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First Prize: Fargo Urban Infill International Design Competition

The driving force behind our design was the belief that a true public space is accessible to all, open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Creating a place like this in North Dakota means dealing with extreme variations in climate. A common strategy in extreme climates is to move the public space indoors into skyways or malls. However, issues of access control, ownership, and governance, in addition to the the absence of of sunlight and fresh air, make an indoor public space problematic. In light of this, we propose a new model for the design of outdoor public space in a northern city: one that not only modulates the climate for comfort, but allows for seasonal celebration through technology, culture, and art.

Successful public spaces are active at all times of day, provide a safe and comfortable environment for citizens, and become integrated into the identity of the community. Our design begins by wrapping Fargo’s new civic space with a mixture of uses - residential, retail, and office space - providing a variety of activity and visitors throughout the day. The design then carves into the street wall in important locations to allow street life to flow in and out of the space from all sides, paying special attention to the connection between Broadway and 2nd, but still holding the 100% retail corner at that intersection. The architectural forms respond to regional climate conditions, redirecting northern winter winds and opening up to the sun and summer breezes. The resulting open space becomes a celebration of the climate and culture of Fargo through the integration of cutting edge technology and public environmental art.

Geothermal heat pumps, installed in conjunction with the necessary structural caissons, work to create a stable microclimate: cooling the buildings in the summer and warming the buildings and deicing the open space in the winter. Vegetated walls integrated into the buildings mechanical system bring the landscape indoors and reduce energy needs by filtering and recycling the air already within the system. Transparent solar lenses embedded in the building skins provide renewable energy while retaining views to the outdoors. Vertical axis wind turbines generate additional energy by harvesting the winds redirected by the sculpted building forms and create an iconic presence on the Fargo skyline.

The sloping forms create places for sun bathing, picnicking, and watching performances in the warmer months. In the winter months, those slopes become perfect for sledding, or catching a few rays of warm mid day sun. The surface of the public space recalls the iconic prairie potholes landscape of North Dakota, with the pavement opening up to hold water, plantings, and fountains in the summer, and exposing thermal vents heated by the geothermal system in the winter. Fargo365 proposes an adaptive, signature public space to anchor downtown Fargo; providing a destination for citizens to gather, play, watch, shop, dine, and celebrate at all times of the year.