Archinect - News

Restoration of Saarinen-designed First Christian Church tower completed in Columbus, Indiana

2024-02-23T08:03:00-05:00

The Landmark Columbus Foundation has shared photos of Louis Joyner Architect's completed tower restoration of the landmark First Christian Church in Columbus, Indiana, designed by Eero Saarinen and his father, Eliel, in 1942.

The project took eight months to complete, wrapping up this past December.

The church’s 166-foot-high freestanding clock tower served as the main focus of the restoration work, which took place in four main parts, with repairs also needed to account for significant masonry cracking, rust, and water damage to its interior.

Photo: Hadley Fruits for Landmark Columbus Foundation

Contractors stabilized the 50 uppermost feet of the tower by first removing its east and west walls and then taking the brick veneer off its north and south edifices, removing parapets, and then installing a new concrete block support onto the 166-foot-tall structure.

Photo: Hadley Fruits for Landmark Columbus Foundation

The brick veneer was later re-installed in addition to locally quarr...

Marlon Blackwell to design new air traffic control tower for Columbus Municipal Airport in Indiana

2023-12-19T14:09:00-05:00

Marlon Blackwell Architects has announced it will be designing a new air traffic control tower at the Columbus Municipal Airport in Columbus, Indiana. The $11.5 million project helps the airport modernize its facilities in line with current Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Control Tower design and safety standards.

Plans call for a 100-foot design to replace an aged-out 80-foot tower with help from a team that includes Woolpert (aviation design), Guy Nordenson (structural design), Thornton Tomasetti (façade design), and Threshold Acoustics (acoustic consulting). The project is being supported, in part, by a grant from the Cummins Architecture Foundation.

Marlon Blackwell was selected over other shortlisted finalists from Snow Kreilich Architects, SO – IL, and Höweler + Yoon.

“We are so honored to have been selected to contribute to the architectural legacy of Columbus,” Blackwell sa...

RAMSA’s new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art opens at Notre Dame this December

2023-11-17T18:34:00-05:00

The University of Notre Dame’s new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art from Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) has announced an opening date of December 1st, completing the first phase of a multi-year plan that will advance research and foundational arts education offerings for students in South Bend, Indiana.

The design consists of a 70,000-square-foot neoclassical style building to house the university’s 31,000 object collection. A rectangular layout of 23 separate gallery spaces centers around a circular multi-story atrium and sculpture court, with the exhibitions of different world cultures stitched together into one “dialogue” connecting to an art historical timeline that totals approximately 4,000 years.

Image rendering courtesy of RAMSA

Notre Dame is, similar to Brown University, pursuing the project in the interests of re-affirming the role of arts education in its undergraduate curricula. The school says the new museum brings it on par with Yale, Stanford, and other comparable ins...

Exhibit Columbus Announces 2023 Opening Weekend Events

2023-08-03T14:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Exhibit Columbus.

The fourth Exhibit Columbus exhibition, Public by Design, opens on Saturday, August 26, with 13 new works of art and architecture designed to invigorate, entertain, and challenge while expanding the legacy of one of America’s most celebrated cities.

Image courtesy of Exhibit Columbus.

Landmark Columbus Foundation announces the Opening Weekend of the 2023 Exhibit Columbus Exhibition, Public by Design, with the Opening Celebration on Friday, August 25, and a day of free, public events on Saturday, August 26. The Exhibit Columbus community (including the Curatorial Team, Landmark Columbus Foundation Staff and Board, Participants, volunteers, and supporters) has been working together for over a year to create what will be a ground-breaking exhibition that showcases how art and architecture can help build a sense of belonging while revitalizing and reimagining historic downtowns as equitable, beautiful, and joyful places.

Image by Hadley F...

Robert A.M. Stern Architects adds to Notre Dame's arts educational offerings with modernizing Raclin Murphy Museum of Art redesign

2023-07-31T08:00:00-04:00

Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) has shared design details of the new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame ahead of the project’s first phase opening in South Bend later this fall.

The 70,000-square-foot facility is built to hold a growing collection of over 31,000 art objects, one of the largest for an American university or college, in addition to featuring a slate of exhibition strategies designed to “encourage ongoing dialogues with works of art” for Notre Dame’s student body. As the firm’s brief stated, 91% of the class of 2022 graduates reported having used the former Snite Museum for academic research at some point during their undergraduate careers.

Inside the museum’s neoclassical building, the new facility delivers a multi-level atrium space that welcomes visitors at the ground floor level and directs into the first series of thematic galleries, which house the university’s collection of American, European, and African art. A suite devoted to In...

Populous unveils $1 billion Eleven Park stadium design for Indianapolis

2023-02-20T12:45:00-05:00

Populous has revealed designs for its new 20,000-seat multipurpose soccer stadium in Indianapolis.

Their design for the city’s Indy Eleven professional soccer franchise will anchor a larger mixed-use development located at the southwesternmost corner of downtown that includes apartments, a hotel feature, office spaces, and retail all wrapped in a color-changing LED facade that’s supposedly reflective of the “forward-looking nature of the development.”

Populous’ Phil Kolbo shared, “A world-class stadium is designed as a true destination, a reflection of its community and a catalyst for growth in the area. This is our mission with the new stadium for Indy Eleven.”

Image courtesy Indy Eleven and Keystone Group

“Eleven Park will not only change the skyline of Indianapolis, but will add over a thousand jobs, have a huge economic impact, create quality of life benefits and attract talent and opportunities to our city and state,” added Ersal Ozdemir, the Chairman and Founder of Keystone Gr...

Mies van der Rohe design for Indiana University is being built, 70 years later

2021-06-18T12:21:00-04:00

Indiana University (IU) has shared an update of their Mies Building at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design. The scheme, currently under construction, realizes a recently rediscovered 1952 design by Mies van der Rohe for the IU Bloomington campus. The scheme has been adapted for contemporary use by architects Thomas Phifer and Partners and is expected to open in the Fall of 2021.

When completed, the Mies Building will be a 60-foot-wide, 140-foot-long rectangular structure of thin, white-painted steel and expansive glass with 10-square-foot panes. Floor-to-ceiling windows will wrap around the entire second story, which will feature a central exterior square atrium to enhance the building’s aura of transparency. Much of the lower level is external, with the main second story elevated above the ground.

Exterior view of the northwest corner of the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, a Mies van der Rohe Design, on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington. ...

Exhibit Columbus' 2021 site installations showcase the work of University Design Research Fellows and nine high school students

2021-03-31T09:00:00-04:00

Exhibit Columbus' virtual presentations allowed the public to join in online and listen to thirteen presentations from the event's University Design Research Fellows, High School Design Team, and J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize winners.

Exhibit Columbus has shared project renders for eight site-specific installations developed by the University Design Research Fellows and High School Design Team for an exclusive preview.

2020-2021 University Design Research Fellowship Installations

For this year's iteration, seven fellowships were awarded to leading professors of architecture, landscape architecture, and design from seven universities. Each installation highlights the research of each individual. Fellows were selected for their "ability to tackle specific sets of issues germane to the future of the city and the Mississippi Watershed region, such as sustainability and material reuse, non-human habitat, watershed ecologies, emergent technologies, and migration."

Derek Hoeferlin — W...

Modernist Columbia, IN building finds new life as architecture school outpost

2018-05-04T13:42:00-04:00

Next fall, Indiana University announced Monday, the building will house the university’s new master of architecture program, serving as an outpost of the flagship Bloomington campus 36 miles to the west. But this will be no ordinary outpost. Columbus, a small-town architectural mecca, boasts buildings by such renowned architects as Eliel and Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei and Chicago’s Harry Weese.

Blair Kamin tells the story of the former The Republic newspaper building—a modernist gem designed by SOM partner Myron Goldsmith and opened in 1971—which will soon find a second life as Indiana University's new architecture graduate program studio in Columbus, Indiana.

The Amish men that are building America's RVs

2017-07-25T13:38:00-04:00

When most Amish men were farmers, it was common for them to work seasonally with non-Amish in town, on more traditional things like cabinet making or carpentry, or even making cigar boxes, boats and band instruments. Nolt, who conducted interviews in the late ‘90s with Amish workers in the boat-making industry, said interviewees pointed to the fact that making the wooden boats was similar to wood working.

According to Steve Nolt, Senior Scholar at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, most of the Amish men under 65 work in factories. The majority of these manufacturing plants either assemble RVS or supply parts such as cabinets or windows.

Such increased involvement of the Amish in the non-Amish workplaces has had significant and transformative consequences on their community. Northern Indiana Amish, in particular, have always had some relationship to the outside world. According to Nolt's date, 56.3 percent of men in the Nappanee settlement and 53 percent in the Elkhart-LaGrange settlement are now employed by the RV industry. How did their working patterns shift so dramatically?

The big reason, says Nolt, is what he called an “economic squeeze and demographic crisis,” a shift in the 1980s that pushed the Amish (and other farmers across the country) from the farms into the factory. By the time the 1980s Farm Crisis hit, Amish families had alre...

One-to-One #41 with Deborah Berke

2016-10-10T14:58:00-04:00

The small town of Columbus, Indiana is packed with the works of famous modernist architects, but unlike cities like New York or Chicago, Columbus’s pedigree isn’t so often brought into the national architectural discourse. Exhibit Columbus, a new symposium and exhibition happening annually in the city, is hoping to change that.

Deborah Berke, architect and dean at Yale, has worked extensively in Indiana and was a keynote speaker at this year's inaugural Exhibit Columbus symposium. She joined me on the podcast to reflect on the local and regional influences of Columbus, Indiana, and the impact they've had on her career.

Listen to One-to-One #41 with Deborah Berke:

iTunes: Click here to listen and subscribe to the new "Archinect Sessions One-to-One" podcast
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Download: this episode

Listen to our Sessions podcast about Exhibit Columbus for more bac...

"The Erection, the Inkblot, and the RFRA Riff-Raff": Morphosis' Vals tower, Zumthor's LACMA, and Hoosier hospitality confronts RFRA on Archinect Sessions Episode #23

2015-04-02T19:25:00-04:00

It’s been a strange week, especially in Indiana. On this episode, before getting to the RFRA-ff, we hit on a neat architectural inversion: LA-heavyweight Morphosis designs a "middle-finger" luxury tower in the quaint mountain town of Vals, Switzerland, while the subtly grand Swiss museum-master Peter Zumthor pushes a calligraphic inkblot for LACMA on LA's Miracle Mile. Vals is already home to Zumthor's Therme Spa. It’s like Trading Spaces, but with starchitects!

On the latter-half of our show, Amelia, Donna and Ken talk with Brian Newman, Archinect Sessions’ legal correspondent, about Indiana’s controversial revisions to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act – with our own Donna Sink on the ground in Indianapolis, we dig into how this national and local issue would affect architects and the profession.

Paul is away this week, on vacation in the outer reaches of Peru, blissfully out of Skype's reach. He'll be back as soon as he re-enters the connected world.

As always, you can send us y...

Get Lectured: University of Notre Dame, Spring '15

2015-01-22T13:30:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

The next featured poster comes from the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Unless otherwise noted, lectures are held on Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. in 104 Bond Hall. Attendees are eligible to receive AIA/CE credits.

Jan 28
Michael Imber / Principal - Michael Imber Architects, San Antonio, TX
"Building with Landscape, Culture and Craft"

Feb 18
Maxim Atayants / Principal, Maxim Atayants Architects - St. Petersburg, Russia
"From Single Building to Urban Fabric: the Way to Build Classically in Russia"

March 4
Michael Lewis / Faison-Pierson-Stoddard...

Deborah Berke's design for new Cummins distribution HQ is unveiled

2014-12-03T15:11:00-05:00

Since Cummins Inc. appointed Deborah Berke Partners back in September, the company finally revealed DBP's design of their new global distribution business headquarters in downtown Indianapolis to the City of Indianapolis’ Metropolitan Development Commission today. The Commission could vote on the plan as early as December 17.

Deborah Berke went against Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and SHoP Architects for the development. The new distribution headquarters appears to have been receiving a very warm welcome from locals, as the project is considered a refreshing sight that can bring more architectural innovation into the city.

Located in a 4-acre plot in the Market East cultural district where the Market Square Arena previously stood, the plan includes a 10-story tower that will provide flexible office space, views, and natural light, a conference center, retail spaces, a parking garage, and an ample amount of public green space. The building is expected to break ground in early 2...

New podcast, new banknotes, new neurons: Weekly News Round-Up for October 6, 2014

2014-10-13T20:27:00-04:00

Sunday, October 12:

A classic American look, feng shui notwithstanding: Investigating the impact of wealthy Chinese immigrants on suburban Seattle's real estate boom.

Saturday, October 11:

Indiana Ponders Abolishing Licensing for Architects: Part of a state-wide reconsideration of more than "200 types of professional licenses, permits and certifications", aimed at cutting regulatory costs.
Announcing "Archinect Sessions", our brand new podcast! Listen to Episode #1 now: We're launching a weekly podcast to discuss prominent news items, feat. members of the Archinect community and other special guests. Ep. #1: "Where are the women?"

Thursday, October 9:

Architects Create a 3-D Printed Column That Survives Earthquakes: Made of cement and based on ancient Incan techniques.
Renzo Piano admits he's "struggling to do something good" for the LA Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences project: A fable to remind us that architecture is never solely the product of architects.

Wednesday, October 8:...

Indiana Ponders Abolishing Licensing for Architects

2014-10-10T13:00:00-04:00

We need to make sure we strike the proper balance between public safety and burdensome regulatory practices so that Indiana's economy can flourish and citizens can prosper - Nicholas Rhoad Rhoad is executive director of the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, an umbrella agency for 38 state boards, commissions and committees that oversee more than 240 types of licenses, permits and certifications between them.

Last week Indiana began reviewing each of the State's more than 70 types of licenses to consider and then make recommendations which might be able to be eliminated. The (ironically-named?) Job Creation Committee is moving alphabetically through all professions, so last week they met with accountants and next week will meet with architects.

There seems to be a strong libertarian energy in this process, as the committee members ask, perhaps rhetorically, whether each profession could be self-regulated rather than regulated by the State using public dollars.

Having become very interested in licensure paths lately, I'll keep updating on this topic as it progresses.

What say you, 'necters: should architects just license ourselves? And what happens if one state decides to do so, would NCARB have anything to say?

The PeopleForBikes Green Lane Project celebrates national kick-off in Indianapolis

2014-04-29T18:19:00-04:00

The Green Lane Project, established in 2012 by non-profit group PeopleForBikes, continues its ambitious mission to expedite the process of building more protected bike lines with six new U.S. cities in tow: Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Seattle.

The program celebrated its national kickoff in Indianapolis today with transportation officials including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, who discussed the Department's prioritization on improving bicycle and pedestrian safety as more Americans are looking for alternative methods of commuting.

Back in March, the program selected the six cities out of 100 that submitted letters of interest. In addressing each city's current situation, The Green Lane Project will provide each city with financial, strategic, and technical assistance in constructing the bike lanes, which are valued at more than $250,000. The on-street lanes are separated from traffic by curbs, planters, parked cars, or posts to help organize...

In Indianapolis, a Bike Path to Progress

2014-03-05T11:07:00-05:00

Before the path arrived, Indianapolis didn’t have a mainstream bike scene — just streets designed to improve traffic flow. Now, children and the elderly have joined the spandex swarms of longtime cycling enthusiasts... The public art along the trail accentuates the path’s role as a sculptor of the city’s evolving identity. For example, Donna Sink’s “Moving Forward” is a series of seven stained-glass-hued eco-friendly bus shelters covered in lines from poems by local writers.

Winners of the 1 x ∞ Ideas Competition Announced

2014-02-06T20:02:00-05:00

The international 1 x ∞ Ideas Competition has announced three Winners and four Honorable Mentions. Hosted by the AIA Indiana chapter, the competition had invited designers from around the world to develop ideas for an urban lot in the downtown area of Evansville [...]. While there aren't specific plans underway to actually realize the entries in Evansville, the competition sees this site as a representation of a common design problem in urban areas across the U.S.

The winning entries are:

First Place: Folded Architecture – Michael Abrams (Washington D.C.)

Second Place: Center for Culture – Bryan Pendzinski (Denver, Colorado)

Third Place: Sensitive Platform – Concepcion Badia & Javier Esquembre (Spain)

Learn more on Bustler.

All images courtesy of 1 x ∞ Ideas Competition

Documenting Modern Living: A Tumblr on the creation of Saarinen's Miller House

2012-10-05T11:35:00-04:00

The Miller House and Garden Collection includes correspondence, drawings and blueprints, textile samples, and photographs that document design, construction, and maintenance of the Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana.

In May 2012, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the Indianapolis Museum of Art a grant for its project “Documenting Modern Living: Digitizing the Miller House and Garden Collection.” This Tumblr includes archival information giving an intimate view into the working relationship between the clients and designers involved in one of America's most significant modernist houses. The Tumblr has just recently gone live; bookmark it to see updates on all 23,000 pieces in the archive.

Faded architectural star of Chicago world's fair now in peril

2012-05-02T01:06:00-04:00

The House of Tomorrow, a modernist,12-sided exhibition home built for Chicago's 1933 World's Fair is among Indiana's 10 most endangered buildings, according to the state's leading preservation group. Designed by Chicago architects George and William Keck, the house wowed fairgoers with then unheard of features such as glass exterior walls, air conditioning, a dishwasher and automatically opening kitchen and garage doors. The home even had an airplane bay on its ground floor.