Author: Liz Stanton

Since graduating from Kansas State in 2012, Liz has gained experience from a variety of fields within the building industry. From drafting at a metal building manufacturer to working at architecture firms to assisting a real estate broker/developer, she has always had a passion for influencing the built environment. As a designer at Schemmer, Liz enjoys learning new things and refining her skills with help from other licensed professionals. She is pursuing an architectural license and hopes to continue to shape the spaces and places around her in a positive way.
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Resiliency Revisted: AIA Spring Membership Meeting & SDSU AIAS Contribution

The last AIA Convention’s theme was rural resiliency. At that time, we didn’t know the challenges we have faced the last month or so. I keep coming back to the idea though. I have hope that our state will bounce back. Midwesterners are known for their toughness and ability to weather the storms: their resiliency. This year’s spring meeting was evidence of that attitude. The plan was to hold the meeting in Brookings hosted by SDSU’s chapter of AIAS. The students had put time and thought into an informative agenda. Social distancing changed plans.

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Input Needed : SD Architect Collects Data About Architecture & Social Distancing

A South Dakota architect in Yankton, Sarah Mannes Homstad is conducting a study during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is in response to the evolving needs of our communities and questions about what it means, architecturally-speaking, to inhabit our world today. Mannes Homstad asked herself the following questions:  What is changing about the way we …

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The Future of the Workplace: Life After COVID-19

While the silver lining in no way relieves the pain and suffering of those directly and indirectly affected by this global pandemic, it does pose some questions of what this means for the 9-5 desk jobs. Will we see another paradigm shift in office designs? Will home buyers evaluate prospective homes based on the office or den? Will South Dakota see a return to rural lifestyles as living in the city is no longer a requirement to stay connected? The future holds many unknowns, but if anything is certain, it is that life will go on. We will pick up the pieces and learn from the events that necessitated a sudden separation.

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Shape Your Future: Be Part of the 2020 Census

Civilizations have used Census to count population dating back to the Roman Empire. The Christmas Nativity story would be much different without the Census. Accurate data collected from the Census is used by designers, developers, and planners to determine where the best places to locate projects. GIS data like the tapestry map and other demographic information is helpful when evaluating whether or not a location is ideal. Census information can even be used when applying for funding.

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Design Solutions for Winter Blues

While the groundhog gave us hope that Spring will come early this year, I found myself struggling with a lack of motivation lately; in part, because of the season. In South Dakota, we’ve grown accustomed to bearing cold dark winters and short days. It’s not just you: twenty percent of Americans experience either the winter blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). That being said, we are not forced to submit to the elements and anxiously wait for warmer temps and brighter days to come. There are strategies to combat SAD, and we can incorporate technologies into the spaces we retreat to in the winter.

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Call to Action: “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again”?

It was 8:49 on Tuesday evening when an email notification came across my phone. I was watching a movie but decided I’d see what the email had to say. It was from a colleague regarding an article in the Architectural Record. The article by Cathleen McGuigan (editor-in-chief of Architectural Record) was about a preliminary draft of an executive order rewriting the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture (a document written by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and issued in 1962 that mandates Federal architecture standards). According to Architectural Record, the new Guiding Principles will be rewritten and will be called “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again.”

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Myth Busted: Documents from Architect are not Direct Contractor Instructions

The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice explicitly addresses the limited content of the architect’s drawings this way: “It is important that all parties understand that construction documents are not intended to be a complete set of instructions on how to construct a building. Construction means, methods, techniques, sequences, procedures, and site safety precautions are customarily assigned as responsibilities of the contractor to give the contractor full latitude in preparing bids and carry out the construction phase.”