Must-See Downtown Art & Architecture

Take in a quick walking tour of the must-see architectural sites in the "mecca" of architecture, Columbus, Indiana.

Must-See Downtown Art & Architecture

Columbus, Indiana 47201, United States

Created By: Columbus Area Visitors Center

Tour Information

See buildings by I.M. Pei, Eliel Saarinen, Eero Saarinen, and Kevin Roche, and art by Henry Moore and Jean Tinguely.


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What You'll See on the Tour

The goal of the library and library plaza project was to transform this area of the city and encourage residents to spend time downtown. To accomplish this, the architect suggested the closing of Lafayette Avenue between Fifth and Sixth ... Read more
  Henry Moore may be the most influential public sculptor of the twentieth century, and his Large Arch is the largest of its kind in the United States. The library architect, I M Pei,  thought that the plaza needed a sculpture to enliven ... Read more
    Built in 1864 by Joseph I Irwin, Columbus banker and businessman (and J Irwin Miller's grandfather), this Italianate design was remodeled in 1880. The home is now a bed and breakfast. To accommodate four generations of the Irwin fa... Read more
Paul Kennon of Caudill, Rowlett, Scott designed this building in 1978. Distinctive for its mirrored glass facade and its primary colored accents, the building houses electronic equipment. Originally a three-story brick building, Indiana Bel... Read more
The landscape surrounding the Cummins Inc. corporate headquarters creates a park-like setting for the operations of this Fortune 500 Company – the project won an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. The centra... Read more
Designed by Kevin Roche (Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates) the Cummins Corporate Office Building, completed in 1984, serves as the world headquarters for Cummins, Inc., a Fortune 200 Company and diesel engine manufacturer. The one-... Read more
Cummins Inc. Irwin Conference Center, formerly Irwin Union Bank and Trust, was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1954, with landscape design by Dan Kiley. This is one of seven national historic landmarks in Columbus. Adapted from the book EERO... Read more
(Inside the Commons) Chaos I is a seven-ton, kinetic sculpture by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely (1925-1991). The 30-foot high piece is the largest work by Tinguely in the United States. Clair Beltz, archivist at the Museum Tinguely in Basil, ... Read more
The memorial was designed by Thompson and Rose Architects and received the Boston Society of Architects Unbuilt Architecture Design Award in 1996. From Charles Rose website: Situated on Bartholomew County Courthouse Square near entrance to ... Read more
(The office is across 2nd Street.) One of seven national historic landmarks in Columbus. Myron Goldsmith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) designed the newspaper in 1971 of glass and steel and provided onlookers with a window into the b... Read more
The First Christian Church was designed by architect Eliel Saarinen, father of Eero Saarinen. Completed in 1942, it was the first contemporary building in Columbus and one of the first churches of contemporary architecture in the United St... Read more

 

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