Category: Architecture

Model of Downtown

The Minneapolis skyways were 80 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the streets below, so I walked the skyways. Spotted a model of Downtown in Cesar Pelli’s Wells Fargo Center. For me, the Wells Fargo Center seems outclassed by the restraint of Philip Johnson’s IDS Center.

Logitech Blue

Walked past the blue Guthrie Theater set against a blue sky on my way to join friends for a Mississippi walk. Architect Jean Nouvel’s influences included nearby flour mills (industrial shapes), Logitech computer mice (blue siding), and ski goggles (yellow

Without Fear of Discovery

Walked into art at the Chichu and Lee Ufan Art Museums on the island of Naoshima in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea. Photography was not permitted, but I took this photo without fear of discovery. Note Tadao Ando’s signature concrete.

Frank Lloyd Wright in Japan

It was rainy, a good day to change plans and ride a bullet train for 230 miles to visit Meiji Mura, an architecture museum. After coffee in the lobby of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Tokyo Imperial Hotel, we explored many of the 60 buildings. We then rode a bullet back.

Extraordinary Places

Rain made today a good day to indulge my inner dilletante. Walked to the library at the University of Minnesota’s School of Architecture to take my mind to an extraordinary place.

The Shed

Pushed my bicycle through “The Shed” in Nordeast Minneapolis. Over 300 people work 21st century jobs in the surrounding former industrial spaces. The gantry crane nods to the past.

Former Fire Stations

Cycled with a friend looking for former fire stations. This unusual beauty was built in 1923 in the American Craftsman bungalow style. Former Fire Station Number 13 is now an architects’ office. One of the partners gave us a tour of the sensitively repurposed building.

Redeeming a Crumbling Edifice

Walked my bicycle down a dirt road behind the derelict Harris Machinery Company building at the edge of the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus. I love this crumbling edifice, but until today thought it was beyond redemption.