Coen+Partners

Confounding Expectations Lecture Series

erica — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:56:50 +0000

New York, New York

The Influence of The New West
Confounding Expectations: Photography in Context

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
7:00 p.m.

Originally published in 1974, Robert Adams’s The New West signaled a significant shift in photographic representation of the American landscape. Adams focused on construction of tract and mobile homes, subdivisions, and urban sprawl in the Denver area, where he lived at the time. Coinciding with the reissue of this seminal photography book by Aperture, panelists will discuss the impact of this body of work as well as the ongoing issues related to our not-so-delicate relationship with the western landscape.

Panelists include: Joshua Chuang, Yale University Gallery; Mark Klett, photographer; Shane Coen, coen+partners.

The New School, Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street, New York, New York
(212) 229-5353

For more information, visit the Aperture Foundation website.

MPR Feature, February 2008

erica — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:47:18 +0000

Revisioning the suburbs, by Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio
February 14, 2008

Minneapolis, Minn. — Minneapolis architect Shane Coen wants suburban design to be more responsive and deferential to nature. His firm, Coen+Partners, creates planned communities where open space and connection to neighbors are more important than three-car garages and curving cul-de-sacs.

Coen’s Mayo Woodland project near Rochester is featured in “Worlds Away.” Coen says he’s continually struck by how much time people spend in their homes.

“And how little most people think about how amazing of a place they could make that, without any more money,” Coen says. “It’s really about thought. And that’s the most intriguing thing to me about the suburbs and just the way that people live today.”

The Walker is billing “Worlds Away” as the first major museum exhibition examining art and architecture in the contemporary American suburb.

To read the entire MPR feature or to stream the audio click here.

Worlds Away Exhibit

Walker Art Center Exhibit

erica — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:39:52 +0000

Coen +Partners is exhibiting in Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes, the first major museum exhibition to examine both the art and architecture of the contemporary American suburb and its catalytic role in the creation of new art, premiering at the Walker Art Center from February 16 to May 18, 2008. Organized by the Walker in association with the Heinz Architectural Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Worlds Away features more than 75 works ranging from paintings and photographs to architectural models, sculptures, and videos that explore a variety of suburban conditions. The exhibition co-curators are Andrew Blauvelt, Walker design director and curator, and Tracy Myers, curator of architecture at Carnegie’s Heinz Architectural Center.

The Exhibition
The exhibition contains works by more than 30 artists and architects and is arranged in three sections: the residential tract home; the retail zone, comprised of the strip mall and big box store; and the infrastructure for automobiles and the culture it has engendered. Several design firms are producing new works for the exhibition, including Estudio Teddy Cruz, which will explore the role of architecture in shaping community; Fashion.Architecture. Taste, which will present its work on a multiethnic suburban park in the Netherlands; Lateral Architecture’s exploration of the spaces between and around big box power centers, the successor to suburbia’s regional mall; Interboro’s examination of life at a so-called “dead mall” in New York; Coen+Partners revision of a traditional cul-de-sac development; and the Center for Land Use Interpretation’s (CLUI) documentation of the major automotive test tracks located in various urban peripheries of the United States.

Click here to see the Walker Art Center’s press release.

WIA, November 2007

erica — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:20:44 +0000

Coen + Partners Senior Associate Stephanie Grotta, was one of four featured speakers at the Women In Architecture Minnesota Design Showcase. The lecture, WIA Presents: Collaboration and Leadership in Design was held on Monday November 19, 2007 at the Rapson Hall Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus.

According to the University of Minnesota, College of Design press release:

Women in Architecture is bringing together four of Minnesota’s progressive and innovative designers to discuss their work and the issues and processes that comprise these projects.

The other featured designers included– Ariel Apte (Mgmt Design), Marcy Schulte (Conway+Schulte), and Tia Keobounpheng (Silvercocoon).

AIA Special Award

erica — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 19:40:30 +0000

On December 1st, 2006 Shane Coen received a Special Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Minnesota.

According to the AIA Minnesota Press Release, Architect David Salmela, FAIA, described Shane as possessing a “collaborative ability to advance the landscape architects influence to a new level in Minnesota as well as the nation.” Coen’s greatest strength and talent is his ability to collaborate with architects and other design professionals. For the past 10 years, Shane has worked with Duluth architect David Salmela on his homes and other projects. Shane has a uniquely positive quality, said Salmela. Shane always strives to promote his honest opinion, but never in a threatening way. Every problem he faces is seen as another opportunity. Shane has a skilled artistic eye and is successfully able to blend man made materials with the organic environment, while still preserving and respecting the natural setting.

To view the entire AIA Minnesota press release regarding the 2006 Special Award click here.