The Guthrie Theater and Gold Medal Park have profoundly impacted the historical industrial riverfront of Downtown Minneapolis. Through its innovative design, this project skillfully addresses the issue of brownfield contamination while offering breathtaking views of the Mississippi River.
Located in the St. Anthony Falls Historic District, the project site holds immense ecological, industrial, and cultural significance.

The Mississippi River and its awe-inspiring waterfall, known as Owámniyomni in Dakota, have played a vital role in Native American culture for centuries. Additionally, the site was home to a flour and lumber mill facility that gave birth to the city of Minneapolis and the well-known “”Gold Medal” brand flour. With the industrial transformation in the 1970s came the recognition of the need to clean up urban brownfield contamination and revive the historical working riverfront.

One of the project’s main goals was to reconnect the city with the river. While Minneapolis boasts a well-known park system, Downtown was lacking in green space. The design team tackled this issue by prioritizing visual and pedestrian connections to the river. A compact vertical building design allowed for a strong visual connection, while the park provided multiple pathways for pedestrians to access the river.

The site’s industrial history presented a significant design challenge due to the contamination of the soil resulting from previous uses, including grain elevators, a lumber mill, and a railroad roundhouse. Furthermore, the site had been utilized as a 500-car parking lot, intensifying the need for remediation.

However, remediating all the contaminated soil to make it suitable for recreational use would have been a costly and time-consuming endeavor. To overcome this challenge, the design team drew inspiration from Native American burial mounds found throughout the Midwest.

Approximately 10% of the site’s contaminated soil was remediated and repurposed to create an observation mound, effectively encapsulating the rest of the contaminated soil underneath. This remediated soil mound serves as a physical reminder of the project’s commitment to social responsibility and environmental sustainability, becoming a contemporary burial landform.

The design itself takes inspiration from the natural and cultural landscape, distilling its motifs into simple yet powerful symbols, forms, and geometries. The Theater architecture is grounded by a formal plinth, which seamlessly transitions into more organic forms as one moves eastward through the park.

Sinuous pathways emulate the patterns formed by moving water, while straight pathways reference the rigorous grid of the Midwest city. A captivating spiral walkway, bound in Corten steel, allows visitors a meditative ascent to the top of the 36-foot-high Observation Mound, evoking the spirit of a labyrinth.

Over the years, the design team has forged a strong partnership with the client, overseeing the park’s development and enhancement. Noteworthy accomplishments include facilitating the long-term leasing and strategic placement of five contemporary sculptures within Gold Medal Park, solidifying its status as a landmark and establishing an art district in the city’s historic core.

Currently, the design team is focused on a lighting study and enhancement project aimed at improving public safety.

In conclusion, Guthrie Theater and Gold Medal Park have successfully transformed a contaminated brownfield, once comprised of vacant lots and empty surface parking, into a regional tourist and recreational destination, a crown jewel of the Minneapolis Grand Rounds Park System, and a green anchor of the rapidly densifying Mill City District.

This versatile and welcoming space establishes a physical and visual connection to the river, accommodating a diverse range of passive and active programming. Its revitalization has injected new vitality into the riverfront, leaving an enduring impact on the cultural landscape of the region.

Category:EnvironmentsYear:2023Designers:Tom Oslund, Joe Favour, O2 Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA and Jean Nouvel, The Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Paris, FranceManufacturer:Gold Medal Park Conservancy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA