Submitted by:
Tyler, University of Washington

Submitted by:
mseattle, Seattle

EMERALD KINGDOM
EMERALD KINGDOM is a proposal for a multi purpose facility that will either replace or enclosed the Key Arena. The kingdom will have a revamped or new Key Arena, 5 -Star Hotel, new indoor Fun Forest, retail space, and a revolutionary forest museum.

THE NAME
EK is the Kingdom of Emerald City. It will create the ultimate green experience.

ICONIC AND SYMBOLIC
The Emerald Kingdom will become a symbol of hope for our future and a beacon of light to our citizens through its presence and protection.

Skyline
-Emerald Kingdom will add much needed depth and intensity to Seattle Skyline.
-Designed like a mountain to reflect, Washington’s most prized jewel, Mt Rainer.

3 E’s (Elements of Life)
-Education- Revolutionary interactive forest museum
-Environment-indoor green space and secret garden.
-Entertainment- revamped arena, and Indoor theme park (New Fun Forest)

Submitted by:
Levi, Sonoji Sakai Intermediate School, Bainbridge Island

Submitted by:
Joshua J., Seattle

Submitted by:

Robert Houser, Seattle

Submitted by: Shania & Kela
Greenwood Elementary School, Seattle

Submitted by: Gregory M. (age 12)
North Bend

Submitted by a Snoqualmie Middle School sixth grader.

Submitted by:
Mike Leavitt, Seattle

With an ambitious new plan for The Seattle Center, we need to use what we have, which also provides an opportunity to annex the on-site global icons. The EMP is a product of a world-famous architect, and the Space Needle is a transcendent international landmark. A "Statue of Fertility" will add to these unique landscapes, while providing an epic new space for a Children's Museum and all-ages music venue. The Vera Project's existing use of Seattle Center facilities will benefit greatly from this new venue. New playground and lounge-type structures will provide the space for play and relaxation, while incorporating the architectural elements of the EMP instead of isolating the strange structure.

"Green" developments like water-collection, living roofs, and solar panels are obvious additions, but the bigger picture of "green" construction must be addressed beyond the modest requirements of LEED standards. We cannot continue to waste and demolish enormous structures in Seattle while touting environmental construction practices. Both Memorial Stadium and Key Arena can be "re-used", more efficiently utilized with realistic renovations, and much more fluidly incorporated with the rest of Seattle Center. Larger tree canopies will create more of a public park, and opening the actual center of the Seattle Center grounds will serve the same purpose.

Since the failing of The Seattle Commons, we will likely never have the Central Park Seattle has always wanted. But we may not need such an ambitious park. The SAM Sculpture Park has been an amazing addition to our landscape, and its wide-open, sweeping slopes can be mimicked with Seattle Center re-scaping. We need not ignore the sustainable facilities the Seattle Center already offers, while some intelligent, modest and courageous improvements can create an more worldly, innovative, efficient, and functional public space.

Submitted by: Kelsey Sobczak
Northshore Junior High, Bothell

The “coffee circle” would be located near International Fountain within an expanse of native landscaping.

Submitted by:
Thomas Repass, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Submitted by:
brgallag, Seattle

The presentation begins with an overarching urban analysis of Seattle as it pertains to Seattle Center. This analysis begins with the founded idea that there will, in the near future, be an intense densification of north downtown and South Lake Union pushing towards Seattle Center (slide 2). It then includes an investigation into uses around the city relating to uses that might be included as part of the Seattle Center campus with the intention of synergizing with this densification including, as examples, education, transportation (Seattle Center as a future transportation hub), sports complexes, parks (Seattle center as a continuation of Olmsted’s green ring and blue ring, slide 7), and the like (slides 3-6).

After the Urban Analysis stage of the project, the presentation moves to an insight as to the current strengths and weaknesses of the campus (slides 8, 9). It is from these strengths and weaknesses that a design concept for the campus can be formed.

But first, case studies are used to understand how other current design strategies with similar implications have approached these issues (slides 10-12).

The concept then evolves into that of a “permeable ring” through which a variety of uses are programmed to activate the site over a 24 hour period, the site is defined as a campus through a defined border, and this border is elevated and penetrable allowing a permeability through the campus from all sides. This ring allows densification at the edge of the campus creating an interface to the densification brought on by the city, additionally allowing an expansive, forested green space in the center. (slides 13-15).

Coordinated with the master planning design approach, the project then moves into a more architectural solution of the Center House as a campus hub serving as a creativity hub to the city. Programmatically from top to bottom, the Center House is broken down into artists lofts, moving down to shared art studios, then multimedia centers for film and other digital media, and finally towards the more public zones at ground level, display galleries and a more formal museum. The idea is that the program is a gradation from creation to demonstration or sharing of creativity. (slides 42-50)

Architecturally, as a building, the design is all about directionality and moving people through the ring from the city to the campus or vice versa.

Submitted by:
Howard Carson, Seattle

I would like to see the Seattle Center to be an all weather facility, so not having a Center House would take away usability during cold and/or wet days. In keeping with previously stated ideas, I see an inside looking out Center House with the food vendors (all local, no national franchises) in the center. Upper floors will be for a new home for the Children's Museum, Education, and Administration; as well as a rooftop public garden and restaurant. As a centerpiece I see two glass "Bubblators" similar to the elevators on the "La Defence" arch in Paris (see image in document). The outside glass will be lit up at night to glow in varied colors - maybe even to the beat of the same music that the International Fountain moves to.

In place of the Fun Forest I see a grassy area that will include an enclosed play tower that connects via bridge to the Center House (themed on the game Chutes and Ladders), a Splash Park for warm weather much like the one on Granville Island in Vancouver BC, and in the reflection of the Purple Haze wall on the EMP there should be an Interactive Sculpture Garden where all are encouraged to touch, climb, and play.

Submitted by:
RT Brokerage Services, Seattle

Submitted by:
Miki Mann, Bellevue

epiCenter Seattle

From Boeing to Microsoft to Biotech, the Seattle region impacts the world. As the world flattens, new locations (“epiCenters”) will arise; regions around the world with global impact. epiCenter Seattle is strategy to respond to the local context while becoming a focal point of epiCenters around the world.

Glen Zinck of Northshore Jr. High in Bothell raps for a new Seattle Center. Listen to the .mp3:

Submitted by:
Gabriel, Paris, France

-1- Sound & Light Pyramid

This gigantic show place is based upon a few strong principles:
a - A public theatre and a huge musical scene where modern groups and classical orchestras or operas can be performed
b - An inside height that compares with Space Needle
c - Above the scene, all the walls and roof spaces are used to represent sound by light - 3D images in real time (huge projectors, processors and programs to run in the backstage).
To understand how this is feasible, we need to put two scales in correspondance: the audible sounds scale and the visible light range. Sounds from zero hertz to 44 khz can match colours ranging from infra red to ultraviolet. When sounds are played, whether instruments or voices, colours of their relative frequency are displayed with 3D moving shapes, and their volume is proportional to sound intensity. Contrasts can use dark/light oppositions.
The challenge: to put musical artists, painters and high tech people at work in order to issue the 1st 3D real-time concert within just a few years.
Material: armed concrete. The inner light and energy is produced by solar panels on its sunny sides.

-2- Time Loom

This monument is a temple to human and universal creation. It encompasses world evolution from its origins to now along a richly illustrated spiral. When you reach the limit of present, you are striken by a huge space where suddenly everything becomes possible. People are standing here and now, on that everchanging line that is the root of future. By the little acts we are performing daily, we are weaving the threads of to morrow’s reality (projects, ideas, ways of life, ethics, behaviours…), thus determining our children’s future. By each single little action, we can create a great new Paradise on
Earth - or ruin the whole Earth creation if we don’t care! It’s a matter of choice.
To care or not to care… that is today’s question.
Architectural design: The building structure is based on a 7 branches star with three levels that narrate the evolution along an interior spiral. On the ground floor lays the “inert matter” level, the level where energy (more than inertia) and matter have built the material world where we can live. This floor represent the state of the art understanding of Cosmos history from the Big Bang or any major scientific event. Material: armed concrete, glass bricks.
The period when life appeared on Earth is shown when enterig the second floor. You discover the first stages of microsocpic life, then follow the development of cells to vegetation, allowing little by little more complex flora to appear.
The third level represents the periods when animal life developed, changed, evolved and gave birth to mammals, then primates, proto humans, and so on until Homo Sapiens who has not quite left the third floor (here the spiral continues ascending, but mankind is still evolving and needs some incentive…).
For the first time during this whole creation process, a creature can become the creator of its future. Here and now, we can give birth to a new mankind’s behaviours. This depends on our views, we need to analyze how we obeyed laws of past, like instinct, will power or selfish interest. We can show that responsible behaviours can bring a better welfare to all. The remaining space, one third of the building height, represents the blank future page that you, me, can write here and now in every single gesture and change occuring in our daily life.

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-3- Underground Parking
-4- International Fountain moved
-5- Memorial Wall moved
-6- Fun Forest moved on greenery
-7- The shadow on the grass can be the place of a multi-purpose stadium like Bercy in Paris, with the fountain on its roof.

Submitted by:
Bellevue

I once was a Worlds Fair !!!

I was crisp, clean and cutting edge. People came from all over the world to see me. I don't think I've been that for a long time.
You treat me like your backyard...where all the contraptions of forgotten origin get dumped; kids toys, swings and whatever else just needs a place to plop on any old spot. I'm not clean or crisp and my magic doesn't dazzle or inspire. It's just old news, over and over and over again. So if you make me over, please remember... I was a World's Fair once !!! Crisp and clean and cutting edge. Please bring my magic back to you.

Submitted by:
Melissa Gaeto, Newcastle

I'm a student at Parsons School of Design in New York City. I grew up in Seattle and frequented Seattle Center as a kid. I have pulled from many different places around the United States that I love: Columbus Circle, Central Park, Washington Square Park, Westlake Promenade in Westlake Village,Ca, and The Grove in Los Angeles.
This is what is missing at Seattle Center: artist lofts and gallery space, cafes, shops (pottery, kitchen, clothing, seattle shop, wine shop, specialty food, antique, real estate, tea shop, garden shop), miniature golf, gardens with benches and tables and chairs, movie theatre, bicycle renting, more parking, tennis/basketball courts, historical dedication site, winter ice skating, an array of classes offered to the public (dance, yoga, art), kiosks, fire pits for the summer, nightly summer shows, book store
Focus on using materials like brick, mosaic, large street lights, cobble stone paths with plants growing in-between
I think o have a "Seattle Center Clock Tower" would be neat and to have a wall of contributors to recognize all who have helped the community and the center.
More bike/running lanes- take advantage of Seattle tourism and put a trolly in that circles the park.
Obviously its a must ot have security cameras, police booths and informational booths.
It's crucial to consider the use of recycles goods like recycled water for a river running around the center or recycled materials.

Submitted by:
Larry L., Seattle

Be as green as an emerald

Submitted by:
Lenny (dog), Coupeville

Seattle Center should go to the dogs

Submitted by:
T C & P Design Company, Bellingham

In 2008, Sehome High students Tim Elliott, Paul Olason, and Collin Heggem will change the face of Seattle Center! They will attempt to redesign locations such as the Fun Forest, the Center House, and the Mercer Garage. Say “Hello” to the new Seattle Center!

The Center House will be replaced by a building with glass walls and a glass roof. A unique feature will be water rolling down the walls from small faucets on top of the roof. There will be a negative edge effect with water cascading from the roof. The water will come from collected rainwater. Inside, there will be a café, a lounge, and an information center. This new building will attract tourists to the extraordinary architecture and provide visitors to Seattle info about the city. The Center House will reuse rainwater that is collected in tanks from the gutters, drastically reducing water consumption.

Our redesign of SC will replace the “Fun” Forest with a large park and incorporate a *NW forest-themed restaurant. The SC Park will have trees, picnic tables, a jogging path, streams running through it, and energy-saving facilities. This park will replace the Fun Forest. SC Park will reduce energy consumption. This park would benefit the Seattle community because people wouldn’t have to suffer from the current noise pollution from the Fun Forest; it would give families a place to spend time and have fun together. The “Green factor” incorporated into this park is the use of NW plant life, the reduction of energy consumption from Fun Forest, and the energy-saving facilities.

The NW Forest restaurant located within the redesigned Fun Forest will include: waterfalls, plants, fish pools, a see-through dance floor (with fish under it), and gourmet food. The fish inside the pools will not be consumed, and will be purchased from local fish hatcheries. This restaurant will serve an array of international gourmet foods. This restaurant will hire well known chefs that will attract tourists. The “Green factor” of the restaurant will be the solar panels on the roof, powering the restaurant in the summer. The NW Forest restaurant will blend people with nature and provide fun for all ages.

Our vision of Seattle Center should be considered because it would bring a new face to Seattle, and it will serve as a social, cultural, and recreational hub of the city.

Submitted by:
Emily (age 11), Paris, France

My main idea is to have the Space Needle surrounded by water. Then I think it would be beautiful to have boldly colored bridges in all shapes and sizes connecting to the ground under the Space Needle. It would be also amazing to have multicolored lights shining up at the Space Needle and to have them gradually change colors. In my opinion having the Space Needle surrounded by water would really transform it into a centerpiece of the Seattle Center. In my drawing I added multiple grass fields and tried to open the Seattle Center up instead of having it cluttered such as it was before. Near the Experience Music Project there are two odd objects that look terrible thanks to my bad drawing. Really what I imagined them to be were rows of stalls connected together in the shape of what I drew. When I think of Seattle, I think of modern art and the rummage sales I used to go to. I imagined the stalls to be open with all sorts of fabulous art that the people of Seattle can make. I think it would be nice to have such an area in the Seattle Center since there aren't many other locations throughout the city. The stalls should be made of metal pipes and I think if some of the pipes were to be painted purple it would accent the purple haze of the Experience Music project which would be adjacent to the spot. When I think of Seattle I also think of Native American art, the beautiful glass produced by Seattle, the trees and rain (of course), and music. Even though it never really pours it would useful to have many covers and shaded sitting areas outside for the constant drizzling. I put in two stages in my drawing and several more should be added to encourage all the music in Seattle, and many more concerts would bring residents of Seattle to the Seattle Center much more. Also I'm sure it'd be beautiful to have totem poles scattered around the center. And in buildings to display glass making. Even if you don't use many of my ideas I have one request, please make Seattle Center colorful. The future and modern buildings have been represented in grey skyscrapers. If that is the future it's depressing. To have modern architecture in bold and brilliant colors is one step forward that no other city has really taken. Besides to add color is to make the Seattle Center happy and friendly looking even through rainy days.

Submitted by:
Jake Lowry, Carnation

Seattle goes back to its roots

Submitted by:
Kate W., Seattle

For the outdoors fans

Submitted by:
Nick W., Mount Vernon

A little bit of this, a little of that

Submitted by:
Anindita Mitra and Alex Sandoval, Seattle

Make it friendly to the casual visitors

With the opportunity to recover Seattle Center and integrate it back into the City, our intervention focuses on attracting people into this urban amenity. In its current state, Seattle Center does not offer services for casual users. That is, unless there is a specific activity (a concert, a game, a festival, etc) there’s no need to enter or to pass through. As such, the Center sits in relative isolation with respect to its surroundings.
Therefore, the design is arranged around an expansive lawn, with easy access and views in from adjacent streets. This lawn will be used to host a diversity of festivals, but most importantly, it becomes an area that people CAN USE, strollers, joggers, walkers, and so on, with or without an event. The lawn provides an opportunity to create an underground parking for the users of Seattle Center. The east border of the lawn will be flanked by a new administrative building and middle school. To the north, two new academic buildings (arts and dance) will provide a façade and buffer the service entrances into the theaters. The west and south sides will host a number of shops and cafes, public services inviting people to stop by to purchase the latest best seller or enjoy a sunny afternoon while having a cup of coffee overlooking the lawn. The Science Museum will welcome two new research facilities, the Renewable Energy Research Center and the Urban Agriculture Center. These two new facilities will be powered by a geothermal plant which will be used to teach kids the benefits of renewable energy. A public plaza will anchor these facilities and offer another area for outdoor performances. Key Arena will be renovated and retrofitted and will be used for professional and amateur sports, as well as shows and concerts. South of Key Arena will be an International Skate Park, a first class arena offering state-of-art facilities for skateboarding and extreme sports.
A transit terminal is proposed southwest of Key Arena. Here local and regional bus routes will serve the Center as will and extended monorail line and new urban station. To the north of the terminal a Teen Center will be provide a space for teenagers to come and experience music, arts and science in a comfortable and safe environment.
Finally, the garage to the north across Mercer Street will be demolished. In its place, Seattle Center will offer temporary housing for artists and a p-patch park that will be used by the residents of Lower Queen Anne.

Submitted by:
F1 fan, Seattle

Speed Center

I would create a race track in the Seattle center. Hopefully one that could host a Formula 1 race, and other types of racing. Since I work down town, I would love to hear the engines revving at 20,000rpm echoing through the streets. Plus, seeing a Ferrari Formula 1 car driving by the Space Needle at 180mph would be pretty cool as well. Seattle would be a nice place to host an F1 race. Not only does it have great scenery and nice people, there is more chance of rain to make the race interesting. Its what I would do if I were in charge. :-)

Submitted by:
Anonymous, Vashon

Cutting down to the city's heart

Submitted by:
Lee J. Wexler, Clinton

Start with its skyline

I propose another vertical structure complementing the Space Needle. The height and material used will be determined by consulting with structural engineers for the final working drawings.
The structure will be located centered in the grass area of the Fisher Pavilion opposite the International Fountain.
(Seattle Times note: Wexler also provided conceptual sketches of the memorial that are not posted here. The memorial is of arms reaching toward the sky with birds flying from the hands.) The birds on top are white doves of peace.
At certain times of the year the doves will be released honoring those men and women who have given their lives in wars defending our freedom.

Submitted by:
Rose Osborne and Clare Duncan, Bellingham

Make the fountain the central point

In order to revitalize Seattle Center, our plan redesigns five main points of interest and also makes Seattle Center more environmentally friendly.

The main entrance would be an interesting path that resembles a river with salmon. Visitors would be welcomed by a totem pole. Along the path, there would be statues of bears and cougars catching fish. The entrance would draw attention to the Space Needle.

The fountain is a central hub in the Center. From the fountain, concrete paths extending to all areas of the Center would be bordered by grass and gardens including native plants. Within the gardens, there will be statues relating to the theme of the buildings nearby.

The Center House will be a place to congregate. Restaurant booths and souvenir shops will line the walls and rows of tables will surround a raised section of floor that can be used as a stage. One wall of the House will be glass. A skylight above the stage and set back entrances will add to an outdoors feel. A “green” roof will help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Memorial Stadium will become more versatile. A large stage in front of Memorial Wall will be across the field from the entrance. Audiences will fill the solar panel-roofed bleachers. A station next to the stadium will provide Seattle Center with underground transportation.

The Children’s Area would make a great addition with lots of room to explore. It would be located in front of both the Pacific Science Center and the Children’s Theatre. There would be a large grassy field with rocks to climb, waterworks, a playground, and even a Ferris wheel. The rocks would be smooth and short enough to be safe, while tall enough to make children feel on top of the world. A seasonal ice rink would yet another source of amusement. The Ferris wheel would be a way to view the Space Needle like a smaller version of the London Eye.

An important thing to consider in the redesigning of the Seattle Center is the environmental factor. Solar panels atop many of the buildings, such as the Stadium, produce electricity, and trees would remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. White concrete reflects sunrays instead of retaining heat. The Center would also include a community green house.

This plan shows the best that Seattle Center can offer.

Submitted by:
Anonymous, Seattle

Welcome to the New Seattle Center!

Submitted by:
Eric Fisk, Seattle

Seattle Center for Kids

This set of suggestions is about letting Seattle Center fulfill a vision of being the Disneyland of the Northwest:
1. The Fun Forest is a rusting hulk that can't live up to it's potential as a temporary spot, but a permanent amusement park woud be a great addition to the area- look at elitch gardens in Denver.
2. EMP is an abomination as architecture, but would fit right in at an amusement park.
3. Who doesn't love mini golf? Seattle has some of the worst mini-golf courses in the United States. Let's fix that!
4. The only spot in the Center House that's nice is the children's museum- imagine what could be done if the entire atrium was turned over to the children's museum- adding an indoor playground?
5. The Europeans understand that parents need a beer garden, especially when surrounded by children. Let's get on board and add a Bavariam Beer Garden!
6. There are lots of grumpy childless people in Seattle that would like to mow down Seattle Center and turn it into a park. For them we dedicate a small pasture for sitting.
7. Key Arena might not be good enough for millionare basketball players and their billionare owners, but it's great for minor league sports and would be a great spot for whirligig!

Submitted by:
Jodi J., Seattle

Bring it back to the people

Submitted by:
Miles J, Seattle

Lake Seattle?

Seattle Center is not very friendly from the street. Walls or broad expanses of areas that do not encourage foot traffic tend to make the streets around the much of the Center devoid of people except during events. I have tried, by adding restaurants and retail along the streets, to make the Center’s exterior more pedestrian friendly.
The Seattle Center also lacks spaces that for people to connect with nature in an urban environment. I replaced Memorial Stadium with a lake surrounded by trees that encourages people to slow down. Restaurants along 5th Avenue look out over the lake and make the street more pedestrian friendly from the sidewalk. I imagine rowboats and miniature sailboat competitions there during the summer.
Additional parking is hidden underground near the two big draws to Seattle Center, EMP and the Space Needle. With the terminus for the monorail here, it would also make a great place for a transit hub. A children’s play area and open space around the Needle cover these garages. Access to parking is easy through the existing roundabouts.
The focuses of the design are both opening up the views of the Space Needle as well as making the International Fountain the central focus of the open areas. Tree lined walking paths encourage a slow passage through the grounds while making the Center easier to travel through.
Finally, with the addition of underground parking, the Mercer Garage can be eliminated, allowing redevelopment of this space into a more pedestrian friendly streetscape with shops at street level and low-income housing above.
Key Arena is a touchy situation that I felt it was premature to examine. I would like to see the wall created by the Northwest Rooms on the corner of Republican and 1st Avenue North replaced, again by something more pedestrian friendly.
accessible