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    Columbus Center for Architecture Opening Soon

    Columbus will soon be joining the short list of US Cities that can proudly claim that they have a dedicated Center for Architecture, thanks to the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The AIA is planning to open the new space located at 390 E. Broad Street on January 1, 2010, and use it as a both a showroom for new development and design, as well as an event and educational facility. We sat down recently with Tim Hawk, the President of AIA Columbus, and Gwen Berlekamp, the Executive Director, to learn more about what we can expect from the new Center.

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    Walker Evans: Can you tell us a bit about the process that led to the idea of creating a Center for Architecture in Columbus?

    Tim Hawk: About a year and a half ago we started on a strategic planning exercise for AIA Columbus and one of the four initiatives that came out of that was our need to raise overall awareness so that we could be a better resource for both architects and the entire community. So, we brainstormed about how we could best do that.

    Previously we had used print media and various outreach events to spread awareness, but we felt like we weren’t getting the full impact because we didn’t have a dedicated space for what we were doing. AIA has a national conference in Washington each year, and Gwen and I saw presentations on Centers for Architecture in Richmond, Philadelphia and Portland. We started to recognize that this was an idea that could be really ripe for Columbus.

    Once we did that strategic plan and we did this research, we realized that it made a lot of sense to create a Center for Architecture in Columbus. So, that was the genesis of the idea. We’ve been working on the project for about a year and a half now, and on January 1st, 2010, we’re going to be opening the first phase of the new Center to the public. It’s going to be implemented in two phases, but we’ll be able to immediately start having programs here. Last week we had a program here related to a design competition that we put on for the overall project and we were able to pull in about 120 to 130 guests for the presentation, so hopefully that’s some indication of what we can do here in the future.

    The real impetus behind the Center is to expand our service beyond architects, and be a leader of design-thought for Columbus, Central Ohio, and even throughout the whole Midwest.

    WE: When I did a little research on this type of Center, it seemed like the list of other cities who already have one is fairly small. This seems to be a fairly progressive move for Columbus. Would that be accurate to say?

    Gwen Berlekamp: I think the first one in the country was probably AIA New York City, and theirs has only been open for around seven years now. Philadelphia and Portland both opened theirs about a year ago. There are also a few now in Texas. So, it seems to mostly be more of a coastal concept at this point. Ours will be the first one in the Midwest outside of Chicago… and actually, while Chicago has a center, it’s done through their foundation and not their chapter.

    TH: The Center in Chicago also has a different mission. Their mission is to support tourism of their local buildings. This Center in Columbus is going to be a support mechanism for our architectural membership, but also will more importantly be an idea generator. We sort of see it as a way for people who are interested in design and architecture and cultural issues in Columbus to have a rallying point.

    About a year and a half ago we had a national design competition that was about smart urban growth. It focused on designing intermodal hubs for rail transportation to take people that would be coming regionally into our area and provide a transition to bus transportation…

    WE: Are you talking about the Re-Wired Charrettes?

    TH: Yes! Anyway, we found that our presentations were only about half as impactful as we wanted them to be. So if you can, imagine if we had the same kind of competition again, but instead if we could present a packaged exhibition in this space. We could promote it to the community and people who are interested could come in and see what all of the architects had dreamed up. Our goal is to use this center as a way to initiate discussion about these types of issues.

    You know, architects have been on the green bandwagon for 15 or 20 years now. In fact, I went to OSU for grad school and there was a focus on sustainable design back in the 70s. So we’ve been talking about these types of issues for years. We feel as if we’ve always had all kinds of resources that the community could use if we just have a place for everyone to find them.

    WE: In addition to those types of exhibitions, what other sorts of events and programming do you have in mind for the space?

    GB: Our chapter is a very active chapter of AIA Columbus. In fact, in 2013 this chapter will celebrate its 100th anniversary. So it’s been around for a long time. As a member-based organization, we are here to offer programming of interest to our members, so we will do a lot of that here. But as Tim said, we also want to take it to a bigger place. AIA New York has actually held a City Council meeting in their Center because they were discussing issues in the Lower Chelsea area of NYC, so they had the meeting there because of the proximity to that particular issue. I think the possibilities are pretty endless. We’ll obviously have chapter meetings here, but we’ll have plenty of other events as well.

    TH: I would imagine that we’re going to try to lease the space out for hosting other types of events. Gwen could potentially host the Downtown Rotary Club meetings here. That’s not necessarily something we have on the front burner right now, but it could be that it becomes a widely used meeting place.

    GB: Our goal is to get all types of people to come into the space.

    TH: One of the other reasons we selected this space, is because of the link to CCAD. As architects begin to mature in their profession, we start to recognize that we have to partner with others in order to effectively implement leadership in the build environment. Because CCAD has art programs and design programs, it is a natural fit for that type of partnership. One of the things we’re in the early stages of trying to put together is some type of community outreach through CCAD where AIA-member architects could come in and offer coursework to students, or offer the ability for community members to understand how to get through the process of having a variance of zoning to put in a home addition. We could also provide training for Area Commission Members on what the issues are in relation to how an architectural project gets completed. We have these Area Commission Members all over the region who are looking at planning and development issues and trying to make decisions… but a lot of them need education on the formal processes for getting a project delivered. We’d be able to offer that type of outreach here.

    WE: In addition to CCAD, are there other neighborhood partners here in the Discovery District that you’re looking to explore relationships with?

    TH: I think that we will have to gradually step into that. We have not been aggressive about it just yet. The first leg has been to look internally at the architects and have them circle around the idea and get them all on board. Our current step is to talk to communities like Columbus Underground, because we want to start getting the word out that we do have a strong sense of community partnership.

    GB: There are some other allied organizations that do work in the construction industry, so we’re reaching out to those people right now too.

    TH: The other thing we’re doing right now is reinvigorating the Columbus Architecture Foundation, which is our not-for-profit arm. That seeks interesting grants and has the ability to provide different funding mechanisms for programs that could occur in the Center. I actually had a meeting last week with somebody from Columbus Landmarks about a different issue, but I’m also talking to them about the Center.

    So, we really haven’t specifically targeted neighborhood establishments other than CCAD at this point, but we’re certainly interested in the Discovery District because of all of the things that are going on here. The Columbus Museum of Art is planning to expand, and we have new residential developments popping up all over the place. Franklin University continues to expand, Columbus State is growing, and the Law Program from Capital is down here too. We really can’t see any better location for the Center. Originally, we thought there might be a better location that had a more of a retail setting, but we recognized through our branding exercises and introspection that we’re not really a retail development as much as we are a potential community destination. The Center will be more like a museum than a gallery.

    WE: One of the complaints that comes up fairly regularly when talking about architecture on Columbus Underground is the fact that our city lacks in historic architecture when compared to other large cities. Obviously we have neighborhoods like German Village and Victorian Village that have been well preserved, but a lot of our historic Downtown buildings have been destroyed over the years for the creation of surface parking lots. Will the Center be focused at all on the history that we do have remaining from yesteryear, or will the focus be more on modern development and the future of our city?

    TH: I would say that we’re going to be less interested in the past and more interest in shaping the future. I used to work in Chicago, and the reason I came to Columbus is because the canvas here is a little more blank. There are a lot of creative people that are intentionally choosing Columbus because our clients are interested in shaping the future. In many regards that’s why we’re doing this Center. We believe that we can help impact our future with the next big historic push of development. People need to understand that the city is going to be shaped by the buildings we create in the future. So, the Center will help to create a better informed consumer, client, architect, engineer, and public.

    Thirty years from now the discussion will be about “how we can save the buildings that we’ve completed in the last three decades?”… and that is a much more interesting discussion compared to today’s topic of  “how can we address the fact that we got rid of all of our great buildings?”

    I don’t think Columbus is really a city that even has a past yet. For a Midwestern city, we are still not very mature. We’re a city that will be gaining energy for the next 30 years at the very least. Many of the other Midwestern cities have already seen maturity, they’ve seen decline, and now they’re trying to reinvigorate themselves. I don’t know if we’ve ever really seen our peak in Columbus.

    GB: We believe that there’s so much potential in Columbus, so this is an opportunity for us to make sure that people are aware of that potential. That includes the firms that are here and also the talent and the young people that are coming out of our schools. There’s a lot of talk about our creative culture and creative economy and we’re a part of that as well. One of our goals is to make the topic of architecture really relevant to the general public, and help them understand why we do what we do.

    WE: So you’re both saying that it’s an exciting point on the timeline for Columbus right now?

    TH: Yes, and actually for the profession as well. The idea of the “omnipotent architect sitting at a drafting table coming up with mad designs to lead the world” is gone. Our city has a great advantage because we have a lot of architects who are in a formative point of their careers while the profession is evolving. That’s really kind of a magic moment. We’re going to be the only Center of Architecture in the Midwest, and we think that the Midwest offers a great opportunity for a unique perspective in relationship to the build environment. The Midwest has historically been the place for experimentation to occur. If you look at Chicago at the turn of the 20th century, there was the Chicago School where they were experimenting with steel structures. We’re in a situation now where Columbus could potentially be the next new center. My thought is that in 30 years we’ll be talking about the Columbus School, which is doing the type of sophisticated architectural experimentation, and all of this will captured through the Center. If you think about it like a historian, the Center is going to create an archive of the evolution of our city and help people understand that Columbus is a leader from a design standpoint.

    WE: Does it feel like a challenge to get the general public in Columbus excited, even with something as forward-thinking as what is being done with the Center? It sounds as if we currently have some valuable architectural talent in Columbus that seems to be flying under the public radar.

    TH: That’s one of the things that we’re working to raise awareness on. Our chapter has close to 600 members. On the national scale, we are one of the top-tier membership organizations. That may not sound like a lot, but the caliber of the talent in our city, for a city our size, is extraordinary. We have two of the largest healthcare design specialty firms in the world right here. We have the largest and most successful retail design firm here in Columbus. We have nationally recognized leaders in all different types of practice. One of the things that Columbus needs to recognize as we go forward is that we actually already have talent here. Some of that talent is being driven to other places, and some of these other places are also hiring our talent. A lot of times though, people here are not aware that we have this talent. If we all can recognize that we have this talent in our city, we’ll continue to draw interesting people here from all over the country.

    When I moved here in 1993, I would say that a good 80% of the architects in Columbus had attended Ohio State. Today there’s so much more diversity in our design profession. Our new members are coming into the chapter from elsewhere… not just Columbus.

    WE: So what else should the general public be expecting with the new space opening on January 1st, 2010?

    GB: Phase one is going to be under construction very soon. We’re doing occupancy upgrades, so we’re going to be putting restrooms in, we have to redirect the air, we have to put the electric panel in, and other things like that. We’re going to be doing enough improvements to actually get the office physically located here by the end of December. After that we’ll go into a fundraising campaign to raise money to do the build out for phase two. Our goal is to be done by the end of 2010 or early 2011. It’s an ambitious goal, but the whole project has been very ambitious.

    We did complete a design competition a few weeks ago for the space. It was open to member firms and we had 14 submissions for consideration. The entire project was juried outside of the area so that we could stay as neutral as possible. We identified a first place, second place, and honorable mention winner. The jury that completed the process was very impressed with the number and the quality of the submissions they reviewed. Lincoln Street Studios was awarded first place on the project, and so that’s who we are working with currently to build out the space.

    TH: That’s really the first big part of it… getting a space that’s really well designed and well crafted. The other big push right now is on the programming side. We’re trying to make sure the programming is relevant and can have the most impact. There’s a lot of potential programming we can do, but we have to keep focused.

    GB: For now we just need everyone to stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted as we move forward.

    WE: Thanks again for sharing the updates with us today. I’m excited to see the new Center come January.

    TH: We’re super excited too. Thanks!

    More information can be found online at AIAColumbus.org.

    Photos below are of the current raw space before renovations begin:

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    Walker Evans
    Walker Evanshttps://columbusunderground.com
    Walker Evans is the co-founder of Columbus Underground, along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.
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