The library forms an integral part of the new Des Moines 'Western Gateway Park'. This area of the city is currently undergoing extensive redevelopment and the new library and park will become a centrepiece for the urban renewal of Des Moines.

All Photographs are courtesy David Chipperfield Architects and Des Moines Public Library / Photographer Farshid Assassi.

Located at the east end of the park, the new library acts as a link between downtown Des Moines and the park. On the one hand, it responds to the city block, but at the same time it stretches out into the parkland, floating in the surrounding landscape, thus creating outside spaces of different character while conveying to the visitor the feeling of sitting in the park while reading a book.

America’s Cup Building ‘Veles e Vents’, Valencia, Spain


The America’s Cup Building ‘Veles e Vents’ (Sails and Winds) and accompanying park were the social focal point for the 2007 America’s Cup – the world’s premier offshore racing competition, staged in Europe for the first time in over 150 years. The Louis Vuitton Cup started in April 2007 and the climax, the 32nd America’s Cup match, commenced at the end of June 2007.

Cities get identified by their landmarks. The centre of Davenport, suffers from many of the problems endemic to a number of American cities. Over the years the area has witnessed the departure of much of its residential and business community, leaving downtown Davenport with little of the vibrancy normally associated with urban life.

The implementation of this new home for the Figge Art Museum, formerly the Davenport Museum of Art, in downtown Davenport, has been a major catalyst in the urban revitalization of a historic city, which is located on the banks of the Mississippi River on Iowa’s eastern border and is the largest of the Quad Cities, that also comprises Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois.

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