Category: Design in the Hills

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2017 Design in the Hills – Rapid City

The Design in the Hills 2017 theme was Adaptations. The committee set out to find exciting projects and planning efforts in the Rapid City community that were examples of architectural adaptations. The first day started with a morning outing on the infamous ‘Da Bus’ and ended with a walking tour through the East of 5th street corridor of downtown Rapid City. The first stop on ‘Da Bus’ was at the Bridger Steel plant in Blackhawk. The tour was enlightening to the attendees as they learned about the process of manufacturing metal panels.

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2016 Design in the Hills – Lead

The Design in the Hills 2016 theme was Reclamation. Artist Dale Lamphere helped us kick off the 2016 event with a site visit to the remote site east of Rapid City where he was designing, constructing and assembling the now-famous Dignity sculpture. The sculpture of a Native American woman holding a star quilt is 50 feet high, 16 feet deep and 32 feet wide and has more than 100 blue diamond shapes in the quilt that were originally designed to move in the wind. The sculpture now stands on a hill overlooking the Missouri River off of Interstate 90 near Chamberlain, SD.

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2015 Design in the Hills – Sturgis & Spearfish

2015 Design in the Hills highlighted Collaboration starting with a public-private partnership in Sturgis between Harley-Davidson and the City of Sturgis on Harley-Davidson Rally Point Plaza. Landscape architect Eirik Heikes gave the group a tour of the site and spoke about the partnership to conceive and construct the newest public space in Sturgis.

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2014 Design in the Hills – Deadwood

Design in the Hills 2014 Restorations kicked off fittingly in Deadwood with walking tours of Mt. Moriah Cemetery (the burial place of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock and other well-known historic characters), the Mickelson Trailhead, and the planned future Powerhouse Park.

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2013 Design in the Hills – Rapid City

The 2013 theme was Design in the “Explorations” and we adventured into the vibrant public art scene of Downtown Rapid City. Originally, we had tours of Ellsworth AFB scheduled, but Federal furloughs forced last-minute changes. Fortunately, there is an abundance of creative built environment to discover in Rapid City.

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2012 Design in the Hills – Rapid City & Hill City

2012 was the year to study “Transformations” in Rapid City. 2011 saw the beginnings of Main Street Square under construction. In 2012 we did a follow-up tour of the completed plaza and the adjacent building renovations into The Shops at Main Street Square. The former parking lot and empty buildings were now transformed into a energetic beating heart of the community.

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For 2020, Design in the Hills shifts its perspective to your eyes

With COVID-19 pushing back our in-person Design in the Hills events to 2021, the American Institute of Architects South Dakota (AIA SD) is partnering with the Black Hills & Badlands Tourism Association to open this year’s virtual event to the public through the Design in the Hills 2020 Photo Contest. One final $150 prize to a local Black Hills business provided by AIA South Dakota will be awarded to the top photo.

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Why did a gerontologist attend Design in the Hills?

Leacey Brown – SDSU Extension Gerontology Field Specialist Design in the Hills is an event that typically attracts architects, designers, engineers, and other professionals in the building industry so why would a gerontologist attend?  For the benefit of readers not familiar with gerontology, it is the study of aging. In contrast, geriatrics is a medical …

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