LA projects in Minneapolis

There is SO much so see and experience! You may want to start by getting the back issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine when the Annual Meeting was held there a in 2006

http://www.asla.org/nonmembers/lam/lam_index06/lam_m.htm

DOn’t miss Michael Van Valkenburg Minneapolis sculpture garden.

Another firm’s work to explore is Coen + Partners:

http://www.coenpartners.com/work/urban/minneapolis-central-library/

And then there’s NicollettMall… a landmark in urban design that Larry Halprin did in 1967. There’s a description in the AIA Guide:

http://books.google.com/books?id=T9axsT5T8fcC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=nicollet+mall+minneapolis+halprin&source=bl&ots=j3LjD-CkXX&sig=Tv7o1vARtOFzld0OkFzZYnQXp20&hl=en&ei=Rh_xTNI-goGUB_q0vIwN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=nicollet%20mall%20minneapolis%20halprin&f=false

See M Paul Friedburg’s Peavey Plaza on Nicollet Mall, especially when full of people.

The Federal Reserve Bank plaza has some wonderful public art and 3-D interpretive exhibits.

Enjoy… Dress warmly!!

Terry’s suggestion of finding the Minneapolis LAM edition is a great idea. I’m sure most of the following is in there….Martha Swartz – designed plaza in front the the federal courthouse downtown, Oehme and VanSweden at the University of MN west bank campus (still pretty nice in winter and right across from the design school) and MUST SEE the Weissman Art Museum designed by Frank Gehry on the west bank of the campus (it is particularly sublime in the winter especially viewed from the pedestrian bridge crossing the Mississippi) and his giant glass fish at the Walker Art Museum’s sculpture gardens in the glass house in addition to the Walker sculpture gardens in general. Walk across the bridge over Hennepin Avenue to Loring Park. There is an interesting pedestrian only garden-walkway between the east side of Loring Park and Peavy Plaza – between Blaisdell Avenue, Hennepin Avenue and 11th street. I think Halprin might have designed that too and I think its still in tact.
As a side note – the sculpture gardens are a good lesson in planning for trees’ mature size….the arbor vitae hedges are starting to suffer from overcrowding and too much shade, which is fascinating because it was such a hot dry site when the sculpture gardens were installed (I lived a couple of blocks away from it when it was being installed and just visited it again for the first time in about 10 years this summer.)

Gold Medal Park is fairly close to the federal courthouse too and it is easy to see the downtown library on your way to the Twins stadium which is pretty cool like Thomas said. I particularly like the metal sculpture on the side of the parking garage at the stadium. Nicollet Mall isn’t the same Halprin design any more, but Peavy Plaza is still in tact.

The Mississippi River parkways are amazing. If you follow the parkway from the University of MN, it will take you to Minnehaha Falls, though you have to cross the river once. Got to see Minnehaha Falls – amazing in the winter.

And of course there is the whole lakes and parkways system. If you keep going on the street that you will probably park on to see the Walker (I can never remember the name of the street) you will meet up with the parkway around Lake of the Isles which will take you to the rest of the lakes. IF you have a car while you are there, that is. Public transportation is quite good, but won’t take you on the parkways at all.

If thats not enough for you, be sure to check out First Ave – a landmark in itself and a great place to see a show if you get a chance. Double on what Terry said – it will be COLD. Bundle up, be safe, and you’ll have a great time. I lived there for years without a car walking everywhere….
…and thats just Minneapolis! There are native american burial mounds on the bluffs above the river in St. Paul, etc etc etc.

Don’t rely too much on the map… use your intuition to see where people are walking (or x-country skiing!). Get a general sense of where you want to go, and then wander!..

Check with the MNASLA – they had a map of downtown with projects at the annual meeting.

map apps would be awesome: an ASLA national project? or maybe a TCLF project? anyone? It would be a great marketing tool for us.

In germany every major city has a waterproof map of significant projects available at local bookstores, was great to have such a resource.

What kind of things are you looking for?