Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/todd-melby/page/2/)
by Todd Melby, June 2008 • The interior courtyard of Minneapolis City Hall and the Hennepin County Courthouse is going green. Scott Helmes of RSP Architects in Minneapolis conceived the project in 2005. When completed in July, the 5,000 square feet of newly inserted plants promise to capture storm water, mitigate the “urban heat island” effect” and other benefits.
by Todd Melby, 5/29/08 • An essay I wrote last year for mnartists.org has been reprinted by 10,000 Arts, a quarterly co-production of mnartists and Rake magazine.
Here’s the beginning of the essay: “I’ve been living in the same city for a long time. Maybe that’s why I crave the unusual. I abhor cookie-cutter architecture, which is just as prevalent in urban areas as in cul-de-sac suburbia. How many three-story brick condos with railed terraces have you seen constructed in recent years?
by Todd Melby, 5/20/08 • If you spent Sunday enjoying the sun and missed the Star Tribune, Rick Nelson and Claude Peck sent a shout-out to the ugliest buildings in downtown Minneapolis. (And Lord, we have a bunch of them.)
Todd Melby, 5/13/08 • One of my favorite sections in Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes, the book that accompanies the current show on suburbia at the Walker Art Center, is the lexicon of new words and phrases collected by Rachel Hooper and Jayme Yen. I’ll list a few here, along with the definitions provided in the book, which was edited by Andrew Blauvelt, design director at the Walker. By the way, at the Walker’s website you can add your own creations or do it in the comment section of this blog.
by Todd Melby, 5/1/08 • An abandoned jail, a small town bank, below ground resources, and a mid-century Modern icon represent just a few of the diverse sites named to the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota’s 2008 list of the Ten Most Endangered Historic Places.
This list, the 15th annual compilation the Alliance has released, profiles the state’s most endangered historic sites.
The 2008 Ten Most Endangered Historic Places List includes:
* St. Louis County Jail, Duluth
* Historic Mantorville Normal School, Mantorville
* McGrath Old State Bank, McGrath
Continue Reading
by Todd Melby, 3/31/08 • The Star Tribune is reporting that architect Ralph Rapson has died at age 93. I’ll always remember the Rapson retrospective at the Weisman Art Museum and Minneapolis Institute of the Arts several year ago. It really opened my eyes to the greatness of Rapson’s designs and drawings. From furniture to buildings to rethinking the modern city, Rapson leaves an amazing body of work behind. In Minneapolis, Rapson designed the original Guthrie Theater (1963), Rarig Center (1971) and Riverside Plaza (1973). Continue Reading
As a southsider, my favorite part of Northeast Minneapolis is Marshall Avenue, especially the rows of bars offering dagos, cheap beer and pull tabs. (Remember the old Polish Palace?) After a cold one, there’s nothing like the thrill of driving over the Lowry Avenue bridge, located just west of Lowry and Marshall Avenues. It’s the kind of bridge that makes you want to hang your head out the window, listen to the thump-thump-thump of the car’s tires banging over the steel truss bridge.
Unfortunately, all good fun must come to an end.
If so, nominate it for the 2008 Ten Most Endangered Historic Minnesota Places. The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota is accepting nominations for the list through February 1. A Microsoft Word file of the nomination form is available at the alliance’s website. To request a nomination form in a slightly more old fashioned way, send an e-mail to kandre@mnpreservation.org or call the alliance office at (651) 293-9047.
