Berkley Park

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for urban planning and parks can play a significant role in this context. With Berkley Park, Kansas City in the Midwest of the USA wanted to create an internationally significant project that the city can use as a brand and as the first step in long-term development.

The brand is intended to distinguish Kansas City as a leading city in sustainable urban development. This is accomplished with a close integration of environmental and design or artistic planning content.

The focus is on rainwater that falls on the paved surfaces of the adjacent new Missouri River waterfront development, is collected, and is displayed in artistic ways at various locations throughout the park.

Without the ecologically effective treatment of the water, art in such expressive form would not come to fruition. Without being interwoven with artistic elements, the park would not have what it takes to become a brand and would hardly have the inspirational power to take further, such ambitious steps in urban development.