A Day in the Country

"Different by Design"

That's the motto of Columbus, Indiana, a town of 39,000, about 45 miles south of Indianapolis. It all started back in 1942 when the First Christian Church needed a new building. It selected Eliel Saarinen as architect. This was the first contemporary church in the United States. Later, in the 50's, when more schools were needed for the baby boomers, the local big employer, Cummins Engine Co. [specializing in diesel engines for automobiles], set up a foundation and panel to pay the architect fees for building new schools, then later for other public buildings. The result is astounding. Buildings by I.M. Pei, Richard Meier, Cesar Pelli, Harry Weese, Eero Saarinen, Robert Venturi, and many other names that architecture aficionados would recognize. Tuesday I took the 2-hour tour given by the visitor center, which is amazing in its own right with a gorgeous yellow glass chandelier by Dale Chihuly. The tour was mostly by bus, but we went inside several of the churches. Spectacular, timeless, without being flashy. The architects aimed for "coherence" to the feeling of the town. We are in the prairie, so most building are low, not high rise, ala Frank Lloyd Wright. And landscaping must be included in the building plans. Many of the buildings have won awards by the AIA, which has named Columbus the sixth best city in the US for architecture, after Chicago, New York and the like. It is astounding in a city of this size. The town is also proud of many of its older, late 19th century, buildings which have been restored or renovated.

After the tour, I walked around a bit on my own. The library, next door to the visitor center, was designed by I.M. Pei. The mammoth sculpture "Large Arch," by Henry Moore, is out front in the library plaza, which is used for community events, such as a Pop Fest. A sculpture by Jean Tingley is in the Commons, a small in-town mall. The Cummins headquarters has a "museum" for visitors. On display is the "Exploded Engine," showing all the parts of a diesel engine. One can also see the only remaining 1934 Auburn car powered by a Cummins diesel engine and the winning car of the 1987 Indy 500 that was driven by Al Unser, Sr.

I had a delicious Thai Chicken Pasta salad for lunch at Cooks & Co., which has a kitchen specialty store next door, complete with a demonstration kitchen for cooking classes. Several people have asked me about food on the trip. Not much to write home about, but I haven't really been seeking out gourmet places. Too grubby & tired at the end of the day. But if lettuce is any indicator, in Ohio there was only iceberg, in Indiana it has been pretty much romaine and mixed greens.

People seem to love living in Columbus. The tour guide was originally from Scotland. She came here 35 years ago when her husband was transferred for a 2-year-stint with Cummins. I also talked with a woman in the library who moved here from San Diego about a year ago. She loves the seasons. (Her husband is a native Hoosier.)

A beautiful drive 20 miles east, through gentle rolling hills, to Nashville, in Brown County, Indiana, which markets itself as an "Artist Colony." 100 years ago, T.C. Steele, a famous Hoosier artist, moved to this area. He was a magnet for other mid-west artists who came to paint in the summers. They became known as the "Hoosier Group" of American Impressionists. The town is still living off this association; it is full of little gift shops, kind of like a micro "Carmel by the Sea," but without the sea. The streets were crawling with tourists, but there is a very respectable Brown County Art Gallery with work by local artists. I moved on another 8 miles to visit the home T.C. Steele built on a hilltop, with a fabulous view for miles. They are celebrating all round the county the centennial of his move to the area, so his studio at the home has a special exhibit of his paintings on loan from his descendants.

On the way to Nashville, I passed an "Olde Time Flea Market," essentially a large field full of rusty old farm equipment, just waiting for former Urban Institute colleague Al Gillespie.