Gregory E. Nook

University of Minnesota - M.Arch '81

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

Creative problem solving.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Milo Thompson and Leonard Parker for their compassionate teaching skills and the ability to find ways to motivate diverse ideas and individuals. Mark Fisher (now deceased) because he cared so much. Craig Mulford because he was the most organized student that I have ever known! Always done thoroughly and ahead of schedule...by a full day!! Bill Chilton because he brought his friendship, talent, creativity and organization to all that he did. Roger Clemence and Steve Weeks because they cared enough to allow me into the school and guide me through it!

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

One Sunday afternoon I was in studio working on thesis with a half dozen or so students. Manos Ginnis was standing at the window looking towards Northrup and said, "There is a dead man in the bushes!" (Now do this with his accent in mind.) We all were detached and indicated "Yeah, sure."  Manos was persistent, over and over we would hear, "Hey you guys, there is a dead man in the bushes!!"  We still ignored him. This went on for about 5 minutes before finally he had us all at the windows looking and we concurred...that may be a dead man lying motionless, face down in the flowers across the street. Manos cautiously went outside as we all watched and carefully crept up on the still body only to have the physical plant employee get up, pull his arm out of the sprinkler valve pipe and announce gleefully, "One more sprinkler line turned on!" I got to say, we all were secretly a bit disappointed because we liked the distraction drama of a potential corpse. So next time you see Manos say, "Hey you guys, there is a dead man in the bushes!!!"

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

Thesis and "Housing as Urban Regenerator."

 

William B. Cavin, III

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '67

Harvard College - B.A. Arch '64

MIT - M.Arch '68

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

Design process.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Fellow students and their dedication to architecture, Lonnie Hauser for the love of life, and Leonard Parker for design discipline.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Midnight parades around the second floor balcony.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

Group display depicting the 1966 Rome trip.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

The beginning of interest in sustainable design. 

Cite an example (be specific) that illustrates how you used the education you received at the School of Architecture to positively impact (or better) your community, city, nation or the world.

Belief in the importance of education and travel in the training of young designers has led me to establish the Cavin Family Traveling Fellowship (see cavinfellowship.org). 

Bruce Toman

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '76

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

The importance of quality design, the abstract beauty of the plan, teamwork, quality, interdisciplinary teamwork, and Friday night at "The Mixers."

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

My classmates, Ralph Rapson's inspirational leadership, and an excellent broad cross-section of fine Minneapolis architects on the faculty such as David Bennet, Thomas Hodne, Joe Blair, John Rauma, Milo Thompson, Leonard Parker, and Carl Graffunder. Also, committed professors John Myers, George Winterowd, Walter Vivrett, and Gunter Dittmar. They taught me knowledge, design, style, and quality.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Charrettes, teamwork, and camaraderie.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

Student housing replacement facility on the East Bank of the U of M and 

Architectonic projects.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

Being taught to draw and letter, which is a lost art that architects still need to be able to do despite the development of BIM and even if it is mastering the art of drawing well on an iPad. Ralph Rapson's drawing ability was our inspiration. Alonso Hauser told us, "If Ralph can draw so well, you all can learn to draw, just like Ralph did." Although I did not work as a "project designer," three years into my career the ability to plan, draw, and render a plan and section made it easy for me to become a licensed architect (pass the exam in the days of a 12 hour design and draw exam design exercise) and to illustrate the principles of the technology of architecture for which I have become most valued. My appreciation for design made me an integral contributor to the projects on which I worked in the aesthetic development of the details and technology of well executed projects.

Cite an example (be specific) that illustrates how you used the education you received at the School of Architecture to positively impact (or better) your community, city, nation or the world.

I have spent most of my career working on large teams and developing large scale projects in detail. That has transcended into the detection of the technical development of projects and leadership of younger architects in several firms. My impact on this world has been in trying to influence as many architects as possible to understand the importance of the abstract beauty of everything we do in the technical execution of projects, all qualities of design which I learned at Minnesota. As our profession has transitioned from drawings into building information modeling of highly sustainable energy efficient buildings, I have managed to remain a leader of our transition and a trainer of young architects who are producing good buildings. Many of my contemporaries who did not have the advantage of the design, process, and team training which I learned at Minnesota have faded or are fading from relevance in our industry. We as American trained architects remain the leaders of high quality design and performance buildings throughout the world. Based on what I learned at the School of Architecture I understood why Rem Koolhaus wanted to express the user program and interrelationships which generated the shape of the CCTV tower in Beijing. When my firm was hired as a consultant to Rem to develop the vertical transportation systems (elevators) within the CCTV tower, we understood the aesthetic parameters in fitting the required number of elevators within the tower space available, but this was no small challenge. I understood the design requirements of this technical challenge and in my small part, a radical new building form resulted. On the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, I understood the importance of the design statement which Richard Meier was making in my work developing the design and details of the enclosure system for this historic landmark museum which will perform for 50+ years.

Dewey Thorbeck

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '60

Yale University - M.Arch '61

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

Design is a problem-solving process and when used to its fullest potential it has the potential to reshape the world.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Faculty, such as Ralph Rapson, James Stageberg, John Rauma, and Leonard Parker who inspired me to think and act holistically and systemically. Roger Martin, a landscape architect and faculty/business colleague, helped me understand connections between landscape and buildings.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Working hard and having fun on all of my design projects.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

All those I got an A on and those that didn't, I at least felt I was reaching outside of the box.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

I liked to draw and the School of Architecture emphasized drawing skills that I continue to utilize to this day in professional practice, academic research, and travel sketches.

Cite an example (be specific) that illustrates how you used the education you received at the School of Architecture to positively impact (or better) your community, city, nation or the world.

I am the founder of the Center for Rural Design at the U of MN, author of "Rural Design: A New Design Discipline," and considered a world leading expert in rural design that brings design thinking and the problem-solving process of design to rural issues worldwide.

David P. Bowers

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '68, B.Arch '74

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

Organization of information and processes, and design thinking.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

My most lasting memory has to be a class trip in 1973, led by Val Michelson, to Greece and Holland. Val energized my interest in architecture and its potential to positively effect the built environment.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Again, the highlight of studio for me was our class trip to Greece and Holland in '73. A close second would have to be John Myer's 1967 studio with emphasis on city planning issues. These two studios gave me a great macro design foundation in planning issues that re-occurred often over my career.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

My most memorable project had to be the design of an energy conscious future in an era of increasing energy scarcity for Val Michelson's Structure in Design class. It was my eye-opener into a future that would of necessity be very different from our past. Val's class challenged us to think of how that future could be achieved in the context of design. The Minnesota Zoo was another of my most memorable projects. I was just a beginning design student and not at all experienced, but this project really showed me the possibilities of design.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

Again, Val Michelson's organized approach to design and design thinking, though it would be 20 years before we actually had words to describe design thinking, were very influential for me. Leonard Parker built on this foundation with a studio that translated these concepts into a work flow on projects that pulled the ideas together for me and made them practical in every day design problem solving.

Cite an example (be specific) that illustrates how you used the education you received at the School of Architecture to positively impact (or better) your community, city, nation or the world.

Early in my career I wrote a master plan, under the guidance of Val Michelson, for Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids, MN. The plan was intended to guide the college through various building projects as it expanded its campus. Several years later, we had the opportunity to design and build many of these projects. Similarly, I undertook a study of the Sullivan bank in Owatonna, MN, with the goal being to research the original design of the building, document the changes made to it over the years, identify materials original to the building, and their disposition, if removed, with the intent to guide future remodeling and restoration work in the building. As part of this work I invented a building-centric relational database in analog form several years prior to the publication of commercial digital relational data bases. My data base of the building has guided several remodeling and restoration projects on the building over the years.

Michael F. Gebhart

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '79  (Class of 1965)

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

To listen, respond, and evolve a design approach which evolves through the understanding of program requirements, site context, and user and personal convictions and messages. To draw without fear - Ralph Rapson used to say, "DRAW IT!" Minnesota grads are known for drawing skills influenced by Ralph Rapson. People assume that it means the so-called "Minnesota Style" renderings. But in my experiences, the drawing talent of Ralph's was more quick, loose, and imaginative sketches and diagrams. Richard Koshalek (now the Director of the Hirshorn Museum) would come in the office on Saturday mornings and unravel Ralph's rough sketches that were tossed into trash cans and save them. These drawings as well as the renders have a great influence on my works.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Ralph Rapson was my neighbor on Prospect Hill, my employer for 5 years on Oak and Washington, my mentor at the U, a lifelong friend, and the most influential person in my professional life. He set a very high level of excellence for all the people he engaged with. His teaching approach, having faculty who actually practice in the real world like John Rauma, Bruce Abrahamson, Leonard Parker, James Stageberg, and so many others interacting with a few theorists like Walter Vivrett, John Meyers, and uniting academia and professional practice, has proven to produce graduates who have immediate impact in their first office employments. Former students like Kay Lockhart, Dick Morrill, Tom Larson, Peter Woytuk, Joe Blair, Jim McBurney, Milo Thompson, Dennis Grebner, and Herb Ketcham set such an enormously high standard of excellence for me and future students to emulate or learn from.

Also, being in and around studios with fellow students like Bill Pedersen, Austris Vitols, John Sheehy, and so many others added great motivation to me as well.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

One stunning recollection is still vivid in my mind of the Urban Design Project I where John Sheehy ('65) and I were teamed up on a Master Planning project for Professor Peterson's Urban Design Class. We were creating and documenting pedestrian travel with the visual experiences through sketches, done at 10-minute intervals along our planned continuous Greenway Belt (aping the Ohmstead-style Greenways) connecting Lake of the Isles, Lakes Calhoun/Harriet/Nikomis and Hiawatha to the Mississippi River from the east and north, along the river up to the U of M via Oak Street, all the way to East Hennepin Avenue, extending the tree-lined road edges across the railroad tracks and finally emerging with Stinson Boulevard. Along this path, we created public venue nodes, green and built, one being the former U of M Memorial Stadium Piazza. We lowered the playing surface, added thousands of seats under grade level, leaving the existing seats above (schemes had been proposed to expand above the existing heights) so that pedestrians could access the stadium at mid-level to reduce the overall height to fit better with Stub and Herb's and the great shopping context at Oak and Washington streets.

In front of an audience of many students and faculty, Professor Walter Vivrett approached the 16+ 30x40 Site Diagrams/Plans Sections/Elevation boards (beautifully drawn by John next to my sequence sketches) and placed an overlay transparency of Rome's St. Peters Square over the top of our Memorial Stadium Piazza Node, and declared, "This Piazza is 4 times the scale of St. Peters Square. Mr. Sheehy, how could you be so mislead by Mr. Gebhart? Please take these boards down off the wall." We wound up with back-to-back C+'s . . . after expecting back-to-back A++++++'s. We were in total shock, but it was a learning experience of the first magnitude!

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

I was an almost full-time employee at Ralph Rapson's office over the period from 1960-1965, having only a few classes after transferring from the University of Colorado-Boulder. So a lot of my memories are intertwined with his office and the classrooms concurrently. We were working on projects such as the Guthrie Theater, Rarig Center, St. Paul Arts and Science Center, Cedar Riverside Housing Towers, AIA Headquarters Competition, Lakewood Mausoleum, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Addition, Salvation Army Headquarters, Pillsbury Residence, Cincinnati Redevelopment Housing, Teamster's Housing, Tueting apartments, Strong House, and Wilder Residences. The three most interesting projects as a real student were the North American Conservation Hall of Fame Project, Michael F. Gebhart Thesis Design Project, Mastic Tile Competition, Urban Design Project II.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

Ralph Rapson, staff, and students. (Please refer to the second question above.)

Craig E. Rafferty

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '68, B.Arch '70

MIT - M.Arch

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

Design sketching, logic in thought process, and presentation skills. 

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

I remember with great fondness Tollefson, Robinson, Roney, Richter, Kell, Zuber, Stebbins, Ankeny, Sullivan, Sandell, Margolis, Vano, Cox, Piersol, and others as fellow students. The faculty consisting of Ralph Rapson, Leonard Parker, James Stageberg, John M., Denny G., Kay L., Richard M., and Dewey T. hold a special place and a warm thanks for all they gave.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

In general it has always been a great memory to recall the competitive, yet openly cooperative nature of the design studios and the challenge of convincing the jury that your solution was the best way to solve the problem.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

CCL - The City Center for Learning project that consumed almost 1.5 years of time worked on it.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

Ralph Rapson was very influential. The ability to draw and define concepts, to explain project logic, and to create a meaningful expression were the most valuable tools. These continue to be the most valuable throughout my career. However, George and Dick Rafferty have left the most indelible impact on me. They made a spot for me within their company, treating me with equal status almost from the moment that I joined the firm after graduate school at MIT.

Howard F. Goltz

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '69

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

The team approach to problem solving, and building on the criticism and input of others for improved solutions.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Studio and thesis professor, Leonard Parker because of his steadfast insistence that design be relevant and based on a clear scientific approach of understanding the client & the clients needs, researching issues & background, theorizing & assessing alternatives, and development of a preferred solution.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

The high level of energy and commitment shared by the students and faculty.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

• Architectonics!
• Minneapolis Mississippi Riverfront Re-development
• The Minnegasco Competition

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

Alpha Rho Chi Fraternity and the teamwork & learning environment it fostered across grades 1-4 and into grad school.

Cite an example (be specific) that illustrates how you used the education you received at the School of Architecture to positively impact (or better) your community, city, nation or the world.

The development and refinement of facilities that deliver healthcare in an integrated environment, combining inpatient, outpatient, and diagnostic services into a single, more highly efficient and effective setting for both the caregivers and the patients and are often combined with education and research components.

Eric J. Utne

University of Minnesota - BED '72 

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?
Not to be intimidated by critics.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Ralph Rapson, because he encouraged me. Tom Bender, because he taught me the Chinese concept of Feng Shui, the Japanese concept of space called "Ma," and Buddhist economics. Thomas Hodne, because he brought me to the '87 and '91 World Series. Harrison Fraker, because I think he helped me get my degree retroactively, and Leonard Parker, because he told me ten years after graduation that I was "one of the best designers the U of M ever had."

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Sixty-hour charrettes, ending with the ambulance in the loading dock outside the jury room, waiting to scoop up and whisk off students who fainted and collapsed in the middle of final presentations.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

The City-block square amusement park and natural history museum whose multi-story circulation was based on the game "Shoots & Ladders," i.e. slippery slides.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

Bucky Fuller and Tom Bender. After college, Christopher Alexander.

Cite an example (be specific) that illustrates how you used the education you received at the School of Architecture to positively impact (or better) your community, city, nation or the world.

When I left the School of Architecture (the last time), I wrote a declaration of independence to my fellow students and faculty exclaiming that I needed to learn more about life before I could begin to design spaces for people to live in. The best design is that which has more life in it. I believe architects should be masters of all the arts and true cultural-change agents. They should know how to bring more life into any situation.

Matthew R. Thompson

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '72

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?
See the individual building design task as a neighborhood design problem. Ask yourself why some things work better than others. Why do some places steal our hearts? Can we capture that essence in what we design.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Leonard Parker, because I always respected him as an architect and teacher, and he was great to argue with - I always learned something. Years later, I would look at a design I was working on and think, "Parker would hate this!" and know it still needed work.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Learning that you did C work if you worked at home and A work if you spent your time in the studio. We modelled Thacher and Thompson Architects on the 12 person studio system. We called our bi-weekly office critiques and training sessions "studio chats."

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

My thesis project of an urban design plan and mixed-use building for Seven Corners. The corner has changed beyond recognition in the last 40 years.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

The late '60s was a time when many of us were also 'urban homesteaders.' We moved into condemned buildings and forgotten neighborhoods, and started to create neighborhood places by restoring buildings and cleaning up corners of the city that others had written off. We found our laboratory for learning urbanism in the field. We learned that we could build stuff, even if we didn't always have someone's permission.

Cite an example (be specific) that illustrates how you used the education you received at the School of Architecture to positively impact (or better) your community, city, nation or the world.

A team project in a studio at the School of Architecture may be the best way to learn the leadership skills required for large, multi-team member projects. I draw from those experiences as a leader on non-profit boards and civic commissions. I don't know of any other discipline that teaches leadership and teamwork as explicitly as the School of Architecture does.