Cities We Love: Aberdeen

by Spencer Sommers, CO-OP Architecture The third largest city in South Dakota is Aberdeen, located near the north state border.  Incorporated in 1881, Aberdeen was known as the “Hub City of the Dakotas” due to the four railroads that crossed there. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe line still runs through the city.  Aberdeen is home…

AIASD Award Winner: McVicker Plaza

This post was written and submitted by Koch Hazard Architects. McVicker Plaza The Vermillion Chamber & Development Corporation needed their own office space after years of leasing around downtown.  When a prominent location on a corner of Main Street became available, they leapt at the chance to create a meaningful improvement to the historic streetscape…

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…

We Are All Builders

By Rebel Hurd, Church on the Street There are challenges when working with those living on the margins of society. There are challenges serving those who live on the margins of society. There are challenges walking alongside those struggling with homelessness and poverty on the margins of society. What might it look like, if, instead of looking through a lens of…

Series: Architectural Working Conditions

(Content submitted by Stone Group Architects) Stone Group Architects recently got the opportunity to restore and remodel the East Side Fire Station to use as our office. Like any historical remodel, it was not without its problems, but the rewards just keep coming. Occupying the southwest corner of Heritage Park near downtown Sioux Falls, the…

“Village on the River” now “Village for Vehicles”

Architectural tragedy has struck downtown Sioux Falls. What started out with high hopes and ideals to be a vibrant new hi-rise(ish) development downtown has had a major hiccup… well, honestly… more like an amputation. The Village on the River project, which was a partnership between the City of Sioux Falls and developer Village River Group…

Architect, Material, or Labor? A history of architecture in Sioux Falls.

As the town of Sioux Falls was built, South Dakota’s attitude towards architecture was grand, yet utilitarian. Sioux Falls Architecture is characterized by the Richardsonian Romanesque style by late nineteenth century architect, Wallace Dow. Being involved the politics of the Dakota Territory lead to Dow’s success, and he is given much credit to Sioux Falls’s…