The good earth: New Exhibit Columbus Miller Prize installations lean heavily to landscape architecture

The 2019 Exhibit Columbus Miller Prize installation designs lean decidedly more toward landscape architecture — so much so that most of the works could be partly referred to as creative plantings.

Or maybe seeds of innovation.

For instance, consider the following from Saturday’s design presentations before an estimated 350 people at The Commons downtown:

Part of MASS Design Group’s proposal for its exhibition space on the southeast side of Central Middle School includes a literal mini-cornfield with pathways cut through here and there like a playful corn maze.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery

Part of SO-IL’s idea for the lawn of the Bartholomew County Courthouse and the Bartholomew County Memorial For Veterans is a collection of Dan Kiley-inspired 6-foot, tree-like shrubs that would be nurtured and then moved at the end of the exhibition to a space at the Miller House, where Kiley’s landscape work still wins praise. The new plantings would replace older ones on the property, according to Sophie Nichols, an architect with SO-IL.

And Frida Escobedo Studio has proposed a collection of trees and 3-foot-high elevated terraces on the Bartholomew County Public Library Plaza that the studio’s Matthew Kennedy called wild gardens.

Plus, Agency Landscape + Planning has proposed a large mix of purple perennials in planters to adorn the surroundings of the AT&T Switching Center to recover a bit of the beauty of the wisteria that once generously climbed around the structure’s now-truncated trellis — that is, before the wisteria was cut away. The vines were removed when they and surrounding trees became an attraction for birds — and their droppings.

The only Miller Prize installation without a direct kind of good earth connection, if you will, is Bryony Roberts Studio’s whimsical layout of colored rope-constructed seats, partitions and fanciful backdrops on the grounds of Columbus City Hall. Roberts envisions the pieces — including a few platforms — being used for simple relaxing or for events on the building’s plaza.

“Some of the hanging (rope) pieces are all about playing with the reflection in the City Hall glass (front),” Roberts said afterward.

The upcoming free exhibition, including 18 installations in all, will be Aug. 24 to Dec. 1.

The Miller Prize works form the centerpiece of the exhibition, according to organizers.

The audience, which would have been even larger if architecture students on a bus from Ball State University weren’t forced to cancel because of the day’s snowstorm, seemed intrigued by the teams’ unconventional approaches.

“I’m really jazzed,” said attendee Jan Banister, a local musician and also curator of Gallery 506 at the Columbus Area Visitors Center.

She was so inspired by the visiting architects that she sketched out possible new layouts of the visitors center’s gift area as she listened in the crowd.

Exhibit Columbus is an exploration of art, architecture and design. It is under the umbrella of and supported partly by Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County. It also is supported by grants and private and corporate donations.

Exhibit Columbus’ initial exhibition in late 2017 attracted an estimated 40,000 people in three months, according to organizers. Plus, it generated national and international media coverage. Moreover, installations that were here have enjoyed further life elsewhere, including at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., and the prestigious Venice (Italy) Biennale of Architecture, the world’s largest art and architecture festival.

Exhibit Columbus leaders such as Richard McCoy have said since Exhibit Columbus was launched in May 2016 that it is meant to highlight and build upon the city’s famed Modernist buildings from world renowned designers such as Eliel and Eero Saarinen and I.M. Pei. The Washington, D.C.-based American Institute of Architects has ranked Columbus sixth in the nation for architectural innovation and design.

Several of the installation presenters alluded to the namesakes for the architectural prizes — design leaders and architectural aficionados J. Irwin and Xenia Miller, longtime local leaders in business and the arts. J. Irwin Miller forged special friendships with top designers such as Eero Saarinen, who designed North Christian Church, Irwin Conference Center and the Miller House, the Millers’ former Modernist gem.

All the Miller Prize designers mentioned that their installations are still “in process,” as they put it. In fact, all are actively seeking community input in one way or another for their still-to-be-tweaked work that will be executed with $70,000 (for each firm) from Exhibit Columbus.

In fact, Agency Landscape + Planning designers Gina Ford and Brie Hensold asked attendees to fill out cards highlighting a special woman who inspired them. The pair said they wanted to find a way to use those stories in their AT&T building work that especially champions females.

“We can talk about those women as we plant (our plants with the public’s help),” Ford said.

The mirrored structure once housed a large corps of female telephone operators years ago. Also, Ford and Hensold mentioned that they wanted to highlight Xenia Miller’s role in Columbus’ design legacy. That dovetails with recent research showing that she had a largely overlooked but profound impact on the detailed design of the Miller House, for instance.

Mimi Zieger, the Los Angeles-based curator, critic and editor who served as the event’s emcee, drew laughs and applause when she told the two women, “Thank you for feminizing the canon of Columbus architecture.”

MASS Design Group designers conceived their literal corn crop idea — one expected to begin with planting probably in April, they estimated — because of the state’s and Bartholomew County’s strong and historical ties to the food. Caitlin Taylor of MASS cited figures showing that 28 percent of the county’s surface area is for corn production.

Part of the school area expected to include more than 8,000 stalks will include areas for relaxing and communal eating — a big feature of the installation. An opening-day-of-school meal already is being planned.

And a Halloween corn maze and many other events could follow. Taylor is in her element with the rural theme since she and her husband operate a vegetable farm in Connecticut.

“Overall, I like to think of this as a playscape for middle school kids maybe feeling a little too old to play on the playground,” Taylor said.

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Other presentations/installations” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Exhibit Columbus’ University Design Research Fellows also outlined some of their plans for installations. Here are just a few brief highlights:

North Christian Church, with The Ohio State University and MIT School of Architecture + Planning — A pavilion using greenhouse tectonics, artificial lighting and more to house wild, local flora.

North Christian Church, with Marshall Prado of the University of Tennessee — A work called "Filament Tower" that includes glass and carbon fiber components in a carbon fiber 30-foot tower.

The Republic Building, with Daniel Luis Martinez and Etuen Santiago of Indiana University — An entry portal from the facility’s north vestibule. The installation will have mirrored, acrylic panels that reflect light and shadows.

[sc:pullout-text-end]