art and culture in the city of Des Moines.

Bravo, Des Moines!

cool!!! Thanks for sharing and welcome to the forum!

[Better Life dude]

Hopefully the rest of the sod will be placed in the next few days. After three weeks of putting sod down, only about half the park has grass with about 3 1/2 weeks remaining before the grand opening. It has been rainy with lots of mud but it seems like everything is down to the wire. I compare this with the Minnesota Twins new baseball stadium (see the Sports section of this web site). The baseball field sod was laid entirely in four days last week with sod that came THE SAME DAY on refrigerated semi trucks all the way from Colorado. The baseball field is several times the size of the Pappajohn sculpture park. Perhaps Minneapolis had perfect weather last week.

BTW my wife thinks I'm insane for spending mental energy thinking about things like this.

[DMRyan]

My only early concern with this project is the landscaping, which is appearing very underwhelming. I'm not saying every piece has to have dense landscaping around it, but why not go for a few knockout landscape features, or some type of water feature?

Speaking of landscaping, Des Moines really could stand to have a few more well-kept public gardens. Perhaps that will be realized along the riverfront someday if the Botanical Center is renovated and expanded.

[hawk61401]

My only early concern with this project is the landscaping, which is appearing very underwhelming. I'm not saying every piece has to have dense landscaping around it, but why not go for a few knockout landscape features, or some type of water feature?

Speaking of landscaping, Des Moines really could stand to have a few more well-kept public gardens. Perhaps that will be realized along the riverfront someday if the Botanical Center is renovated and expanded.

They are going with the theme from the library .. a tree here a shrub there. The library was suppose to create pocket parks between the wings.

The plan called for dense planting in the park and that's what Chipperfield had in mind when he designed the building. Suppose to have the feel that you're reading a book in a park. Instead, the copper facade reflects other buildings, not trees, and you can watch the traffic go by.

Des Moines always has grandiose plans and then we end up doing it on the cheap.

[dogbo]

BTW my wife thinks I'm insane for spending mental energy thinking about things like this.

You're not alone BLD. That is why this site is a type of therapy for many of us.

(speaking for myself) It is always reassuring to know you're not the only geek in town that thinks (or worries) about this stuff. Thanks for sharing. BTW...I saw you and your son walking around the parameter of the park last Thursday. I was running (sorry I didn't give you a holler) but it looked like you were speaking to him. I'm sure it was some fatherly reflection like, "#@#@^! they better get this *%#$!! sod down soon!"

[Better Life dude]

BTW my wife thinks I'm insane for spending mental energy thinking about things like this.

You're not alone BLD. That is why this site is a type of therapy for many of us.

(speaking for myself) It is always reassuring to know you're not the only geek in town that thinks (or worries) about this stuff. Thanks for sharing. BTW...I saw you and your son walking around the parameter of the park last Thursday. I was running (sorry I didn't give you a holler) but it looked like you were speaking to him. I'm sure it was some fatherly reflection like, "#@#@^! they better get this *%#$!! sod down soon!"

That was us Dogbo. We stopped at the park bench on our way to the downtown library. BTW, my 9 year old son thinks I'm insane also. My family tries to indulge me with my musings.

[Better Life dude]

Tonight (Wednesday) most of the lighting is on at the sculpture park. I was driving by and also noticed the sod crew was working late tonight. This might be why the park was lit up tonight: so the workers could keep going late in the darkness. Hopefully their goal is to be all finished with sod by this Friday or Saturday. Nomade looks fantastic with his lighting - the white metal really pops out against the black darkness. The red metal beam sculpture was not lit tonight The curvy concrete backdrop walls look pretty good with their uplighting. Some other sculptures either need their lighting adjusted or they have light bulbs not working. I suppose this is all part of the shakedown process.

[Aulus]

Oh, you mean something like this?



I should have brought along my tripod, though...

(around 11-ish tonight)

[Better Life dude]

Oh, you mean something like this?



I should have brought along my tripod, though...

(around 11-ish tonight)

Oh, yeah!

[Better Life dude]

Daily update. He. He. All the grass is now down except a very small last patch at the corner of 15th and Locust.

The appearance of this park changes every time you pass it by. Tonight all the sculptures are lit and probably will remain so every night from this point forward. The ones that give a wow (to me!) because of their lighting are the three dark sculptures on the Grand Ave. side as you approach the northwest corner. Because they are all about texture, the raking light on them just makes them so different than they appear in the day time. The lit concrete curve directly behind them just adds to the drama of seeing them.

Another great view of the park is from the 15th Street end, looking directly east all the way through the middle of the park - looking at all the green hillsides like ocean waves parting down the middle. Beautiful!

Probably all that remains is installing all the signage describing the pieces and mowing the lawn every week or so. The concrete pads for the post for each sculpture's description are already in ground.

You must get down there sometime after sunset. It's pretty cool!

[Ingersoll1978]

16 new photos of the Pappajohn Sculpture Park have been added to the project page!

Pappajohn Sculpture Park Project Page

[DMRyan]

I sound like a curmudgeon and should just be happy we have this wonderful attraction, but this looks too bland for my tastes. I like the curved wall and topography changes, but the rest of this park might as well be on the front lawn of a West Des Moines insurance company's HQ.

Here's two other recently opened sculpture parks in other midwest cities that seem to have more inviting, better landscaped, or just plain better atmospheres to view the sculpture work:

Omaha (why the Pappajohn couldn't have a water feature I don't know)




St. Louis, Citygarden: (a true urban sculpture park)

[Better Life dude]

A water feature would have been great for the Pappajohn sculpture park. Keeping the original Gateway park concept of the runnel with water continuing all the way to NW corner of the sculpture park and ending in a large fountain where the grassy mound used to be located - that could have been cool. These things or some other idea can always be added in the future.

The Nelson Atkins in Kansas City has a beautiful new reflecting pool just added in the last couple years and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has the sculpture "Spoon Bridge with Cherry" in the middle of a pond. So the water feature doesn't necessarily have to be a fountain.

[hawk61401]

Ryan, I am going to be a worse curmudgeon than you. I look at these pictures and I see stark, cold, and barren. Even the trees look sickly. Those photos of Omaha give a marked contrast. Not everyone in the country would know it's Omaha. But, those photos say "this is a major American city" and this is the way a major American city does it.

The Pappajohn garden gives me the feeling that I am not sure if I have arrived or where I am leaving. There's no central point. Any kind of water feature would have added immensely. I think Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects of New York City could have done a much better job. Their other projects: http://www.world-architects.com/index.p ... _id=208868

One encouraging thought. It will look better at night than in the day time.

[DMRyan]

Aside from landscaping and a water feature, I think using natural materials like split faced limestone block would've enhanced the feel of the park. Instead, there are poured in place concrete walls which is the same thing we're trying to get away from in Nollen Plaza. Enough with the stark modernism in downtown public spaces, bring on the inviting natural materials. 9 out of 10 people would prefer the materials used in the riverwalk project over a gray concrete wall.

[Mastermind]

I agree, i think the concrete walls were a huge mistake.

[lunksmoo]

To me, the Gateway Park was lost when they kept the Arlington-Hallet apartment building smack-dab in the middle of it. I am 99.99% nearly always in favor of saving and preserving historic buildings, but in this one rare case, I would have been in favor of removing them. Leaving that building completely ruins the form and fluidity of the urban park they were trying to create.

Also, to put a somewhat positive spin on the starkness compared to the other parks shown in this thread; give the trees and other landscaping a few years to grow. It looks like those other parks have had a few years for the vegetation to flourish. And also give this area a decade when the economy will rebound, and more urban development can take place around the park.

I have heard rumors the Western Gateway area is going to lose the post office annex to merge with another station. While it will be bad to lose that service in the area, that building is not historical; in fact it is pretty dismal. This will open up almost the entire area from 15th Street east to the new Wellmark building for another project along the north side of the park.

[hawk61401]

To me, the Gateway Park was lost when they kept the Arlington-Hallet apartment building smack-dab in the middle of it. I am 99.99% nearly always in favor of saving and preserving historic buildings, but in this one rare case, I would have been in favor of removing them. Leaving that building completely ruins the form and fluidity of the urban park they were trying to create

I agree totally and I think the Pappajohn Learning Center screws it up too. The original plans were to have no buildings and a clear view between the library and Meredith.

[IowaNomad]

I am sorry to read some of the last posts. The sculpture park is fantastic. I think the apartment building is fantastic as it adds an urban feel.

The concrete leaves a little to be desired but still looks great. The park is in its infancy and will grow over the next 10 years into a different look.

I would suggest not downplaying such a great park before it has had time to grow into what the designers have envisioned.

[Aulus]

I am sorry to read some of the last posts. The sculpture park is fantastic. I think the apartment building is fantastic as it adds an urban feel.

The concrete leaves a little to be desired but still looks great. The park is in its infancy and will grow over the next 10 years into a different look.

I would suggest not downplaying such a great park before it has had time to grow into what the designers have envisioned.

I would echo that and add that the park needs to "settle in" and age. A case in point/example is The Barbican on Grand Avenue.

When The Barbican was first built, I hated it. The bare, Mussolini Fascist architecture of the place, all that sterile concrete and no nature. My wife finally had to tell me to shut the hell up about when we drove past.

Well, time went by. Most of my trips around the city didn't take me past it and I just forgot about it. Then, a couple of months ago, I was on Grand and had to stop due to traffic. so I was sitting there and, to kill time, looked around. I was in front of The Barbican and it didn't look half bad. The concrete had kind of a patina and a few strains. There was ivy on some of it. The landscaping had grown into maturity. It all blended.

Give the park time, folks.

[Better Life dude]

I think once the construction fence comes down and we can begin to experience the park by walking through it and playing in it and hang out on the grass and see others hanging out there - then it won't seem so sterile.

The Des Moines Business Record has a cover story this week on the sculpture park and the writer interviewed landscape architects and museum sculpture curators from around the US to see if they think the Pappajohn park measures up. Link: http://www.businessrecord.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=8752

One point that was made in the article is that the most successful sculpture parks have, along with their permanent pieces, temporary sculptures that come and go. These newer pieces allow younger, emerging artists a place to show their work. Often it is quite different from what is already in the Pappajohn park. The article also quotes Des Moines Art Center director Jeff Fleming as saying that more works will be coming (although he didn't give details).

The addition of flower gardens and more natural green elements can easily be added. Here's an idea: Have ivy - or the stuff that is climbing the walls of the MLK Parkway at the Grand Ave. overpass - have that growing on the curvy concrete walls. That would look totally cool at night with the uplighting already in place along the walls.

[dogbo]

I agree was some of the latter comments. You have to give the park a little time to mature before rendering a final critique.

[DMRyan]

The examples I posted above are all of parks that have opened this year. There are some mature trees in the background of the Omaha photos, otherwise the landscaping in Omaha and St. Louis has only had months to grow out. Obviously the trees will grow up and it will look a little better, but why so minimal on the plantings? A smattering of trees around the park and a ring of barberry shrubs around a piece of sculpture is not a very inspiring landscape. As BLD said, at least it's easy to add plant material later.

[DMRyan]

A few other shots of the Citygarden in St. Louis, showing just how much is added with the details.

Photo credit: Michael Behrens









Hey Nollen Plaza plan re-doers viewing this site, look at this! Warm and inviting, not the ultra modern euro-Berlin Concrete look.

[hawk61401]

Here's what gripes my butt. We have the beautiful West Capital Terrace which was done with A+ class. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jr_early/3 ... 5/sizes/l/ It's postcard material and has been used by ABC for shots of Des Moines during NASCAR.

But our newest public space AND the front door to downtown Des Moines? It's paltry. Sorry, when those trees mature it's not going to help a whole bunch. Those million dollar sculptures deserve more than being layed down on a piece of sod.

[rasmeth]

The sculpture garden is not my personal taste, but I like it for what it is. It reminds me of Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetle Juice (Lidias mom's sculpture etc.).

[BriGuy]

lunksmoo wrote:
To me, the Gateway Park was lost when they kept the Arlington-Hallet apartment building smack-dab in the middle of it. I am 99.99% nearly always in favor of saving and preserving historic buildings, but in this one rare case, I would have been in favor of removing them. Leaving that building completely ruins the form and fluidity of the urban park they were trying to create


I agree totally and I think the Pappajohn Learning Center screws it up too. The original plans were to have no buildings and a clear view between the library and Meredith.

I tend to agree with the above posts regarding the Arlington-Hallet apartment buildings being situated near the middle of what has been planned as a public open space park. However, I would hate to see the historic buildings torn down. Ideally, they should be moved elsewhere but I don't know if that is feasible. The pictures of the sculpture park are a bit underwhelming to me. I see mostly grass and a few trees. But maybe I'll feel different once I actually visit the park, which fortunately will be in a few weeks when I'll be in DSM for a one-night stay. From what I understand, it should be open by then. A water fountain or reflecting pool (or any water feature for that matter) plus split-faced limestone blocks as DMRyan suggested would certainly have added a more classy feel and high-end touch that I don't see compared to the pictures of the parks in St. Louis, KC, and others. But maybe DSM was going for a certain concrete and minimalist look with the idea that the sculptures would stand out more. Don't know. The trees will help but will be a decade or more before there is any size to them. Regardless, the sculpture park will be a great addition for DSM and an attraction for visitors.

Now, if they would only get the Riverwalk done!

[Mastermind]

Is that railings they are adding to those walls? Man that is not going to look good

[Better Life dude]

Is that railings they are adding to those walls? Man that is not going to look good

I'm out of town so i can't see the railings right now - but I asked Gondelasonas about this two years ago at one of those public forums. He said there would be railings for safety reasons on top of the curvy walls. But he said they would "blend in" with their surroundings and not call attention to themselves.

They are needed so people - I'm thinking specifically about my kids - don't fall or jump twelve feet and crash into the up lights or onto a sculpture.

[Mastermind]

Hopefully they paint them black.