Elemental landscapes: transforming Prospect Corridor into a legible urban element

Abstract

This proposal explores a possible design framework to transform Prospect Corridor, from 75th Street to Swope Parkway (Prospect South), into a legible urban element within Kansas City, Missouri. This report is being done in coordination with the Kansas City Design Center’s (KCDC) Nodal Study of the Prospect Corridor from 75th Street to Independence Avenue. KCDC has been asked by the Kansas City, Missouri Department of City Planning and Development to conduct this study because of new city investments in transit and funding along the corridor (KCDC, 2019).

Currently the Prospect Corridor is made up of disparate parts that have little to no relation to Kansas City’s urban form and where there are relationships between the urban form and the built environment it is not expressed in a legible manner. Most development in the corridor is done with only economic considerations and has led to a ad-hoc built environment that has little organization (KCDC, 2019).

This report looks into theories of typology and imageability to be used as the basis for a design framework that enhances the legibility of the Prospect South as an integrated urban element within Kansas City. The purpose of this framework is to counteract current development practices and guide new development along the Prospect Corridor so that the people living there may enjoy a richer urban environment.