One of the keynote speakers at this year’s AIA South Dakota Annual Convention was the incoming national president of the AIA, Illya Azaroff, FAIA. It was a rare pleasure to have such an outstanding member of our profession attend our state convention. Ten years ago, I was appointed to the AIA Strategic Council for a…
A year ago, my daughter and her husband moved back to the Sioux Falls area. We spent several months looking for houses in all price ranges. First, there was very little available. Second, the houses we saw were not very well-designed in any price range. Usually, many architects and firms do not design many houses. Custom homes are very time-consuming and often not profitable.
Last year, representatives from the architectural firms of Snøhetta and JLG Architects made a presentation of The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library at the AIA South Dakota Annual Convention. It is an exciting project in the North Dakota Badlands near Medora, N.D., that will become a major attraction once it opens. We contacted Matt Brinely of the…
Bernie Hunhoff, Jr.Yankton, SD The AIA South Dakota Champion of Architecture Award is given to both non-architects or companies that promote the practice of architecture that help improve the built environment in our state. The recipient of the award is selected by a committee of past presidents of the South Dakota AIA. This year’s Champion…
The 2022 Champion of Architecture Award was given to Jay Vogt, who served two roles as Director of the State Historical Society and South Dakota State Historic Preservation Officer. The award was presented at the recent South Dakota American Institute of Architects state convention in Sioux Falls, SD. The award is given to non-architects or…
Not all great historic buildings can be saved for their original purpose. Sometimes they are vacated due to new ownership, sometimes they become too small and many have accessibility issues. When a building is remodeled for a new purpose, architects call it adaptive reuse. Buildings that cannot find new uses are often abandoned and eventually…
(Cover image by Sandra Lea Dickenson, AIA Emeritus) Her name was Margaret Wellington. She was the wife of Dr. Raynor Wellington, history professor at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. Margaret was a member of the building committee for a new home for the First Congregational Church in Vermillion, South Dakota (now known as…
Dakota Hall, Redfield, South Dakota 1909-2021 Cover image courtesy of the Redfield Press Not all historical buildings can be saved. I love old buildings and have spent much of my career protecting them, renovating them and repurposing them. There is a little of our history that dies when we lose one. We lost a significant…
By Sandra Lea Dickenson, AIA Emeritus Besides being an architect, I am also a military brat and a military wife and have spent most of my life crisscrossing this country. With 170 Veterans Affairs hospitals out there, we would often come across them. Usually they were hulking wedding cake style complexes, often on a hill…
Many people, maybe even most people, think Frank Lloyd Wright is the greatest American architect. Certainly, he was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as “the greatest American architect of all time.” He is the best known and people come from all over the world to see his work. Just two years ago, eight of his buildings were…