Thanksgiving may look a bit different for us all this year. Some traditions may end up changing as we attempt to social distance even from family. One tradition I’ve loved is seeing the Parade of Lights in Downtown Sioux Falls. Unfortunately that won’t happen this year. However, another tradition I have, passed down from my grandma, is making a pumpkin pie (thus the cover image). Note, there is nothing profound in this tradition – I’m not making too many ingredients “from scratch.” In discussion with my wife about these building blocks for the pie, she cleverly likened the approach to a design-build. I might tend to agree, though one could similarly see the “lack of craft” as a very contemporary approach to the design of a pie – utilizing a number of pre-assembled components to expedite construction. Suddenly, one of Pedro’s famous lines from Napoleon Dynamite comes to mind:
If you find yourself with more time to relax this year, check out this article Metropolis from 2017, interviewing a number of prominent architects about what their plans for Thanksgiving looks like. Hopefully you all can find some sense of normalcy this holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, from AIA South Dakota.
Chase Kramer, AIA, is the Director of Design for TSP Inc. in Sioux Falls. He received his M.Arch from ISU where he focused on urban design and sustainability. Before that, he received a degree in Art from Augustana University. He lives in Sioux Falls with his wife and four children. Beyond Architecture, he is an AI early adopter, musician, art lover, and fan of cheese and beer.