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.

Helen I Mittelstadt

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '89

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

Teamwork, long hours, concept of the deadline, and rendering skills.

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

Ralph Rapson and his incredible hand and James Stageberg, because he was encouraging and brilliant.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

All nighters with beer cans hanging out the windows.

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

Intergenerational student housing.

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

Architectonics, Ralph Rapson, James Stageberg, Michael Graves, and Predock. 

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 use graphic skills learned to volunteer teaching drawing to underprivileged kids.

 

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.)

William R. King

University of Minnesota - BED '79

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?
Organizing a problem and then solving it.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?
One
of the more cryptic professors made a disparaging
comment on the entire discipline of landscape architecture to which he
mentioned that a lot of bad architecture gets covered with nice plant
material and now we're doing green roofs, living walls, etc. - too funny. Also,
I think James Stageberg mentioned that attending the School of
Architecture will be "the hardest you will ever work in your life, so
know that when you leave" - totally true!

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?
Getting
accepted...and then graduating. I did enjoy my time at the School of
Architecture and it was a great education - no question. It cost me a
grand total of $4,500 for four years plus beer, books, and materials. I
paid for it working 3 part-time jobs and lived low on the West Bank in
my own apartment. Might still be possible if the tuition's only about
$15,000 per year for in-state residents.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.
Class group design competitions - still friends to this day with some.

What
major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies,
rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing
you significantly as a student?
Nothing special in particular
except my night class architectural drafting instructor named Alex, the
"fastest hand in the West." I learned everything about craft from him
and it has served me well all these years. Computers can only mimic what I can draw by hand, just a lot faster.

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.
Environmental impact learning in my time emphasized "life cycle" cost when measuring the merits of one item over another. The fact that a Chevy Suburban is more "environmentally correct" than a Prius is irrelevant today which is really too bad. We had eliminated "heavy metals" from the homes we lived in and now they're back. I single-handedly stopped the creation of another "Landmark District" application for the small Connecticut town I live in just days before the vote was taken. I taught my little daughter that land ownership rights are worth fighting for and your neighbors aren't as dumb as you think they are once they get the details. Vote went from "done deal" to overwhelmingly against. Sweet!

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.

Peter S. Carlsen

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '78

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

We all learned to draw and design plans like Ralph Rapson with a certain clarity that reads from across the room. It is a rather remarkable accomplishment for a man that I never had in a studio.

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

Hearing James Stageberg tell our Grade 2 class, "Some of you have it now...some of you will get it by the time you do your thesis, and some will get it 10 years after you graduate, but you will all become designers." Listening behind John Cunningham as he gave a crit explaining they would give increasingly complex problems revealing a bit more each time, like lifting bumwad off a drawing. Hearing Denis Grebner approach each student in the studio differently, realizing here was a teacher, and the way architecture was taught as problem solving with many answers.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

A group structures problem, where each member made a significant contribution to the solution without asking or complaining, allowing us to complete a very polished project in time to get a beer as others in the studio faced an all nighter and having barely begun.

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

A series of projects in the Historic Hill Studio focusing on development around Selby Avenue in Saint Paul.

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

The idea, no longer in fashion, that buildings should support their neighbors and belong in their context.

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 was working on a neighborhood committee that asked the question, "Why not the best for Selby Avenue?" This led to my writing and formatting the Selby Avenue Right of Way Framework that was taken by the mayor and used to implement the reconstruction of 12 blocks of the avenue.

Barbara Lyons Stewart

University of Minnesota - M.Arch '77

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

Problem solving within a specific time period of creating a concept, developing it, and implementing it. This skill has helped me both professionally and personally in every area of my life and was definitely a direct result of my School of Architecture studio courses.

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

My studio professor John Cunningham. I remember him saying that he brought his firm's receptionists and book-keepers into design presentation rehearsals to teach his presenters to eliminate "architect-speech," and to be able to describe design in a clear and logical way that resonated with non-design clients. His focus on the client's needs instead of the designer's ego remains a key part of my success in marketing and my practice.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Student parties in the Atrium. I particularly remember a dramatic "Midnite at the Oasis" party.

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

None - I've tried to block them out.

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

The UMN rendering styles were fabulous and it's sad that the unemotional perfection of CAD has replaced the individual expression and exuberance of hand-rendered presentation drawings.

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.

UMN Architecture totally indoctrinated me into believing that our purpose as architects is to move architecture in new directions and "push the envelope." I specifically remember the Director of Design, Jim Stageberg, telling us at an opening assembly that "if anyone wants to design an Italian Villa or a Swiss Chalet, you should walk out that door right now." A few years later I was attending parties at professors' houses and realized that they all lived in Victorian Houses around the Lakes in older neighborhoods, and talked about vacationing in Tuscany. THAT understanding caused me to question why 20-25 yr old Minnesota students, like ALL architecture students I later learned, were pushing envelopes instead of trying to discover what appeals to people about Victorian Houses and Tuscany, and incorporate those qualities into our designs. Decades later, and I have developed 18 Instinct-Based Design Principles and am focused on helping design professionals and healthcare organizations incorporate principles from nature in order to create places that will make people healthier and happier (back to Victorian Houses and Tuscany...)

Theodore C. Johnson

University of Minnesota - B.A. Computer Sciences '82  

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?
Visual problem solving and design thinking.

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

James Stageberg, because he helped me understand the qualities that make a great architect and this understanding led me to conclude I may not have all of those qualities. Shortly thereafter, I changed career directions and pursued software development and entrepreneurship, which was a successful choice for me.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

The late nights and all nighters in 2nd year design.

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

I remember an early exercise in first year design where we were to design and build functional chairs out of cardboard. Most of us took a minimalist approach creating chairs that could support our weight using the least cardboard possible. My friend Bob King, however, created a huge easy chair out of heavy gauge cardboard. It was wonderfully comfortable and remained a fixture in our studio throughout the first year.

John W. Lackens

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '56, B.Arch '58

Harvard Graduate School of Design - M.Arch '60

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?
Professionalism in all aspects of architecture such as design, implementation, personal integrity, thoroughness, and honesty.

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

Ralph Rapson, Leonard Parker, James Stageberg, and fellow students for the reason noted above.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

The comradeship and mutual respect for fellow students and faculty members' design abilities, and friendship.

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

It is difficult to identify one, but the 1957 Sao Paulo Brazil International Competition entry with team members Paul Bailly, Joe Blair, John Cotton, Peter Lee, Glen Lindberg, and myself was very memorable. Although we did not win, a 1960 classmate of mine at the Harvard Graduate School of Design was on the winning team in '57 from Tokyo, Japan.

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

The faculty members rendering styles of Ralph Rapson, James Stageberg, and John Rauma. Classmates Tom Larson, Joe Blair, and John Cotton were all impressive to me as well. All of our instructors had their own unique qualities, although many students complained about all of them for some reason or other, which I could never understand. I respected all of them for their caring and professional attitudes. Many of them became life-long professional friends.

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.

This is really a loaded question for any graduate to answer about themselves! My response noted above in the first question relating to professionalism in all aspects of architecture certainly applies.