12 Days of Christmas (the Architect’s Edition)
Enjoy a fun take on a traditional Christmas song! Happy Holidays!
AIASD Award Winner: Look’s Marketplace
This post was written and submitted by CO-OP Architecture. Look’s Marketplace Look’s Marketplace is old. There’s an old dog-eared black and white photograph of a young Uncle so-and-so, in boots and a work cap, standing in front of a late model two-door Look’s delivery sedan looking part milk-man and part train engineer. Maybe it’s from…
Going Metro – Call for Art Proposals
With funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts and South Dakota Community Foundation, the Sioux Falls Design Center (SFDC) is hosting Going Metro, a program series designed to facilitate creative conversations about transportation as the City of Sioux Falls seeks to innovate its transit system. The Sioux Falls Design Center is seeking art…
Saintly Architecture
I brought donuts to work this morning. I’m not supposed to because COVID, but that just means I’ll eat them all myself. I’m celebrating, because it is one of my favorite days, as someone who loves obscure and esoteric things. It the feast day of St. Bernward of Hildesheim, a more obscure patron of architects…
The Power of Narrative in Design
Prevalent in several university architecture programs these days is an emphasis on the “narrative” in design. No, this doesn’t mean the technical narrative a mechanical engineer puts together (as enticing as engineering narratives might be). I’m talking about approaching design per the definition of a narrative, that is thinking of a building or project as…
November Scavenger Hunt
Now for something completely different! We have some iconic buildings, be them good or bad, scattered throughout our State. To feature some of these buildings, I created a scavenger hunt with the assistance of some colleagues. The images below feature details/close-ups from some buildings with iconic or perhaps “unique” detailing or style. Take a look…
Architectural Design as Gesture Drawing
One of the things that has informed my design process over the last decade is the skill of gesture drawing I take from my art degree. It has helped me move a project from conceptual design to detail without losing site of the “big-picture” and overall story behind a building’s formal genesis and larger impact.…
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…
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+…
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…