Winners of Archgrounds International Design Competition to Frame a Modern Masterpiece...

...with the Serra Sculpture, AKA Twain (pictured below).

A source who wishes to remain anonymous has leaked the winning proposal of one of nine teams behind the City.Arch.River2015, the international design competition for the Archgrounds in downtown St. Louis.

The ever-controversial Serra Sculpture will be relocated from its current spot on Market between 10th and 11th Streets to the large lawn fronting the Arch, only several yards from Memorial Drive. The much-maligned "depressed section" of I-70 will remain as is. So too will its elevated portion near Laclede's Landing.

I am told that the winning team--also not to be announced yet--was selected for their design's "thoughtful reflection on the 'less is more' school of modernism".

"The winning team was believed to have stayed most true to the modernist spirit of the Archgrounds. What's more modern than a depressed interstate?" my source rightfully asked.

Below is a preliminary rendering of the proposal.

 Above, the Serra Sculpture will soon frame the Arch and Old Cathedral. Not to scale.

Think it's a little bare bones? Well, the multi-million dollar budget of the Framing a Modern Masterpiece design competition was completely gutted when, out of the blue, the National Park Service threatened to relocate the Gateway Arch to Clayton's Shaw Park, forcing the City of St. Louis to offer $10 million in tax credits for the iconic monument to remain in its historic location.

Reportedly, the second place team proposed reinstalling the St. Louis Centre skybridges over the depressed section of I-70 to allow for better connections between downtown and the Archgrounds. Competition judges felt the 1980s mall appendages were too garish and clashed with the minimalist 1960s-design of Interstate 70.

More details as they emerge.