Category: Design

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.

In Praise of Tactile Controls

The Navy will begin reverting destroyers back to a physical throttle and traditional helm control system in the next 18 to 24 months, after the fleet overwhelmingly said they prefer mechanical controls to touchscreen systems in the aftermath of the fatal USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) collision.The investigation into the collision showed that a touchscreen…… Continue reading In Praise of Tactile Controls

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.

TWA Flight Center

Between flights, explored the former TWA Flight Center at New York’s JFK Airport, now a hotel. Opened in 1962, it was designed by Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen.