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ST. LOUIS MAGAZINE, AUGUST 2002

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Amazing Addresses By Elaine X. Grant The City's Top Architects Name the Best Contemporary Buildings in St. Louis IF THERE IS ONE THING ST. LOUIS HAS IN ABUNDANCE, IT IS beautiful buildings - but not all of them are from the city's heyday a century ago. "We have a lot of historic buildings in St. Louis, and they have always dominated any discussion on architecture in the city," says Louis Saur, principal of architecture firm Saur & Associates. Along with the buildings designed around the time of the 1904 World's Fair, world-class projects designed by out-of-towners tend to be the focus of most discussions about architecture in the city. The Arch, designed by Eero Saarienen in a 1947 competition, and the Wainwright Building, built in 1890 and designed by Louis Sullivan - who became a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright - are excellent examples. Another is the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in Grand Center, designed by self-taught Japanese architect Tadao Ando and opened in October 2001. Bill Bowersox, principal of Powers Bowersox Associates, calls it one of the finest buildings in this part of the world. What is missing from most discussions about the city's architecture, says George Nikolajevich, principal of Cannon Design, is the work of St. Louis Architects who are still practicing and whose work has been recognized by the profession. "The work of these architects deserves mention because it creates a stepping stone for others. They are here and they are seldom mentioned, but history will judge how great those contributions are," Nikolajevich says. We asked four area architects - the only St. Louisans to be awarded the presigious Fellow in Design designation by the American Institute of Architects - to name the buildings they feel demonstrate the best architectural design. Here are the buildings they chose.
Thomas Dunn Learning Center Architect: Bill Bowersox Nominated by: George Nikolajevich, Louis Saur "It's just a simple little building that uses minimalism in a very effective way. It deals with putting a building in a park and issues of security, and it still turns out to be a very delightful building. The inside is also very nice - little glass details between the corridors and the classrooms give the building a lightness inside," says Saur. "The building is stunning," says Nikolajevich. "There is a certain modesty in Bill's work. Restraint and simplicity - not boredom - in the hands of Bill Bowersox can go very far."	First Unitarian Church Architect: Bill Bowersox Nominated by: George Nikolajevich, Louis Saur Nikolajevich calls Bowersox "one of the most extraordinary architects in St. Louis. He is the master of doing the maximum with a minimum amount of elements." At the First Unitarian Church, Bowersox did some renovation work on the original church, and also designed a new chapel. "He did quite a beautiful job," says Nikolajevich. "It's a tiny building, but it does so many things so well architecturally, with such simple, correct ideas," says Saur.

click on photos to enlarge

Amazing Addresses

By Elaine X. Grant

The City's Top Architects Name the Best Contemporary Buildings in St. Louis

IF

THERE IS ONE THING ST. LOUIS HAS IN ABUNDANCE, IT IS beautiful buildings - but not all of them are from the city's heyday a century ago. "We have a lot of historic buildings in St. Louis, and they have always dominated any discussion on architecture in the city," says Louis Saur, principal of architecture firm Saur & Associates. Along with the buildings designed around the time of the 1904 World's Fair, world-class projects designed by out-of-towners tend to be the focus of most discussions about architecture in the city. The Arch, designed by Eero Saarienen in a 1947 competition, and the Wainwright Building, built in 1890 and designed by Louis Sullivan - who became a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright - are excellent examples. Another is the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in Grand Center, designed by self-taught Japanese architect Tadao Ando and opened in October 2001. Bill Bowersox, principal of Powers Bowersox Associates, calls it one of the finest buildings in this part of the world. What is missing from most discussions about the city's architecture, says George Nikolajevich, principal of Cannon Design, is the work of St. Louis Architects who are still practicing and whose work has been recognized by the profession. "The work of these architects deserves mention because it creates a stepping stone for others. They are here and they are seldom mentioned, but history will judge how great those contributions are," Nikolajevich says.

We asked four area architects - the only St. Louisans to be awarded the presigious Fellow in Design designation by the American Institute of Architects - to name the buildings they feel demonstrate the best architectural design. Here are the buildings they chose.

Thomas Dunn Learning Center

Architect: Bill Bowersox
Nominated by: George Nikolajevich, Louis Saur

"It's just a simple little building that uses minimalism in a very effective way. It deals with putting a building in a park and issues of security, and it still turns out to be a very delightful building. The inside is also very nice - little glass details between the corridors and the classrooms give the building a lightness inside," says Saur. "The building is stunning," says Nikolajevich. "There is a certain modesty in Bill's work. Restraint and simplicity - not boredom - in the hands of Bill Bowersox can go very far."

First Unitarian Church

Architect: Bill Bowersox
Nominated by: George Nikolajevich, Louis Saur

Nikolajevich calls Bowersox "one of the most extraordinary architects in St. Louis. He is the master of doing the maximum with a minimum amount of elements." At the First Unitarian Church, Bowersox did some renovation work on the original church, and also designed a new chapel. "He did quite a beautiful job," says Nikolajevich. "It's a tiny building, but it does so many things so well architecturally, with such simple, correct ideas," says Saur.