Welcome to Blueprint South Dakota, a blog created by architects in South Dakota to provide a forum for public conversations with citizens, city planners, developers, property owners, designers, public office holders and others. Through these conversations, we want to participate with the public and community leaders in the creation of vibrant, prosperous, beautiful and effective places to live, work and play in South Dakota. Please join us in conversing about design and planning issues in our state.
SDSU DoArch’s PH01:BRK featured in ARCHITECT Magazine
In case you haven’t seen it yet in your monthly issue of ARCHITECT magazine (which all AIA members should receive), make sure you check out some of the project features – one may be a bit more recognizable than the others, as it comes straight out of Brookings. SDSU’s first Passive House studio project has …
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8 Reasons Why Architecture Needs More Artists
Before I offend the very audience that I hope to persuade, please allow me to clarify something up front… if there’s any debate surrounding whether architecture is a form of art, I am firmly planted in the “yes” camp. I also believe that many architects are, in fact, artists. Though, having spent the last 15+ …
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Harmonizing – Designing with Music in Mind (Part II)
Practical considerations for designing performance spaces, from a performer, designer, and consumer; Part II On Monday’s post, we covered some basic visual aspects of music performance spaces design. However, the key purpose of these spaces is for hearing, and for that an understanding of architectural acoustics is warranted. When it comes to acoustics, we are …
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Harmonizing – Designing With Music in Mind
Practical considerations for designing performance spaces, from a performer, designer, and consumer; Part 1 Before reading, take a quick break and enjoy some music “He watching over Israel” Mendelssohn, Elijah Op. 70 Just a month ago I had the privilege of being able to hear a live choir at the 11 a.m. Mass at St. …
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Incorporating the Arts into Architecture
“The science of government is my duty to study, more than all other sciences; the arts of legislation and administration and negotiation ought to take the place of, indeed exclude, in a manner, all other arts. I must study politics and war, so that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our …
Murals and Placemaking
Murals. It seems that in the last decade we’ve started seeing more and more of them pop up all over the State. Down alleyways in big cities, on main streets in the smallest towns, murals have taken center stage in the world of public art. Maybe because it is so exciting to take a blank …
The Art of Photography
It’s probably safe to say that we all know what Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” looks like. More often than not, though, it’s because you remember seeing a photograph of her. But how many of you have witnessed her in real life? I was fortunate enough to see her in person during my senior year …
From Architect to Artist
What is it like to change professions at age 60? I’ve had the opportunity to retire from 40 years as an architect and transformed myself into a watercolor artist. Before retirement I decided I needed something to do that was fun and creative. In nice weather there are a lot of things to do …
An open Letter to Blueprint South Dakota’s Committee
Dear AIA South Dakota, I wanted to thank you and your communications committee for approaching the Sioux Falls Arts Council regarding hosting the Blueprint South Dakota blog in October. At first glance curating a blog for an entire month seemed a tall order, but we soon realized the many intersections between the arts and architecture …
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Blueprint for Better: Mayoral Panel at AIASD ’20
Back by popular demand, the second annual mayoral panel at this year’s AIA South Dakota Convention included four leaders representing communities across the state. While their cities vary greatly in geography, economy, diversity and population, the mayors found common ground in the challenges they are all facing in planning for a better future. Moderated by …
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