

Massive Flooding Damages Iowa Architecture


We’d been following the recent flooding throughout Iowa pretty closely because we lived there for a couple of years not long ago. Because we were primarily concerned about the more personal things, like making sure our friends were okay and their homes were still above water, it hadn’t even dawned on us that there was a design angle to the whole thing until we read this piece in Metropolis about all the flooded architectural landmarks in the state. Suddenly it got us remembering where all the famous buildings were located in Iowa City, where we’d lived. The new Steven Holl arts building that was just recently finished! The Frank Gehry over by the student center! All of it was in close proximity to the Iowa River and the piece painfully describes to what degree these places were affected by the rising waters. Here’s to hoping everything gets successfully repaired and we don’t lose any of what made Iowa that much more beautiful.

Mediabistro Course

