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Schuler Shook Wraps Up the Dane County Airport
The Minneapolis office of Schuler Shook Lighting Designers, working with Minnesota–based Architectural Alliance, has just completed the first phase of a complete renovation and restoration of the Madison, Wis. Dane County Airport. In keeping with the location – an easy flight from Chicago, home of the Prairie School of Architecture, which was led by Frank Lloyd Wright - and even fewer miles from Wright’s famed Taliesin, the Dane Country Airport is realized in an updated Prairie School style.
Using low horizontal lines and open interior spaces, the Prairie School is uniquely American, paying homage to the prairies of the Midwest. The school is known for use of natural colors and materials, rectilinear structures and furnishings that are simple and devoid of ornamentation. An artisan use of leaded glass is a key design element, as is high ribbon windows, which make for indirect lighting.
Lead lighting designer Michael Cohen stated: “There were many integration details coordinated with the architecture to create a contemporary interpretation of the Prairie School style. Most of the decorative fixtures were custom, while we were able to use standard product for the functional lighting. Our team produced fully-detailed design intent drawings for the custom fixtures, complete with finishes, glass colors and metal detail. The alignment of the trim work in the decorative fixtures was tightly coordinated with trim work in the architectural elements. Sconces were used in many locations, with metalwork that echoed the decorative metal framing used elsewhere in the architecture.
“Because the Prairie School values openness, we enhanced the airy environment created by the architecture with an extensive use of indirect and cove lighting. We also used lighting to break up the expanse of the building, while maintaining a clean, inviting feeling. All of the fixtures were selected with an eye toward energy efficiency.”
Frank Lloyd Wright once stated that “architecture is the scientific art of making structure express ideas”. The Dane Country airport honors the prairie landscape on which it is built, and welcomes visitors in a warm, friendly way.
27th June 2005
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