Architecture Archives
I attended the MnDOT open house at Roseville High School last night, or I should say I walked through the job-fair like gym full of MnDOT employees. I was pleased to see that there were folks asking all sorts of questions, but disappointed that it wasn't a town hall style meeting, however, that is only because I like arguments. The format used was likely a much better way for "nice" Minnesotans to engage in dialog.
As I was walking out, a reporter stopped me and I gave him this, more or less, paraphrased statement:
"Ben Edwards, an Arden Hills resident who crossed the 35W bridge every day on his way to work in Eden Prairie, said he didn't want Minnesota "to miss an opportunity to do something special with this bridge," including a unique design and transit options. He said that his commute was no picnic before the collapse and isn't much different now, and that he'd be willing to wait for a bridge that did more than increase vehicle capacity."
You can read the full article at the Star Tribune site.
It sounds as though, there are at least some signs of compromise showing up from the Governor's camp regarding future support for light rail lines over the new bridge. It sounds a little bit like parents telling their kids that they can stop at the go-cart track "on the way back", hoping they shut up and forget about it.
I, for one, believe the $400,000 daily cost of not having the bridge is a bit of a farce. I travel this way often and my commute has not really been affected. We are very lucky that Highway 280 is there, and it's conversion to a temporary freeway has gone rather seamlessly. Pawlenty warns that allowing for future light rail lines on the bridge would increase the cost:
"It will be a fair amount of additional money" that would not be reimbursed by federal dollars"
Minnesotans have had some aversion to new taxes lately due to the nice propaganda machine that is the GOP, but if you step back and look at the planned transportation projects and the new bridge project, the big picture becomes clearer.
The anticipated Central Corridor project which will link downtown Minneapolis with downtown Saint Paul by way of the University of Minnesota campus and University Avenue includes plans to have light rail trains travel over the Washington Avenue bridge. This is a bridge I walked over many times in my days and "the U" and it will need significant work to be able to handle the additional weight of light rail trains. In fact when you compare my estimate of $150 million (out of my ass) with another $170 million to build a tunnel near Coffman Union on campus (that figure is not out of my ass but I cannot find where I read it just now) you are looking at over $300 million in additional spending on light rail. The extra half year and $100 million on this new bridge, that we have to build anyway, starts to look like a bargain for the tax payer. Don't you think that if we are really building a bridge that has a 100-year lifespan, we should spend 100 days considering our options and what we can anticipate for transportation needs for the next century?
OK, the last thing I want to address is the idea that this is just a highway bridge and it should rebuilt without thought to aesthetics. Our state could certainly use another icon, and a bridge over the countries largest river seems like a good place to start - especially when you consider that (for better, or for worse, we will soon lose the loved/hated Metrodome from the Minneapolis skyline. I don't think we need the Golden Gate Bridge or anything, but something with some character that can be identified in a photo shouldn't be too hard to ask. Hey, true visionaries can even find ways to make manhole covers things of beauty
"We're adding 2 lanes."
That was the sum total of the innovations and creative ideas the state of Minnesota could muster. Yes the first new bridge project in Minnesota spanning the Mississippi in decades is going to be a boring ass highway bridge, despite the fact that residents are clamoring for light rail options (not included), architectural beauty and creating an new icon for our state (not included), and a little patience (also not included).
I am not going to stand by, however. I have written my governor, the mayor of Minneapolis (who is championing these ideas as well), and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. I also plan on attending the public meetings at Roseville High School on Thursday night (4:30pm to 7:30pm).
If you think that our state deserves to take some time and consider some alternative bridge designs please write to you elected officials and come to the meeting tomorrow to voice your opinions.
After attending a presentation by Google about Google Earth, Google Books, and Google Scholar and came away with some very interesting back stories of each of these and a bit on insight on where they may be headed. While the presentations were interesting, the chance to get into the new Minneapolis Central Library was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. The few photos I took don't do it justice. It is a beautiful building and is going to be a great resource for many, many Minnesota residents. You can read more on the library here.
The soon to be opened Minneapolis Central Library is already being heralded for both its architecture and the services it plans to offer patrons. Not only does the building have no internal loadbearing walls, and has a huge cantilever, the roof has grass planted on it as a way to handle runoff water (and in fact it recycles the water that does run off back onto the roof via pumps). The latest praise comes from The Christian Science Monitor. I quote part of that article here:
Patrons will check out their own books at electronic kiosks. Visitors will be able to download iTunes and eventually movies. Teens will have their own hip reading lounge where they can bring drinks and snacks and write poetry on the walls. And the librarians won't be sitting behind desks, stamping book cards. They'll be walking around among the stacks, talking on wireless devices dubbed "Star Trek" badges.
And about the building:
The new downtown central library is as provocative in design as some of the changes are among the stacks. No stuffy Greek columns here. Architect Cesar Pelli has created a post-modern building that uses blond wood and steel framing with geometry-defying angles. One plane juts out obliquely from the top of the building. Eventually a planned planetarium will rise from the roof that resembles the robot R2D2.
I am super excited to be able to get for a sneak preview of the new library next Tuesday when I will be at a presentation about Goggle Earth and (I assume) how it pertains to the library sciences and the Minneapolis Public Library system.
Prefab homes are still garnering a lot of interest, especially amongst designers and like-minded folks. In fact, a designer friend of mine, Pete is building a home using Hive Modular (not to be confused with Hive Designs). The Flat Pak House is another firm I have covered here before but alas I cannot link to them because their site sucks and tries to control my browser and make it display full screen. Perhaps that is why "flat pak" is currently the largest search term leading people to Alt Text and why the Alt Text page is Google's first result as well. And there are several more variations that bring in a lot of traffic to my site (flat+pack+house+minneapolis and flat+pak+house). Not surprisingly, I think that the chronicling of my home building experience [posts and photo gallery] is giving me more credibility to Google and other search engines.
For one reason or another, I have never been much of a consumer of magazines. In many respects I am grateful for this. Time is always an issue and I can rarely get through a full magazine before the next one comes. But I also do not like the waste magazines generate. It is very visible and apparent to me as I retain stacks of magazines and then have to recycle them. That being said, there are a few magazines to which I really ought to be subscribing:
The New Yorker - I am always impressed with the content of this magazine and the esteem that it has throughout my network of friends and beyond. It hits right on most of the issues it tackles, and does so much better than the daily newspapers.
Paste - I love to find new music and film and Paste makes it easy. Not only can I read about a ton of great artists and projects that are just coming out, but I can also see and listen to them thanks the CD or DVD included with every issue. They are right on with my tastes too.
Aperture - The few times I have seen this magazine I was very impressed and since I would like to be a better photographer it would help me out.
National Geographic Traveler - Travel magazines are hard for me. I really feel like I need a good one and this one seems very good (though I am tempted to want the traditional National Geographic instead).
Make - I am curious and love to build stuff (or rip stuff apart. Is there another magazine that is better suited to those types of activities?
Wired - The only magazine on this list that I actually do get. I like it, I really do, but more and more often, I get this type of news via the osmosis known as being online.
These were all listed in the order I would like them. If anyone knows how I can get any of the following delivered free for a year let me know. Anything else missing?
A couple that didn't make the list but were very close were:Dwell, Real Simple mostly just because I don't think I would have time.
I have posted some more photos of a really cool new house near downtown Minneapolis that was constructed from flat packed pieced ala furniture you might find at Ikea. The creator of the FlatPak™ house, Charlie Lazor actually lives in this one.
From these new photos of the insides of the house it seems to be of a pretty high quality. I am hoping to get some more high-resolution photos to post soon.
Jena and I were walking our dog Sadie around "the lakes" as they are called just south of Minneapolis (there are a series of 4-5 lakes very close to a very upscale and trendy part of the city) and we happened by a great house right off Cedar Lake.
The home was under construction but it was like no construction I had ever seen. It looked as though a truck had dropped off the walls and ceilings and floors in a nice, neat stack and that a father and his sons were putting the house together — not really building it mind you but more like constructing it as they would a big Lego project.
I have been hearing more and more about modular, and prefab(ricated), and now it would appear I can add another term — the Flatpak House.
After returning home, a quick Google search led me (by way of Sensible Erection) to this month's article in Rake Magazine about not only preconfigured homes but the very home I had seen. (a great lefty rag in "the Twin Cities")
I wondered, could it be possible to get a home like this and build it myself? Could it be cost effective to buy a home in such a way? Will modern architecture ever become popular here (the U.S.) as it is in Europe?
As it turns out I am not the only one with questions such as these — there a great many resources devoted to just these types of ideas and a lot of interest in these types of homes. Here are a few sites I have found over the course of the past year:
fabprefab.com — site devoted to "modernist prefab dwellings".
The Dwell Home - a contest to challenge architecture firms to create beautiful, affordable, prefab homes. The winners, consequently are also next on my list of sites to check out...
Resolution 4: Architecture and their custom modular home site.
Living Modern's prefab house resources including: the Glidehouse and the LV Home which appear to be two of the most promising commercial options.
Flat-Pack houses in the UK: Flat-pack' house that's ready in a week
This is one of the coolest architectural concepts I have seen lately - and it is actually going to be built. It is a new soccer stadium in Germany that will be like a large, transparent balloon on all sides and can light up, display all kinds of effects, and let daylight through. Be sure to watch the video.
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A proposed new lottery scratch game here in Minnesota will have those who fork out $1 scratching off Osama Bin Laden's face to win cash and prizes. I can't make this stuff up.
