On my cycle ride, down a dead-end street in an unassuming Minneapolis neighborhood: The Willey House. Built in 1934, it’s the first home Frank Lloyd Wright designed for a middle-income family. Although only the garage is visible from the street, the heritage is clear.
Category: Design
Eero and Eliel Saarinen in Minneapolis
Cycled to Christ Church Lutheran, completed 1949, hidden in a South Minneapolis residential neighborhood. The church members had opted for a Gothic structure, but fortunately a new pastor signed up Eliel Saarinen. In 1962, even more famous son, Eero, supervised an extension.
Local Starchitect
Walked to Vladimir Ossipoff’s IBM Building. The facade has staying power compared to many facades of the 1960’s. He designed the open-to-the-elements Honolulu Airport, and airports at Kahului, Maui, and Kona, Big Island. I once met his daughter, but didn’t realize the connection.
Guthrie Theater
It’s no accident the Guthrie Theater is close to our home. The theater moved to its current home in the Minneapolis Mill District in 2006 next to the Mill City Museum which had opened three years earlier. At the time, the choice of new location was brave. The Mill District was mostly derelict, and not… Continue reading Guthrie Theater
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.
The Impossible Takes a Little Longer
Now that we have our indoor gardens on wheels fully operational it was time to think of technical refinements. Maintaining a log of actual water usage suddenly seemed like a good idea. I could think of several benefits of measuring water usage, including: Learn how much water is optimal for each plant so we can… Continue reading The Impossible Takes a Little Longer
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.
Crystal Court
Ran errands Downtown, always a good excuse to walk through the Crystal Court at IDS Center.