Images courtesy KPF At the University of Minnesota, work is progressing on the new Science Teaching and Student Services Center, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox. High above the Mississippi River as it bends around the University of Minnesota’s main campus, a sparkling new glass building, the Science Teaching and Student Services Center (STSSC), is rising. Principal designer, Bill Pedersen, FAIA, of Kohn Pedersen Fox, New York, designed the five-story building not only to capitalize on its scenic site, but also to compliment its neighbor, the Frank Gehry-designed Weisman Art Museum (1993). Both buildings stand opposite each other on plaza formed
Ralph Rapson, FAIA, regarded as one of the foremost architectural draftsmen of the 20th century and Minnesota’s premier Modern architect, died of heart failure on March 29 at his Minneapolis residence. He was 93 and still working at his office the day before. “For him, it wasn’t really work, it was what he enjoyed the most. He was drawing a cabin and making furniture designs,” says his son Toby, president of Rapson and Associates.
A whimsical guest house designed by Frank Gehry, completed in 1987, will be moved from its site in Orono, Minnesota, overlooking Lake Minnetonka, to the University of St. Thomas’ Daniel C. Gainey Conference Center in Owatonna, Minnesota, the university announced on Monday. Preparations will begin within the month, although the move itself is scheduled for this summer and needs approval from Steele County officials, according to Kirt Woodhouse, a real estate developer who donated the residence to St. Thomas to insure its preservation.