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| (Photo: Charlie Litchfield/Register file photo) |
full article here http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2014/10/01/architects-see-much-like-des-moines/16519423/?autologin=&from=global&sf31823716=1
From downtowns to university campuses to suburban shopping centers, new buildings and public spaces are popping up around the state as the post-recession recovery continues. With that in mind, I found a few architects to talk about the new buildings and designs they find inspiring and what trends they think leave something to be desired.
Let's start with Julie Snow, principal and CEO of Snow Kreilich Architects in Minneapolis. She was a keynote speaker at the conference. Snow has taught at Harvard University, the University of Southern California and the University of Minnesota College of Design. Her design work has won awards from the American Institute of Architects and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Q: What is your impression of the new architecture you've seen in Des Moines?
A: "The forward-thinking nature of the library, the Meredith Corporation — you really have some new architecture that conveys that Des Moines is a forward-thinking place. What you are doing downtown with new architecture is fabulous. … It's great to see a contemporary, forward-looking community."
Q: What stands out to you most?
A: "I think the sculpture park is amazing. To have that much public art is amazing." Having a sculpture like "Nomade," the iconic human figure made of white letters, gives Des Moines a poster-card image, she said. "That's your Eiffel Tower. … These things are iconic. They embody the city."
Q: What could we improve in the architecture or design of our city?
A: "You could do more bike lanes. Get more activity on the street level. Take out the skywalk. Create light rail travel.
"We shouldn't build any more (skywalks). It takes all the activity off the street. It brings retail up to that level and the retail just gets crummier and crummier and less unique."
Here is what other architects and architecture students at the conference had to say.
Q: What is an example of new architecture or design around Iowa that inspires you?
• "The Hub Spot on the Riverwalk in Des Moines. It's an inspiring example of current design. It's sort of unique. It's not historical. It's very contemporary. It takes some of the exciting things happening in Iowa — the riverwalk, redevelopment of our urban areas — and it makes something great out of those elements." — Tim Hickman, a principal at Substance Architecture
• "The new building on Iowa State's campus, the Sukup (Hall), the new bio-renewables complex for research for fuel. It's right next to the design building we work in every day. It's a really cool, modern, contemporary space." — Nathan Peters, an ISU senior majoring in architecture from Council Bluffs
• "The whole Iowa Events Center has really changed the way people come to Des Moines. Ten years ago none of this was here … and now you see a lot of large events … all coming to Des Moines because of this event center, so it's really exciting." — Thomas Thatcher, an ISU senior majoring in architecture from Johnston
• "I really appreciate when we can take older buildings and give them a face-lift and bring them into today's technology, really making them relevant to what we're doing right now as far as green construction." — Jennifer Evans, Benjamin Design Collaborative, Ames
• "The Substance (Architecture) pump house station is something that really inspired me. I think that's a really beautiful project with some really gorgeous detailing and I think it's something that's being used and loved by architects and residents." — Emily Hilgendorf, senior in architecture at Iowa State University
• "The trend in architecture to try and simplify things. In the past in architecture we tried to do too many complicated details to a building to try to pretty it up. … The trend seems to be to try to simplify them." — James Meier-Gast, OPN Architects, Cedar Rapids
Q: What is a mistake being made in the way we are designing our buildings and cities?
• "I think the biggest mistake we're making is letting developers build really low-quality things under the argument that they're helping cities and not advocating for high-quality design and materials both." — Tim Hickman
• "The notion that all buildings have to be foreground buildings, that they have to be buildings that garner attention. With the Internet there is so much consumption of imagery these days, so everyone thinks buildings need to stand out. I think what makes great cities right now are buildings that adapt to their context." — Anne Fourgeron, principal of Fourgeron Architecture in San Francisco and a keynote speaker at the conference.
full article here http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2014/10/01/architects-see-much-like-des-moines/16519423/?autologin=&from=global&sf31823716=1
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