River City Redevelopment

Rivers have historically played a central role in the economy, society, and structure of cities around the world. Cities and towns up and down the Mississippi River have been defined by the river, which has shaped the urban fabric and environmental conditions, particularly as the economy and technology have changed.

Alton, Illinois provides a case study of these changes. Alton is a historic river town, located just north of St. Louis. A once-thriving industrial center, Alton exhibits various responses to the challenges facing contemporary river towns. In this graduate architecture seminar, students explored these responses and proposed physical interventions that could help make the city more resilient and vibrant for current and future residents.

“As a class we found Alton to be a uniquely interesting and engaging site,” said visiting assistant professor Ian Trivers, instructor for the course. “We all came into the project knowing relatively little about Alton and were genuinely impressed by the richness of its history, the enthusiasm in the community for charting a new future for the city, and the complex mixture of issues around race, economic development, and historic preservation that need to be addressed to chart that future.”

Students studied the context and history of Alton, exploring the history, culture, community, and redevelopment potential of the city. They engaged with readings, virtual site visits, and interactions with Alton residents and advocates, such as staff from the planning and development agency and academic researchers who study cultural heritage. One ongoing community visitor was Penelope Schmidt, a long-time resident and advocate for Alton.

“The students were assigned with the development of a design proposal for properties in Alton, Illinois, and were challenged with real life, real time, site-specific market conditions that required original, creative, and practical thinking,” said Schmidt. “My hope is that the class experience prompts further exploration of urban pioneering opportunities in Alton and refines the students’ abilities to leverage social and environmental assets and assess political factors to determine potential for successful metro redevelopment.”

As they learned about the opportunities for redevelopment and resilience in Alton, students began to develop ideas that could “capture the imagination” without being dismissed as infeasible. These ideas were intended to inspire a wider conversation about the future of Alton, which in turn required students to utilize communication and representation methods that could be understood by an audience beyond designers.

Student interventions explored a wide range of potential changes, from interactions with the river to new cultural spaces and connections. For example, Chuanyue Xu’s project “Link” explored the heritage of Alton outside of the waterfront, developing a new pedestrian path to connect people into Alton and provide new views. The proposed bridge creates new space for programming and interaction and highlights a distinct view of Alton and the river.

Josephine Hsu’s project, “Broadway Canal,” takes the existing stretch of Broadway in downtown Alton and converts it to a fully pedestrian boulevard, with a water canal running down the length of the street. The canal would feature stormwater infrastructure such as bioswales, permeable paving, and rain gardens to address flooding. The canal would serve as a unique feature, forming an identity for downtown Alton.

Hsu remarked that the course was set up to expose the context of Alton over the course of the semester. For her, learning the history, geographic context, and current challenges, in coordination with hearing from community members who are invested in the redevelopment of Alton, increased her level of engagement in the project.

“I felt, as I was doing the project, that I was actually contributing to something tangible — and that gave me a sense of clarity on what I wanted to envision for Alton,” said Hsu. “One thing I latched onto was how the redevelopment plan needed a cohesive theme. My project is based on this notion that the effort should stem from a feature that served not only as an anchor point for the area but also as the catalyst for continued development. I wanted it to be something that would be sustainable in the long run while increasing the area’s resiliency to flooding, something that improved the walkability of downtown Alton, and ultimately, something that gave downtown Alton a new identity.”

According to Hsu, Schmidt’s hopes for students were achieved through this course. “I think the most valuable lesson I learned from this course and project is how important it is to recognize and acknowledge that every community has a unique history and a set of needs and wants that are specific to the place,” said Hsu. “From working so closely with community members, I came to better appreciate how much more meaningful it feels to be a designer who listens to other voices beyond one’s own.”

Penelope Schmidt
Deanna Barnes
Helaine Silverman