The winning design of an international competition, Old Post Office Plaza serves as an urban catalyst for revitalization while forming an iconic event space for downtown St. Louis. Inspired by a large public sculpture, “the Torso of Icaro” by noted sculptor Igor Mitoraj and donated for installation in the project, the design creates a three dimensional armature of spaces and program that spiral upward and around the work to explore the deeper structure of ideas that the myth of Daedelus and Ikarus evokes. Not only was Daedalus the key protagonist of one of the great narratives of flight and fall, he was associated with early manifestations of public space and public art in ancient Greece, as an archetypal architect and sculptor.
Architect: Baird Sampson Neuert Architects
Project Team: Barry Sampson (project director), Jon Neuert (project advisor), Mauro Carreno (project coordinator), Yves Bonardeaux, Winda Lau, Adrian Phiffer
Landscape Architect: ARCTURIS
Structural Engineer: Blackwell Bowick
US Structural Reps: Optimal Engineering Solutions Inc.
Civil and Electrical Engineer: EDM Incorporated
Quantity Surveyor: Vermeulens Cost Consultants
Water Feature: Water Architecture
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Sam Fentress, BSN / Zero Fractal, Debbie Franke
Read more at ARCHDAILY
