Took delivery of furniture, including this bench for our entry. I love the asymmetry and the playfulness. It’s built from a 1939 design by Ralph Rapson (1914-2008), Minneapolis modernism architect. It looks ready to rack, but it’s actually extraordinarily solid.
Category: Design
Rail Shed
Wandered through open doors at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel. The hotel has recently opened this lovely event space in the former rail shed of the Milwaukee Road Depot. The chimneys vented smoke from steam locomotives.
Former Cream of Wheat Headquarters
Walked to a Home Depot to choose picture hangers and drywall anchors. On the way, stopped to enjoy the 1928 Art Moderne former Cream of Wheat headquarters and factory, now condos.
Don’t Touch the Concrete
Posted Don’t Touch the Concrete.
Don’t Touch the Concrete
Last week my partner and I walked along a Chicago residential street to Wrightwood 659, a brand new exhibition space designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The Antithesis The previous day, a wonderful volunteer docent, an elderly woman, went silent when I said that Ando walks on water. Maybe I had offended her religious sensibilities,… Continue reading Don’t Touch the Concrete
Wrightwood 659
Visited Chicago’s Wrightwood 659, a new exhibition space designed by Tadao Ando. The current installation showcases Ando and Le Corbusier, an early influence on Ando. In one gallery, models built by Ando’s students of Le Corbusier’s designs, are displayed in chronological order.
Minneapolis Vignettes
On my Downtown walk, the windows of the Marquette Hotel distorted and reflected while the Foshay Tower stood tall.
Finding Tadao Ando
Posted Finding Tadao Ando.
Finding Tadao Ando
This week my partner and I will make a quick trip to Chicago to visit Wrightwood 659, a new art space designed by Japan’s Tadao Ando. We’ll explore the inaugural exhibition, Ando and Le Corbusier: Masters of Architecture. In March 2014 I was vaguely aware of architect Tadao Ando when I took a boat to Naoshima… Continue reading Finding Tadao Ando
Minoru Yamasaki in Minneapolis
Walked Downtown to do errands. Paused to enjoy the patterns and symmetries in some of the hundreds of carefully cut marble slabs that side this 1966 building. It was designed by starchitect Minoru Yamasaki for the (then) Northwestern National Life Insurance Company.