by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Where most people saw a downtown alley way, Mike Kleinschmidt and Logan Rink saw an opportunity.
The pair represent one third of a team of architects that designed a new use for the vacant alley between the 11 E. Forsyth Building and the Main Branch Library. The team members all punch the clock at Rink Design, Inc., but Kleinschmidt said the team does its most innovative work after hours.
The team’s design converted the vacant space into five floors of retail and gallery space. A skylit cafe on the top floor opens into a rooftop garden on top of the library.
An alley might not sound like an ideal spot for a design overhaul, but that’s exactly the point for the young architects who displayed their work at the Emerging Architects showcase that kicked off Architecture Week Monday. The loft space above TTV Architects on E. Forsyth Street was filled with forward-looking designs that took the mundane and made it unique.
As you might expect from a team named 6after5 – that’s six members working after 5 p.m. – the project wasn’t conceived as a money maker for Rink. The alley overhaul was entirely a creative endeavor. Kleinschmidt and Rink even displayed their design at the October Artwalk.
“We were looking for something challenging, something neglected,” said Kleinschmidt. “The idea is to let the design act as a catalyst for development inside the building.”
The inaugural exhibition for the Emerging Architects, the young architects’ section of the Jacksonville Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, was conceived as a way to give the youngest members of the profession a chance to showcase their creativity when freed from the constraints of the office.
Most of the participants were only a few years removed from the college classroom, and several dusted off their graduate school thesis projects for the exhibition. Others, like the 6after5 team, were collaborative ventures conceived and designed outside of their firms.
Some of the designs may never leave the drawing board, but the innovation displayed by the architects’ youth movement made a vital contribution to the profession, said Lew Everline, of Richard Skinner and Associates and president of the AIA Jacksonville.
Young archtitects have consistently pushed the envelope of building design, said Everline. He credited the EA, formerly known as the Young Architects, with helping bring a fresh perspective to Jacksonville design.
Rink Design architect John Allmand’s idea for a sports complex certainly qualifies. The design is a venture in “mega-architecture,” said Allmand. It was his last project in graduate school. The design envisions a stadium surrounded by interstates in a large-scale roundabout design. The stadium itself sits at the center of a ring of residential and retail development.
Everline credited Cannon Design architect Scott Crawford for making the showcase a reality. Crawford said the Monday event was the best-attended EA event that he’s seen. Even without air conditioning in the two-room space, the crowd stood shoulder to shoulder at the displays for about an hour.
Crawford wasn’t just there as an organizer. He partnered with Cannon architect Miguel Martinez to form 11 squared, an architecture and design venture. The work ranged from computer graphics to Martinez’ own house. He designed and built the traincar-shaped structure himself.
One of their future projects is designed to save the young business money on office rents. Martinez and Crawford are redesigning an Airstream trailor for use as a mobile office.
“That way we’ll always be on site,” said Crawford.