How Columbus, Indiana, became a mecca for modern architecture

North Christian Church, designed by Eero Saarinen, completed in 1964 in Columbus, Indiana. The church recently closed, but the community is discussing future uses for the iconic building.COLUMBUS, Indiana – Ordinary Indiana? Not this town, which became a mecca of modern architecture in the second half of the 20th century.J. Irwin Miller, a Columbus native and the chairman of Cummins Engine Co., wasn’t a fan of bland post-World War II buildings. So he challenged his hometown to do better.

Informal Saturday morning architecture tours were offered starting in the 1970s, according to Erin Hawkins, director of marketing for the, the 1953-era home designed by Eero Saarinen for Irwin and Xenia Miller, and their five children. It’s considered among the very finest examples of mid-century modern architecture in the country.Interior of Bartholomew County Library, designed by I.M. Pei; that's First Christian Church framed by the window.

“Everything is off-center except for the communion table,” said tour guide Sally Madge. “It’s the idea that nobody’s perfect – we’re all human.”In the late 1950s, Eero Saarinen – perhaps best known for designing the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. – was commissioned to design another church.

* Schmitt Elementary, the first design funded by the Cummins Foundation, was designed by Harry Weese in 1957. The school features classrooms separated to look like small residences. “He wanted the kids to feel comfortable,” said Madge. “He wanted them to look like little houses for the kids.” And speaking of prisons – others said the county jail, designed in 1990 by Don Hisaka, was much too beautiful.Conversation pit at the Miller House in Columbus, Indiana.Not long after he finished the bank, Saarinen was back in town, working on a more personal commission: a house for Miller, his wife Xenia and their five children.

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