Jerry L. Peterson

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '67, B.Arch '67

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?

Richard Morrill installed confidence, encouragement, and provided opportunity for two career changes.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

All nighters, juries, and fellow students.

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

Neighborship planned community. 

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

Rapson rendering!

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.

Think of the big picture, not just the details. 

Charles A. Kubat

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

MIT - MCP '77

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

Organized thinking and problem solving in a creative way, and communicating that thinking.

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

Ralph Rapson for his leadership of the school and open minded approach to design, Dewy Thorbeck for his introduction to creative collaborative interdisciplinary practice, Roger Clemence for his leadership of the community outreach studio and mentorship of us as first participants in a new and mind expanding experiment, and his quiet and supportive personality. Also, Professor Iskander opened my eyes to "planning," Dennis Grebner for his attention to drawing and design, and Milo Thompson for his focus on design.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Our late night (mid-morning 3am) marches and antics around the upper level of the main courtyard to break up a long over-nighter. Everyone spray gluing tissue to boards in the hallways 30 minutes before final presentations and the sounds of Janus Joplin and Creedance wafting through the studio late at night.

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

A master plan and urban housing for the island in the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, 

an interdisciplinary regional commercial development master plan for the suburb of Hopkins, the Europe study tour showcase of Spain (our location that year), various projects for the Minneapolis Model City Program in our outreach studio including my thesis for a Communications System and Coordinating Center for the Program

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

My experience in the studio seeing the rendering and sketching work of Ralph Rapson and older students inspired me to master my own technique. My trip to Spain with our class was the beginning of a monumental summer travel and personal growth experience that has influenced the rest of my career and life. My experiences in the outreach studio led me to help found and work in a Community Design Center in Denver and has influenced my entire career in working with clients, neighborhoods, and larger communities.

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 see my education as having prepared me to not just design buildings, but to influence the creation of great neighborhoods, villages, and entire planned communities both as a designer and a client for creative community solutions. These have opened the opportunities for richer lives in the places I have helped create in Kingwood, TX; Memphis, TN; and Las Vegas, NV.

John L. Weidt

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '67

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

Teamwork.

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

Really impossible to single out one individual, especially with the benefit of years of hindsight. Ralph Rapson, of course. Dewey Thorbeck for his team approach, integrity, design skills. David Bennett, Dennis Holloway, Tom Bender, Hosni Iskander for encouraging me to look to non-traditional environmental approaches to architecture. Last but not least, Lance Lavine, the first written thesis at the school, a tireless educator of environmental ethics and action.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Working with fellow students and APX brothers to complete projects. 

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

Working with Mark Beckman on our thesis, with Tom Martinson's invaluable assistance in the darkroom, on Archiecoframe.

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

Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Malcolm Wells, and Charles Gwathmey.

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.

Founded a firm that has provided assistance on millions of square feet of building construction to significantly reduce their negative energy and environmental impact.

Wayne B. Holtan

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '77, BED '77

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

Design organization and process.

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

Third year design studio of building methodology and how to approach and resolve design problems.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

My thesis project, which was good and bad. The many hours in the studio on hot June days and nights with someone installing a "through the door" AC unit in the studio space.

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

Working on the "green" house before sustainable design was an advertising buzz word in an environmental design class.

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

Our study abroad trip to Italy in our 4th year design studio in '76, chaperoned by Ralph Rapson. What a memorable opportunity that was to have personal time with the head of the school and learn a little more about his personal career, his quick wit, hearing stories of his escapades at Cranbrook, meeting some of his previous graduates in Rome, and always his sketches. I appreciate it more now on reflection than when we were actually there.

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.

In some small way, and some bigger than others, I think every project I have done had a positive impact on our community. We learned to design, not just take the first solution, and work to the best solution possible.

Joel H. Goodman

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '66

MIT - M.Arch '68

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

I learned how to develop architectural conceptual ideas into designs that can be realized and associated communication techniques.

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

Ralph Rapson accepted me into the School of Architecture at Grade 3 design as a transfer student from the University of Illinois. We met in his office over the steak restaurant and he said, "Come on." There was not much bureaucracy at that time. The University of Minnesota architectural education environment at that time greatly influenced me, and Rapson for the most part organized and formed it.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

The educational sincerity, atmosphere of integrity, and camaraderie with students and faculty in the architecture court building.

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

The University of California at Santa Cruz Arts Theater Center thesis project.

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

To search for a synthesis of structural-material logic and non-whimsical aesthetic forms. A lasting and important influence was the quality of the architectural court building design. I think I was overly influenced by Rapson's grease pencil cartoon drawing style. Most students, as I did as well, tried and followed the rendering styles that were in fashion at the time. However, looking back it was the quality of the architecture court building design and the vibration of earnestness from the cumulative efforts of the faculty and students that has had the most lasting quality influence. The School of Architecture court building, as I realized years after my student and teaching days at the U of M, is an outstanding and rare integration of the influences of the minimum slim steel clean spaces of Mies and the hyperbolic shells of Candella, North and South, unified with the daylit court pedestrian square, all wrapped in the unpretentious humility of Midwest brick masonry. It touched me in my formative days like no other building has. Is it John Rauma that we have to thank for the design of the School of Architecture court building?

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 regeneration as a basis for urban design and building integrated active solar energy research.

Nicholas A. Hofstede

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '03

Rice University - M.Arch '07

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

I believe that for me, the seeds for a continuous strive for clarity in an idea were planted at the U; that there must be an engagement, ambition, and intensity for architecture to advance design and influence impact into the built environment.

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

Thomas Fisher influenced me to instill a positive and inquisitive attitude, thoughtfulness in work and goals, both personally and architecturally. I was always impressed by Tom's sensitivity and wisdom. Robert Adams and Dawn Gilpin had a very lasting impression of instilling clarity of thought, intensity, purpose, and quality in ALL work. My fellow students in the Honor Program, and our shared commitment to the discourse, collective skills and knowledge, and pushing each other to think and do better.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

There are many! One, having the last big Beaux Arts Ball parties in the old architecture building before the renovation. Ralph Rapson and previous deans were there waxing poetic about parties there in the 60's, and we "shut the building down." Our class was displaced in four buildings around campus, and our adoption and adaptation of these old classroom spaces in these buildings made for a memorable time. Our temporary locations also made it easier to get questionable Chinese take-out food in Dinkytown before almost every studio.

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

My studio projects, and especially the drawing projects, were all quite memorable and valuable. But the most valuable project for me and the one I still think about often was my Honor's Thesis Project, which in most respects was a complete disaster in its effort to approach something so broad with such shallow focus. This failure was a valuable tool for me and the lessons learned are something I continually use as I approach a design project or idea in order to achieve clarity, depth, purpose, and intent.

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

Most influential to me was drawing, more specifically a technical means of drawing and diagramming taught by Adams and Gilpin. Although I draw or diagram now quickly to communicate ideas to a client or design team, the precision and understanding of drawing as an architectural construct, a way to communicate, an artful medium, and a means to show a great underlying depth in thinking, provided a strong method that could be applied to any idea and transcend any preference of "style" being taught at a certain time.

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.

That is still in process and I would argue that instead of being specific about the impact, I would say that the education and base provided me only a positive impact and betterment of our environments, as it's our charge in society as architects and designers to better what I know best; the spaces our community, city, nation, and world inhabit. Every design project I approach with the goal to invest as much thought, strength quality, foresight, radicalness, and skillfulness into its outcome to advance architectural ideas. My education and experience in its totality has instilled these drives and continually inspires me today.

Duane E. Blanchard

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '62

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

I learned the ability to organize planning thoughts and ideas into a design solution. I also learned about the concept of space and the importance of space in building design.

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

Ralph Rapson was the most inspiring faculty member. He seemed to do more and accomplish more than other faculty or local architects. He also had a fine quality of humility and I was deeply disappointed that the National AIA did not give him the Gold Medal he so richly deserved.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

My favorite memory from the studio days was moving from the main engineering (Lind Hall) attic to the new architecture building.

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

My thesis project was a golf course clubhouse at Braemar Golf Course in Edina. Later, HGA designed a clubhouse, before I joined the firm, that had many similarities to my thesis design.

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

I think the Miesian (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) philosophy of design, "Less is More," was the most influential force on me as a student.

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 School of Architecture provided me with the training and development as a young architect so I could grow and participate in the design of significant buildings that help facilitate research, education, the manufacture of medical devices, and the medical treatment of people.

Doug P. Westby

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '73

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

Creative analytic problem solving.

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

Tom Hodne saw some potential in me that he encouraged.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

I made life long friends there.

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

The Spring quarter study abroad in Europe was an eye-opener for me. It was by far the most memorable activity from my school days.

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 a giant influence on the school and my development as an architect.

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.

My career focused upon the design and planning of hospitals which wasn't a glamorous building type, at least when beginning in 1973. Eventually, evidence based design studies verified that attention to architectural features, such as clear organizational planning, daylighting, artwork, plant materials, etc., will crate a positive physical environment that can positively impact a patient's recovery and well being! The benefits to staff are also well accepted now. It's all that an architect wants to hear!

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.

Craig A. Hess

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '72

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

Problem solving, which included thinking outside of the box.

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

This is a toss up between Ralph Rapson due to the depth and breadth of his experience as a modernist architect and Roger Clemence due to his commitments to students and the community through his involvement in the Urban Education Center/Community Design Center.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Being in the second floor studio space above the Steak House at Oak and Washington Avenues that included many late nights or all nighters. It was a small studio group and close to each other.

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

I was on a team and perhaps became the defacto team leader for the small group one summer who won an AISC design competition. During the summer, we had to execute the steel lattice structure we designed. We were unsuccessful in completing it due to our design not accommodating all the intersections that had to occur. In spite of an unsuccessful completion, I still found this to be a significant and meaningful learning experience.

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

I was in awe with many students who had much better free-hand sketching and rendering skills than I did. It drove me to strive to improve my own skills. Without a doubt the social turmoil of 1968-1970 disrupted the learning experience, but in itself was a learning experience. It had a huge impact on where I thought design skills needed to be used.

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.

Immediately after graduation, I worked for 2 years at the Community Design Center and provided design services to many inner city and some rural MN clients who would not have received such service without the CDC. For the last 15 years I have been heavily involved in delivery of multi-family housing projects including many in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. These help build communities and families.

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.

H. Mark Ruth

University of Minnesota - M.Arch '67

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

Organization and discipline, and to work quickly.

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

Ralph Rapson and Walter Vivrett. I was Vivrett's teaching assistant for the Experimental City. 

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

The range of opportunities available to explore at a large campus. 

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

Mega-City Project in Masters Design Studio. I also had the opportunity to work in Ralph Rapson's office for the design and submission of the University of Santa Cruz Performing Arts Center which won a Progressive Architecture design award in 1968.

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

I was very interested in new city design, and both the studio and my teaching assistant jobs were directed toward this. I was heavily involved in research for Dean Vivrett and developed a stronger than normal understanding of the elements of new city design. I also liked the design philosophy and rendering style used by Ralph Rapson's office and many of the undergraduate students. My style evolved to be similar.

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.

After I moved to Guam in 1971, the island experienced a large-scale hotel/resort boom supporting the Japanese tourism market. My firm became involved in projects ranging from $50 million to $500 million construction cost. The ability to think strategically and breakdown large scale and complex projects into their elements was valuable. I hope that these projects have benefited the community aesthetically, economically, and socially.

Craig D. Wolfgram

University of Minnesota - BED '75, B. Arch '76

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

Conceptual design, sketching, and presentation skills.

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

Buckminster Fuller for the grand visions he created and the need to think big.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Friendships and collaboration with studio friends, and some remain to this day.

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

The underground bookstore. They actually built something from concepts the students worked on.

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's modernist design philosophy and his emphasis on drawing skills. 

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.

Schematic design of a school in Tanzania and concepts used for a safe learning environment for children. 

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.

 

Susan J. Blumentals

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '59

Su Blumentals-Memories from College and Career


What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?
The ability to boil down unrelated information into a logical solution, and to think on my feet.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?
Ralph Rapson, because without him I would not have been in architecture at the U of M. He believed that women could succeed in architecture and stuck with me when other faculty members expressed their dissatisfaction with letting women into the school. As I have aged, I have also tried to follow his attitude that age is a state of mind, and he was forever young and vital!

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?
It was a tightly knit little community. I remember the friends I gained more than the projects I worked on.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.
Winning a one night charette sponsored by the American Tile Council for a bathroom design, including a new tile design. Won $25, and we used it to throw a cocktail party for some of the class and faculty. It was wonderful seeing a schoolmate's family's maid throwing cocktail meatballs into the mouth of Vivrett's Great Dane, Andy.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?
We were all irritated that Ralph would not teach rendering and forced all of us to develop our own style. I am glad I was there when watercolor was the material of choice for presentation and that color was an important part of our training. I think Ben Gingold's flamboyant attitude toward architecture taught me that one should not be taken in by the "flavor of the month" in architectural design, but to go where one's imagination leads you.

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 on a citizen's committee of the Minneapolis Park Board that was to study the best master plan for the re-do of Lake Harriet. After considering the existing conditions, I suggested re-routing the parkway to get facilities and people adjacent to the lakeshore and parking on the perimeter, before considering locations of paths, docks, and such. When the committee presented this solution, it precipitated much argument from newspaper editorials and such. Luckily, it was adopted, creating a wonderful site for Milo Thompson's Band Shell and a vibrant park full of diverse activity!

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.)

Scott J. Newland

University of Minnesota - B.Arch '83

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?
Lateral thinking, which is the process of looking at problems from different points of view and at different scales (as opposed to linear thinking) in order to approach a solution with as little carryover of initial preconceptions and prejudices as possible. As someone who tends to go toward the linear and logical, this concept of lateral thinking has proven helpful over and over since school.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?
Two fellow students immediately come to mind: Elizabeth O'Donnell and John Rode. From each of them, in my first and second years of being in the design studio, I was fundamentally impressed with their designs and how beautifully they were drawn. I consider the experiences gained from interactions with peers more lasting than lessons learned from the staff.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?
Simply being in the studio with others, working on designs, and being able to share ideas and see different ways of approaching any given problem.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.
In 2nd year studio with Stanley Fishman, we had the assignment to design a replacement for the movie theater in Dinkytown; a new double-screen facility. It was memorable to me because I started feeling like I had a unique design solution I liked that received much encouragement and support from fellow students, and that I presented with what I considered innovative presentation board formatting. It was also a project that still shows the strong influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, a clear hero of mine at the time. Another project that was memorable was an early, abstract problem in 1st year studio with Ray Geiger. The problem, as I recall, was to develop a model that conveyed the essence of a wall, a door, and a window using architectonically-developed geometry. It wasn't like anything I'd done before and it was a good experience, with a solution that I still like.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?
Influential architects at that time, for me, included Rapson, Wright, Aalto, Kahn and engineers such as Nervi and Morandi. High tech design approaches were the most compelling to me, and it was hard not to be influenced to some degree by Post-Modernism. There were many drawing styles that had a profound influence on me in school, from Ralph Rapson and Frank Nemeth's renderings to some of the loose, colorful pen and colored pencil work of some students, to my professional mentor at the time, Michael Plautz.

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 Foreign Study program was formative for me in that the 2 1/2 month experience in China allowed me to experience a radically different culture and meet peers from the culture. From that experience, and from a return trip I made 5 years later on my own to follow up with 2 Chinese students, I have shared lessons both ways - publishing an article on Chinese architectural developments in Architecture Minnesota, sharing with my Chinese colleagues parallels and difference between our respective professional contexts, etc. Through all of this, I have been able to more effectively work with my own clients to whom the U.S. is not their birthplace, and to see our own community in a more global perspective, something that is increasingly important today.

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.

Dennis L. Johnson

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '54, B.Arch '58

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

Thorough math, physics, and structures education since architecture was then in the Institute of Technology with engineers. Basic design and public presentation skills as well.

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

George Jones, Ralph Rapson, Professor Walter Vivrett, Oskar Stonorov who was a visiting critic, and Professor Kessler who taught History of Architecture.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Meeting my wife of 58 years, LaVonne (Macalester, '55), studio friends and fellow students, and the team project senior year (see below).

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

My most memorable project was a proposed plan for Central Minneapolis in Fall '57 that was an all-studio team project with 6 sub-groups, and presentation to faculty and Civic Leaders on completion. The thesis was "A Proposed Civic Affairs Center."

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

Frank Lloyd Wright visiting lecture, Oskar Stonorov, a visiting critic from Philadelphia, Louis Kahn at Penn, and Walter Vivrett.

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 almost constant participation in community and non-profit institutions as a Board Member, Chair, and/or pro-bono services to help them grow and better serve their constituencies.

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.