obviously jean novels guthrie museum and H De M's walker addition are both must sees... but a few buildings down from the guthrie on mill road is a really interesting project... the mill museum. they have maintained the shell of the old mill that was there and have implanted a modular glass and steel structure... very effective.. really interesting. but cant remember the firm, i know they are local... someone on here probably does
also you have cesar pellis new library which i must admit, is less ugly than most pelli buildings
and of course you have to see the new graves addition to the art institute.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... which is beautiful ......................................................
the gehry at the u does look like everything of the past 10 yrs, which makes it a little unique. it was completed in 1992 or so, before the catia gehry. i remember seeing the cds that local firm meyer scherer rockcastle did. a lot of it hand drawn.
speaking of, i think the mill museum was either meyer scherer rockcastle or julie snow.
when julie snow and vincent james were still james snow archs, they did the children's museum in st paul. it's fun and interesting. i think it was more her project.
the ids tower is a phillip johnson project and the nicollet mall outside is the site of mary tyler moore's hat-throwing scene.
just south of cesar pelli's library is a project he did for a mall back in the 80s: gaviidae common's south block (of two blocks). i don't think it's a mall anymore. now has a bank, a furniture store and some other things grouped around a central atrium.
record stores (not architecture) if they're still there:
garage d'or at @ 26th/nicollet,
one closer to downtown on the nicollet mall which i can't for the life of me remember the name of but it's on the corner (northern lights?),
positively 4th street on hennepin, near the famous first avenue club. the real star of purple rain.
electric fetus. down south by the interstate and the minneapolis institute of arts.
speaking of (again): this was a historic structure with an addition by kenzo tange and i hear they're adding on again.
mill museum is fantastick, really like that project
also...
definetly dont bother seeing the ghery building at the U... its worthless and horribly ugly... it was very dissapointing... there is one cool moment in that project, which due to the general lack of thought perceptible througout the building, was probably an accident. Theres a window which looks out at the river and is placed perpendicular to a large brick wall.. the light reflecting off the wall through the window is pretty beautiful...
beyond that... i couldnt believe how careless that building was... really, really dissapointing
treekiller had already mentioned it, but this was what i was talking about, too:
mckim mead white > kenzo tange > michael graves.
"The Minneapolis Institute of Arts was established in 1883. The museum building, designed by the firm of McKim, Mead and White, opened its doors in 1915. In 1974 the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange was commissioned to design needed additions to the neoclassical structure. In the 1990s the museum was renovated, the collections reinstalled, and state of the art technology introduced to help visitors and members interpret the works of art. The museum expanded yet again with the addition of the Michael Graves-designed Target wing, opening in June of 2006. The new wing adds 40% more gallery and exhibition space, includes a new Library, Print and Photograph Study Rooms, Friends Community Room, and a 400 seat Reception Hall."
All the recent star architect stuff of recent has been covered, except for Holl's arch school addition at the UofM. It's ok and worth seeing if you are on campus. Pelli also did the Norwest Tower (now Wells Fargo) which I find to be one of the nicer American skyscrapers of the 80's. Mpls also has their Philip Johnson skyscaper which isn't outstanding but is quite good for its time (1969 I believe). Doesn't FOG have a fish sculpture in some museum around town?
Over in St. Paul is the State Capitol by Cass Gilbert which is probably one of the best state houses in the country. There are also several churches and private residences in St. Paul by Gilbert. On that side of the river it's worth seeing the Cathederal and the James J Hill house. Not sure on architects for either but interesting to see the old railroad tycoons house and the Cathederal which he financed.
Behind the Mill City Museum/MS&R architects in Mpls is the Stone Arch Bridge, crossing the Mississippi. When built is was the longest stone bridge in the world. Worth a walk across and good view of the skyline from there.
And while there be sure to enjoy a local Summit beer.
and the norwest tower and gaviidae common are part of the same project by pelli.
gehry's fish were at both the walker's sculpture garden greenhouse and at the weisman. the weisman's was small; the walker's is a huge glass thing. the walker also has the oldenburg spoon/cherry.
and if you're walking across the pedestrian bridge, you might see if the bar pracna is still on the north shore. sometimes you need to stop for a drink.
steve- ok, the wiesman looks like every crappy building that FOG did after Disney and Bilboa 15 years ago, and still isn't worth seeing. but i didn't metion the art museum- haven't been there yet...
Holl's arch school is one of the tamer and better detailed projects he's created in a while, I'm partial to the courtyard of the rapson original- greally nice clearstory space (except for the views of the HVAC units).
maya lin did the lobby/landscaping for the AT&T tower(?)
If you head out of the city, there's a FLlW gas station in cloquette (about 90 miles north)...
Indian mounds in St. Paul overlooking the Mississippi... and a modern mound next to the gutherie by Thom Oslund in the gold medal (flour) park.
And you can't miss all the grain elevators that almost rival buffalo- there's a cluster along the river in downtown mpls, a few along the RR tracks north of the U and then along the light rail corridor to the airport/MOA.
Well, Minneapolis is the mill city so the grain elevators are like a vernacular. Not familiar with the landscaping at the AT&T tower but in front of the federal coutrhouse is some funky landscaping. Small grass covered mounds.
The FLW gas station in Cloquet is really stretching it. Not one of the finer buildings by Wright and not worth the 2 hour drive unless you have good reason to go up there. Several Indian gaming casinos along the route though.
has anyone mentioned the gunnar birkets building across from the pelli building - a well hung arch - and if you're going to get a drink, try the bar at the graves601 (formerly Meridien) downtown - interior by yabu pushelberg. And if you're doing a daytrip, there's the Sullivan bank masterpiece in Owatonna (hour away).
louismeier: Do you remember when JPS brought in the architectural interview tapes for the Minneapolis library, and we watched them during studio? I think we agreed that Pelli had the best interview. It's hard to believe that we watched those 5 years ago...
louismeier's mention of the snow project by the guthrie reminded me that there is a set of mark mack condos up the hill from the old guthrie/walker. pretty nice project, new when i was living there in '94.
may not be as exciting from the outside as from the inside, though. the custom cabinetry is beautiful.
Ahh, the old Mpls federal reserve building. It's a shame what they did to it.
I miss that pass-thru plaza level. Now it's just any other office building.
Julie Snow's condo next to the Guthrie has a very trendy cafe/bar at the ground level. The building isn't much more than exposed concrete structure and floor to ceiling windows. Although it's par or better than most of the "new" condos of the past decade. Still much prefer the adaptive reuse condos, which there are several along the river.
Over in St. Paul they are converting the old St. Paul City Jail into luxury condos. In a previous generation nobody wanted a river view so we gave it to the criminals.
"Does anybody have a first hand opinion/information about the arch program at Univ of Minnesota? im curious."
I enjoyed it while I was there. It was distinct due to its diversity of faculty when I was there. Bob Mack doing historic restoration, MS+R always had one of there principals there, Josh Wienstein of SITE architects fame, Dale Mulfinger king of the cabin, John Carmody doing the sustainable things... All in all, good bang for your buck, a lot of places (see above) to see close by without paying the premium to live in a coastal city. I was there from 97-2002 BS in Arch then went elsewhere for Grad school. Tom Fisher (one of the editors from the REAL Progressive Architecture mag) is the Dean and seems to have managed to coral all the design schools (graphics, et all) into one college. It should make for some interesting cross-breeding.
j
I second Josh's comments. Although I didn't attend I've heard very good things about the faculty and many have their own practices in the city. The university is not in a college town that lives or dies by the student population. Right in the back yard of the college is a very active architecture community which can provide a great education. We all know how much more is learned in practice than education, right? It's not cheap like a rural state school, which is where my education was, but in my opinion provides a better environment for learning architecture.
Just got back......loved the new Guthrie, sad to see the other one in shambles.
Visited with Ralph Rapson (my father's mentor)...he was in good spirits at 92 yrs young.
What to see architecturally in Minneapolis/St. Paul
I'll be there for a long weekend over the holidays....what bldgs. should I make sure to visit?
Thx
obviously jean novels guthrie museum and H De M's walker addition are both must sees... but a few buildings down from the guthrie on mill road is a really interesting project... the mill museum. they have maintained the shell of the old mill that was there and have implanted a modular glass and steel structure... very effective.. really interesting. but cant remember the firm, i know they are local... someone on here probably does
also you have cesar pellis new library which i must admit, is less ugly than most pelli buildings
and of course you have to see the new graves addition to the art institute.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... which is beautiful ......................................................
when and where will you be? because i am sure treekilla, A, and myself could hook up something...
jeff - if you want a tour or beverage and escape from the relatives, drop me a line...
in downtown:
Gutherie
Walker
the skyways for the banality and a unique urban experience
Mill City Museum
Main Library
mall of america for the great shopping
in St. Paul:
the Como Zoo visitors center
skip the gehry at the u - looks like everything he's churned out in the past 10 years.
I know there are more, but I need assistance from those folks with a longer residency in the twin cities
Guthrie for sure...
don't forget the slightly older stuff...Ghery's Weismann (sp?) museum, and Predock's building on the U of M? campus
oh, and if you can find Prince's house...pretty sweet...all white lit from the exterior with purple spotlights
wow- what a quick flurry of posts- we all must be bored with drawing cad details today.
ll- the library is the best pelli building in a long time, was there last night and it works great.
the mill museum is MS+R (meyer scherer + rockcastle)
the gehry at the u does look like everything of the past 10 yrs, which makes it a little unique. it was completed in 1992 or so, before the catia gehry. i remember seeing the cds that local firm meyer scherer rockcastle did. a lot of it hand drawn.
speaking of, i think the mill museum was either meyer scherer rockcastle or julie snow.
when julie snow and vincent james were still james snow archs, they did the children's museum in st paul. it's fun and interesting. i think it was more her project.
the ids tower is a phillip johnson project and the nicollet mall outside is the site of mary tyler moore's hat-throwing scene.
just south of cesar pelli's library is a project he did for a mall back in the 80s: gaviidae common's south block (of two blocks). i don't think it's a mall anymore. now has a bank, a furniture store and some other things grouped around a central atrium.
record stores (not architecture) if they're still there:
garage d'or at @ 26th/nicollet,
one closer to downtown on the nicollet mall which i can't for the life of me remember the name of but it's on the corner (northern lights?),
positively 4th street on hennepin, near the famous first avenue club. the real star of purple rain.
electric fetus. down south by the interstate and the minneapolis institute of arts.
speaking of (again): this was a historic structure with an addition by kenzo tange and i hear they're adding on again.
there was also a cool new school built in the area of 10th/12th and hennepin a few years ago.
mill museum is fantastick, really like that project
also...
definetly dont bother seeing the ghery building at the U... its worthless and horribly ugly... it was very dissapointing... there is one cool moment in that project, which due to the general lack of thought perceptible througout the building, was probably an accident. Theres a window which looks out at the river and is placed perpendicular to a large brick wall.. the light reflecting off the wall through the window is pretty beautiful...
beyond that... i couldnt believe how careless that building was... really, really dissapointing
treekiller had already mentioned it, but this was what i was talking about, too:
mckim mead white > kenzo tange > michael graves.
"The Minneapolis Institute of Arts was established in 1883. The museum building, designed by the firm of McKim, Mead and White, opened its doors in 1915. In 1974 the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange was commissioned to design needed additions to the neoclassical structure. In the 1990s the museum was renovated, the collections reinstalled, and state of the art technology introduced to help visitors and members interpret the works of art. The museum expanded yet again with the addition of the Michael Graves-designed Target wing, opening in June of 2006. The new wing adds 40% more gallery and exhibition space, includes a new Library, Print and Photograph Study Rooms, Friends Community Room, and a 400 seat Reception Hall."
All the recent star architect stuff of recent has been covered, except for Holl's arch school addition at the UofM. It's ok and worth seeing if you are on campus. Pelli also did the Norwest Tower (now Wells Fargo) which I find to be one of the nicer American skyscrapers of the 80's. Mpls also has their Philip Johnson skyscaper which isn't outstanding but is quite good for its time (1969 I believe). Doesn't FOG have a fish sculpture in some museum around town?
Over in St. Paul is the State Capitol by Cass Gilbert which is probably one of the best state houses in the country. There are also several churches and private residences in St. Paul by Gilbert. On that side of the river it's worth seeing the Cathederal and the James J Hill house. Not sure on architects for either but interesting to see the old railroad tycoons house and the Cathederal which he financed.
Behind the Mill City Museum/MS&R architects in Mpls is the Stone Arch Bridge, crossing the Mississippi. When built is was the longest stone bridge in the world. Worth a walk across and good view of the skyline from there.
And while there be sure to enjoy a local Summit beer.
holl's addition! yes!
and the norwest tower and gaviidae common are part of the same project by pelli.
gehry's fish were at both the walker's sculpture garden greenhouse and at the weisman. the weisman's was small; the walker's is a huge glass thing. the walker also has the oldenburg spoon/cherry.
and if you're walking across the pedestrian bridge, you might see if the bar pracna is still on the north shore. sometimes you need to stop for a drink.
steve- ok, the wiesman looks like every crappy building that FOG did after Disney and Bilboa 15 years ago, and still isn't worth seeing. but i didn't metion the art museum- haven't been there yet...
Holl's arch school is one of the tamer and better detailed projects he's created in a while, I'm partial to the courtyard of the rapson original- greally nice clearstory space (except for the views of the HVAC units).
maya lin did the lobby/landscaping for the AT&T tower(?)
If you head out of the city, there's a FLlW gas station in cloquette (about 90 miles north)...
Indian mounds in St. Paul overlooking the Mississippi... and a modern mound next to the gutherie by Thom Oslund in the gold medal (flour) park.
And you can't miss all the grain elevators that almost rival buffalo- there's a cluster along the river in downtown mpls, a few along the RR tracks north of the U and then along the light rail corridor to the airport/MOA.
Well, Minneapolis is the mill city so the grain elevators are like a vernacular. Not familiar with the landscaping at the AT&T tower but in front of the federal coutrhouse is some funky landscaping. Small grass covered mounds.
The FLW gas station in Cloquet is really stretching it. Not one of the finer buildings by Wright and not worth the 2 hour drive unless you have good reason to go up there. Several Indian gaming casinos along the route though.
Thanks y'all
I probably will not have any free time since I haven't seen about 20 family members from there in 10 yrs, but thank you for the offers!
bring the family along!
aquapura: That is the gas station with the column infront of the urinal which is reached by climbing stairs. Not one of Wrights better moments.
has anyone mentioned the gunnar birkets building across from the pelli building - a well hung arch - and if you're going to get a drink, try the bar at the graves601 (formerly Meridien) downtown - interior by yabu pushelberg. And if you're doing a daytrip, there's the Sullivan bank masterpiece in Owatonna (hour away).
h1: Seconds on the Sullivan Bank in Owatonna!
Gunnar Birkets is the old Federal Reserve Building. After it's addition (a backpack of sorts) it's lost some of its luster.
Metrodome is sweet.
Vincent James has a boathouse along the river, just off Lake Street I believe.
Julie Snow condo project right by the Guthrie is interesting.
Ruble from Ralph Rapson's old Guthrie might still be visible.
Prince's Mom's house is on Lake of the Isles.
James' Dayton house is on the Lake fo the Isles as well. Just off Franklin I think.
Uptown Theater is nice, with underground branch library nearby.
I think Gehry's building is interesting for the ways that it's NOT like all his ore recent work. Over the years, I grew fond of it.
As for the library, it is better than most Pelli work, but it's sad that Des Moines, Iowa has a better library than MPLS.
louismeier: Do you remember when JPS brought in the architectural interview tapes for the Minneapolis library, and we watched them during studio? I think we agreed that Pelli had the best interview. It's hard to believe that we watched those 5 years ago...
Does anybody have a first hand opinion/information about the arch program at Univ of Minnesota? im curious.
louismeier's mention of the snow project by the guthrie reminded me that there is a set of mark mack condos up the hill from the old guthrie/walker. pretty nice project, new when i was living there in '94.
may not be as exciting from the outside as from the inside, though. the custom cabinetry is beautiful.
Ahh, the old Mpls federal reserve building. It's a shame what they did to it.
I miss that pass-thru plaza level. Now it's just any other office building.
Julie Snow's condo next to the Guthrie has a very trendy cafe/bar at the ground level. The building isn't much more than exposed concrete structure and floor to ceiling windows. Although it's par or better than most of the "new" condos of the past decade. Still much prefer the adaptive reuse condos, which there are several along the river.
Over in St. Paul they are converting the old St. Paul City Jail into luxury condos. In a previous generation nobody wanted a river view so we gave it to the criminals.
"Does anybody have a first hand opinion/information about the arch program at Univ of Minnesota? im curious."
I enjoyed it while I was there. It was distinct due to its diversity of faculty when I was there. Bob Mack doing historic restoration, MS+R always had one of there principals there, Josh Wienstein of SITE architects fame, Dale Mulfinger king of the cabin, John Carmody doing the sustainable things... All in all, good bang for your buck, a lot of places (see above) to see close by without paying the premium to live in a coastal city. I was there from 97-2002 BS in Arch then went elsewhere for Grad school. Tom Fisher (one of the editors from the REAL Progressive Architecture mag) is the Dean and seems to have managed to coral all the design schools (graphics, et all) into one college. It should make for some interesting cross-breeding.
j
I second Josh's comments. Although I didn't attend I've heard very good things about the faculty and many have their own practices in the city. The university is not in a college town that lives or dies by the student population. Right in the back yard of the college is a very active architecture community which can provide a great education. We all know how much more is learned in practice than education, right? It's not cheap like a rural state school, which is where my education was, but in my opinion provides a better environment for learning architecture.
Just got back......loved the new Guthrie, sad to see the other one in shambles.
Visited with Ralph Rapson (my father's mentor)...he was in good spirits at 92 yrs young.
the plane ticket back home
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