AIA South Dakota’s signature summer event began with our first-ever rodeo and wrapped up with a social and sponsor expo. Throughout the day on July 17, we learned from one another through onsite visits and designer-led tours to five distinct projects that are helping shape Rapid City. The annual gathering brings together architects, landscape architects,…
I would recommend visiting the Chapel in the Hills when you’re in the area and considering it for your nuptial destination. We will look back fondly on our wedding day and the place that made it extra special. What a cool cultural replica right in our backyard!
By Bobbie Koch (Sicangu Lakota) Associate AIA & AICAE, and Valeriah Big Eagle (Ihanktonwan) Ed.D., M.S.Ed. Since the 1940s, our Lakota Uncis – our grandmothers – advocated to bring a Native American Community Center to Mniluzahan Otunwahe (Rapid City). For the past few years, He Sapa Otipi – Community Center for the People of the…
By Cassie Pospishil, Associate AIA Thursday afternoon, attendees visited the Accelerator Building, the Monument, and Memorial Park. All of these are located in the downtown Rapid City area. The Accelerator Building Though there were many aspects of the Accelerator Building that were stunning, one main theme I would like to elaborate on is the indoor-outdoor…
By Tanya Olson, ASLA, SD Section Chair, Nebraska/Dakotas Chapter ASLA Our second stop on “tour day” for Design in the Hills 2022 was the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology campus where we toured a new construction project and a building renovation project. South Dakota Mines Pearson Alumni and Conference Center Jenn Johnson, AIA…
By Terri L. Miller, AIA, NCARB, CDT Design in the Hills is one of my favorite AIA South Dakota Events. I would encourage anyone to join if they are able. Every year, the tours are either in Rapid City or the surrounding area. There are usually some very interesting and different things to tour, and…
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.
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.
Design in the Hills 2011 was our first year, featuring tours and presentations of local Built Environment design projects. Rapid City was undergoing a revitalization of the downtown area, and we toured the construction site of the new Main Street Square, which would become the heart of Downtown.
This is the inaugural post of series in which we ask community leaders about the community they live in and share their answers with you. We hear what their favorite spaces are in the city and why and what issues their city faces from their point of view. Our goal is to get a sense of South Dakota and the cities that make it up. We hope to have a variety of cities and perspectives of the same cities. By engaging community leaders, designers and communities can see the spaces in a city from a different perspective: the people that are making decisions.