Design in the Hills

New Ruralism: Custer, our 2018 Design in the Hills event, is set for July 19-20 in Custer.

The program will include a tour of Star Academy, which is being reimagined as a sustainable light-industrial campus, a charrette on potential repurposing of an abandoned feldspar plant, a tour of the Custer Regional Hospital Healing Garden and the Custer Community Center.

There's a hotel room block at the Alex Johnson Hotel in downtown Rapid City. Reference AIA South Dakota for the $169-a-night rate.

See the full schedule below.

Click here to register for Design in the Hills

Design in the Hills - New Ruralism: Custer

Thursday, July 19

7:45 a.m.	Meet in the parking lot of Rapid City High School, 601 Columbus St.
9:10 a.m.	What's next for STAR Academy?: SLIC-e (Sustainable Light Industrial Campus & eco-ecological economics) – Gene Fennell, AIA, Fennel Design Inc.; Tanya Olson, PLA, ASLA, Tallgrass Landscape Architecture and Jared Carson, SLIC-e CEO and former Custer mayor
10:10-10:45 a.m.	RAW Architecture presentation – Paul Neseth, AIA, Locus Architecture NESETH BIO: Although Paul Neseth intended to be an architect since the age of ten he spent many years working and studying in areas peripheral to architecture. From pouring concrete for grain-bins on Southern Minnesota farms to teaching woodworking to native Bajans in Barbados to cutting mortise and tenon joints in China, Paul has merged his talents in design and construction with his desire for travel, learning and diversity. Paul brings that passion for creative, new architectural ideas to the firm through investigations into alternative construction methods and materials. Outside of architecture, Paul has designed items as diverse as furniture, lighting fixtures, remote control switches, automobile brakes and children’s toys. He has been a member of the faculty of the University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and is currently a mayoral appointee for the Committee on Urban Environment in Minneapolis.
11 a.m.	RAW campsite tour – campsite and overlook – Paul Neseth
Noon-12:45 p.m	Catered outdoor lunch at campsite - Provided by Ro-Batta Asian Cowboy Grill
1 p.m.	Custer feldspar plant tour
2 p.m.	Custer Community Center tour (old elementary school) – Gene Fennell, AIA, Fennel Design Inc.
2:45 p.m.	Tour of Healing Garden at Regional Health Medical Clinic, Custer – Tanya Olson, PLA ASLA, Tallgrass Landscape Architecture
3:30 p.m.	Burning Beetle presentation – Hank Fridell, Burning Beetle committee leader
4:30-5:30 p.m	Evening mixer - Mt. Rushmore Brewing Company, Custer
6:30 p.m.	Return to Rapid City High School

Friday, July 20 - Black Hills State University (University Center), 4300 Cheyenne Blvd.

7:30-8 a.m	Sign in, coffee, exhibits - Atrium
8 a.m.	Mount Rushmore presentation - Mount Rushmore Society Executive Director Diana Nielsen Saathoff / Cheryl Schreier, Mount Rushmore Superintendent, Room 120
9:15-9:45 a.m.	Visit Sponsor exhibits, Atrium
9:45-11:45 a.m.	Charrette on the future of the Custer feldspar plant - Room 120
Noon	SD AIA Summer Membership Meeting, Room 120

Thanks to Gage Brothers, Hebron Brick Supply, Syverson Tile & Stone, West Plains Engineering, Journey Group and Tallgrass Landscape Architecture for sponsoring the event.

Design in the Hills is open to all design professionals, including architects, interior designers, landscape architects, planners, interns and students.

Last year’s Design in the Hills event, “Adaptations,” focused on the expansion of downtown Rapid City “Past Fifth,” from downtown to the School of Mines campus. It included tours of several adaptive re-use projects, a charrette on “Supported Housing” with a special Duluth Housing Model presentation and a bus tour to the Bridger Steel facility near Blackhawk.