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Gateway KC


ULI Design Competition
In collaboration with Catherine Brizo, Alden Copley, and Alexander Kalb
2021

For a century, Kansas City served as Gateway to the West, a hub connecting the coasts of America.


The East Village, a neighborhood in downtown Kansas City (KCMO), remains a fissure between the city’s renewing downtown to the west and divested communities to the east. My project team proposed transforming this expanse of parking lots into a vital gateway to downtown—a vibrant, linear park and dense urban node that stitches the neighborhoods around downtown together after generations of estrangement. Our strategy pivots around three “pillars”—opportunity, community, and sustainability—leveraging innovative technology and highlighting community resources to create a sustainable and equitable gateway to KCMO.



Existing conditions Phased development Perspective of east plaza



Giuliana Vaccarino Gearty

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About

Giuliana is an architect and researcher of cultural landscapes. Her projects span across eras and oceans, from cooperative housing in Sweden to the reuse of tuna fisheries in Sicily. Giuliana’s research has received multiple awards, including the Robert A. M. Stern Travel Fellowship and the University of Chicago Feitler Prize. Her work has been published in the edited volume Tradition and Invention, Dezeen, and PLATFORM. She lives and works in New Orleans.