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In 1996, a volunteer committee of University representatives selected architect Antoine Predock of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to design the McNamara Alumni Center.
Teamed with Minneapolis-based KKE Architects to facilitate the building’s design, Predock set out to reflect Minnesota's natural assets - its 10,000 lakes, the North Shore, the Iron Range, the Northern Lights and more - in the forms, materials and design elements of the McNamara Alumni Center.
Striking features include a pink granite-covered geode exterior with star-shaped glass fissures; an 85-foot tall Memorial Hall complete with six miles of wood lining its walls and a water stream and pool; and 75,000 square feet of copper cover exterior and interior walls.
Predock has won numerous awards for his building designs, many of them at universities including Arizona State, Wyoming, and several California campuses. He has been featured in publications such as Time, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, Architecture, and Progressive Architecture.
Read more from the January-February 2000 issue of Minnesota, official magazine of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association: