A clean energy-powered concrete canopy with curving walkways and an underwater reef has won an international design competition to replace an aging pier in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The concept, by L.A. starchitect Michael Maltzan and Oakland-based Tom Leader Studio (the landscape architects behind this great railroad park in Birmingham), is expected to supplant the funky inverted pyramid (some say eyesore) that has presided over St. Pete’s waterfront for nearly four decades. The pyramid sits atop a pier that has declined in recent years. Rather than shell out for a retrofit, the city wants something fresh that can “redefine what the [pier] should be, and give it a new identity within the framework of an evolving downtown edge.”
That new identity is, well, it’s tough to pin down, even for the architects. In documents, they compare it to everything from “a magnifying glass on the water” to “waves or sails” to “a crown on the eastern horizon” to “a living room” to “a lens,” which also happens to be the proposal’s name.
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