Two projects this year added even more luster to the HGA designer's reputation as the Twin Cities' go-to architect for culture venues.
Carl reconfigured the University of Minnesota's cavernous Northrop Auditorium into a more intimate space with vastly improved acoustics, better sightlines, comfortable seating and up-to-date operating systems. At $88.2 million, the three-year project respected the history of a venerable landmark while injecting contemporary gloss.
In spring he also wrapped up a $20.5 million expansion of the studio arts building at Macalester College in St. Paul. That project was the second phase in the college's upgrade of its fine arts facilities, following a 2012 renovation that included a new concert hall, rehearsal and performance spaces, an art commons and classrooms. Carl headed the design team for both projects as well as a 2012 addition to the American Swedish Institute.
While he's a skilled adapter of traditional styles, Carl has made his most indelible mark as a deft adapter of midcentury modernism.
Next comes a $42 million concert hall scheduled to open in February at St. Paul's Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Carl is also overseeing a new $14.5 million 650-seat theater at St. Paul Academy, a private prep school, and is beginning work on HGA's plans for a new conservatory of music and dance for the University of Missouri in Kansas City.
