A design by Lincoln Street Studio has been selected for the new AIA Columbus Center for Architecture, which will open next year. The 4,000-square-foot center is located downtown and will serve as a professional resource and connection between the architecture and design professions.

“Five Easy Pieces: A New Center for Architecture” was selected as the winning entry in a design competition sponsored by AIA Columbus this summer and run by the Neighborhood Design Center. Image courtesy AIA Columbus..

Columbus follows New York City, Portland, and Philadelphia, which have each opened architecture centers. The Columbus center will be located in the former Byers Automotive Building, now CCAD (Columbus College of Art and Design) Design Studios. The location will have a street presence and be accessible by public transportation.

“This center will serve as the gateway for education, conversation, and debate about the importance quality design has on our community’s architecture, density, urban infrastructure, planning, transit, sustainability, neighborhood revitalization, and public spaces, and will push central Ohio to the forefront of progressive cities,” says Timothy Hawk, 2009 AIA Columbus president and a principal at WSA Studio.

The Center for Architecture will be located in the former Byers Automotive Building, now CCAD (Columbus College of Art and Design) Design Studios. The location will have a street presence and be accessible by public transportation. Photo courtesy AIA Columbus.

Five Easy Pieces
Lincoln Street Studio’s winning design, “Five Easy Pieces: A New Center for Architecture,” allows the main space to be converted to accommodate a number of different functions simultaneously, and was selected because of its flexibility, flow, and minimalist sensibility, according to jurors from the Cincinnati area. They included: jury chair, Hank Hildebrandt, professor of architecture at the University of Cincinnati; Michael Mcinturf, also a professor of architecture at the University of Cincinnati and principal of Michael Mcinturf Architects; and Michael Schuster, AIA, principal of MSA.

“For some time, a goal of AIA Columbus has been to increase public awareness about architecture and its critical role in making our communities more livable and sustainable,” says Gwen Berlekamp, AIA Columbus executive director. “The role of architects transcends building buildings and the center will provide a place where we can share our message and ideas and seek input from the community, and initiate change. We want the center to be the place that helps lead design thought not just in our region but potentially throughout the Midwest.”