State Capital Tour

A few years later, while living in the Twin Cities and working at BWBR Architects in St. Paul, I attended a memorable tour of the Minnesota State Capital. We learned about a significant mistake the design team doing restoration work had made, and I had another much more dramatic “precarious stair” experience.

In the last part of our tour, with the restoration design team leading us, we had the unique opportunity to go up to the cupola, which is the highest point on the building that people can reach without special equipment. This involved climbing a very steep stair with minimal railings that were in between the inner and outer domes. Moreover, there were only a few light fixtures, and most of the bulbs were burnt out! Like I said… memorable, and a little scary to be honest.

Once we got outside, at the cupola, the design team pointed out spalling marble! It was remarkable how honest and open they were about the problem and what they were doing to fix it. It turned out that the mortar specified as part of a major tuckpointing project was stronger than the stone. With the large temperature swings in Minnesota and expansion during freezing, the stone started spalling at the joints. I remember listening in a state of shock, thinking about how we could do irreparable damage if we were not careful… fast forward to today, and the same sentiment is also true regarding climate change!

Conclusion

These are just two examples of many wonderful events and experiences I had while participating in AIA YAF early in my career. I also want to acknowledge the early and thoughtful leadership of the YAF group in Duluth, MN, by the late Rebecca Lewis… one of the first female architectural interns in northeastern Minnesota.

Fast forward to today, and YAF is so much more valuable to the profession but still has that same grassroots spirit. I love the webinars I’ve seen organized and the dissemination of helpful information by and for young architects. On the national AIA COTE Leadership Group, we have a YAF liaison currently filled by Wei Wang! We try to keep current on YAF activities and provide support where possible. I also love the state and national YAF of the Year awards. A quick shout-out to my friend Simona Fischer, who won both last year (and her firm just won a COTE Top Ten 2022 award)… also, I presented with her a few months back at the Minnesota AIA Conference!

Hopefully, this article offered inspiration and encouragement for all aspiring and new architects. I highly recommend that you actively participate in YAF and COTE! Together, we can make a difference!