The Riverfront Attractor revitalizes the connection between Kansas City and the Missouri River, addressing various challenges within the sports and entertainment sector with modern innovations. Kansas City, renowned as the sports and entertainment hub of the United States, is home to professional teams such as KC Current, The Chiefs, and The Royals. Consequently, the city’s infrastructure and architecture must adapt to evolving community and sports trends to reflect this commitment.
A key issue the Riverfront Attractor aims to solve is the underutilization of typical stadiums, which are often used only a few times a year. For example, the Chiefs’ stadium is only used around 20 times annually. The Riverfront Attractor, designed as a sports and entertainment community center, prioritizes community needs while ensuring the stadium can adapt to various purposes. By honoring Kansas City's history as a port city, the attractor employs a gantry system with modular components, effectively enabling it to 3D print any required sports or entertainment venue. This system allows the venue to transform into a soccer stadium, tennis stadium, or waterfront amphitheater, among other configurations, thanks to its detachable pitch.
Additionally, the larger site enhances the community by providing more retail spaces, waterfront activities, and sports enjoyment plazas. Adjacent to the KC Current stadium, this space can complement the stadium during game days as a pre-game activity area and serve as an attraction to the river on non-game days. By proposing the extension of the streetcar, downtown residents can access the riverfront for free, fostering social and economic development in the area.
Overall, the Riverfront Attractor offers an exciting new addition to the riverfront. It brings people together for a holistic social experience and creates the conditions for a Blue Zone to form. Paired with downtown development, the Riverfront Attractor ensures Kansas City maintains its status as the modern sports and entertainment hub.
ADV ARCH DSGN 2
POPULOUS STUDIO
12 WEEKS
LANDON HEALY
