News + Events

02/15/2017

An award-winning installation designed by IKD, Interior Architecture Critic Yugon Kim’s firm, aims to “elevate people, both literally and metaphorically.” Conversation Plinth – designed for the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library plaza in Columbus, IN – is one of five projects to win a 2017 J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize. Part of the city’s annual Exhibit Columbus architectural event, the competition favors proposals that activate space, stimulate dialogue and make use of innovative materials.

Conversation Plinth will be made using the sustainable Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) panels Kim developed and has been championing for years. According to his proposal, IKD plans to “collaborate with specialists to develop CLT made from Indiana hardwood by-products, potentially revolutionizing an industry that currently uses softwoods.” In partnership with national and state companies, local academic institutions and the US Forest Service, IKD seeks to demonstrate the viability and benefits of a new eco-friendly timber market in Indiana.

Kim’s ascendant design pays homage to the living room conversation pit in Columbus’s Miller House, along with other nearby landmarks such as a library designed by IM Pei, the First Christian Church designed by Eliel Saarinen and Large Arch, an outdoor sculpture by Henry Moore that his installation is designed to embrace.