the Visitors Center lists some 70 structures as “noteworthy”), many designed by a litany of important American architects: I. M. Pei, Harry Weese, Robert A. M. Stern, Richard Meier, Kevin Roche, Robert Venturi, Cesar Pelli and others... — NYT
Recently Nancy Kriplen wrote about a visit to Columbus, Ind, for the NYT Sunday travel section. The city was "ranked sixth among the nation’s cities in 1991 for its architectural innovation and design by the American Institute of Architects".
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Columbus, Indiana. A piece like this pops-up, what every year or so? A Disneyland for architects. The elder Saarinen church is very nice.
Same here.. Visited in 1980 as a student member of Sci Arc's legendary first New York studio thought by John Knight.. One of my favorite buildings I was able to see in person.
for instance this 2006 article in Metropolis Magazine by Philip Nobel
I wrote this on the Saarinen church back in 2010
Starchitect City
I've been to Saarinen's Christ Church Lutheran when I did the pilgrimage to Columbus, Indiana. Spent about an hour there, albeit twenty years ago. The church is very good, with a warm,welcoming presence. The light, especially in the main hall, glows and plays off the texture of the surfaces. And the spaces, both indoor and outside have a nice scale.
The running joke about the Columbus Indiana architecture is that the works, all by well-known sometimes famous architects, are clearly not their best design effort. There are exceptions. I did like the Johansen school. Most were not exceptional and the experience I felt back was like I was in a theme park.
The Saarinen church is the beautiful exception, and the inspiration for the Columbus design fee program. And if you think about this as the beginnings of 'Starchitects' the Columbus program was the template for the brand architect trend.
That is one legacy of the Saarinen church.
I spent 18 years trying to get out of the town, 10 years reflecting, my master's thesis on the city, and now I'd do anything to get one of my works built there.
Hell of a journey, huh?
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