The Athens of the Prairie

Image courtesy: Artsy

This week we'd like to feature a great piece in Artsy that discusses "How Columbus, Indiana, Became a Mecca for Modernist Architecture." We love the idea of hidden gems in the Midwest region, and this feature is a perfect example of that. 

"In the heyday of American industrialism, companies often shaped whole communities, serving as a town’s primary employer and economic driver. One of these so-called company towns, Columbus, Indiana, is home to Cummins Engine Company, a humble population of 46,000, and a disproportionate number of iconic mid-century modern buildings.  

An unlikely mecca of modernist architecture, it’s a place where banks, churches, office buildings, and schools (in short, the core of the city’s civic life) are also frequent stops along an architectural tour route trodden by thousands of design scholars and enthusiasts each year. The influential Indianapolis-based magazine Saturday Evening Post, noting the city’s curious character combination of small-town charm and design sophisticate, famously dubbed it “the Athens of the prairie” in 1964, an apt tagline that has held over the years."

Click here to read more, and have a great week!