CCAD MindMarket lobby, photo courtesy Danielle Ford (2013)

Architect Mitch Acock’s talents were benefiting CCAD well before he joined the college’s board of trustees in 2010—and his work with the CCAD Design Studios on Broad has been a centerpiece of his involvement. We caught up with him recently for a quick insider’s tour of the new CCAD MindMarket facility, for which he was the lead architect.

IMAGE: The key to this facility is how it brings together so many pockets of creativity from all over campus and creates one focused place for creative problem-solving. How does the design promote this synergy?

Mitch Acock (MA): We’ve incorporated a diversity of types of spaces, which allows for a wide variety of group collaboration formats as well as individual work areas. We’ve also made the spaces flexible for users, so they can “own” the space as they use it and shape it to their needs.

IMAGE: Is there a single feature that’s your favorite?

MA: The reception area. We made it big enough to also serve as a gallery space to show off, in video form, all the varied types of work that students at CCAD are involved in. To have the best examples of student work all in one space and on the corner of Broad and Cleveland is a great opportunity to show the quality and breadth of CCAD design work to the MindMarket’s visitors, patrons, and the larger Columbus design community—as well as to prospective students and their parents. It will be a cool space not only to be in, but also to engage with as a passerby on the street.

IMAGE: How have your ideas for this facility changed over time?

MA: The college’s compelling vision of both engaging the broader design community and stressing entrepreneurship made me focus more on how spaces can engage people that are not directly connected to CCAD. The location on Broad Street is perfect to serve as this kind of transition space between the necessarily sheltered world of academia and the outside world.

IMAGE: How does this project fit into your sense, as a board member, of CCAD’s longer-term goals and opportunities?

MA: It’s the cornerstone of CCAD’s effort to become more engaged in the broader design community. As the design economy continues to supplant the information economy as the big economic driver, the MindMarket will keep CCAD relevant and a leader in the broader cultural and economic marketplaces.

To check out the online print version of IMAGE, click here.

Lobby of CCAD Mindmarket, located in Design Studios on Broad

The architects for CCAD’s Design Studios on Broad (DSB) received an architectural award from the Columbus Chapter of  AIA, the American Institute of Architects.

Acock Associates Architects transformed the 97,000-square-foot former car dealership into a custom-designed spaces for CCAD’s MindMarket, Fashion Design program, and MFA program.

The firm also received an Excellence in Architectural Design award in 2011, an Honor Award in 2009 for CCAD’s Design Square Apartments, and a Merit Award in 2005 for CCAD’s Loann Crane Center for Design.

Rocco Landesman is interviewed during a tour of Design Studios on Broad with Denny Griffith.

National Endowment for the Arts chairman Rocco Landesman stopped by CCAD Sept. 27, touring the Design Studios on Broad and viewing the biennial faculty exhibition with CCAD President Denny Griffith.

Landesman came to Columbus as part of a multi-city tour to promote creative careers. “There are 5.7 million full-time art-related jobs in this country,” he said to Columbus Dispatch reporter Jeffrey Sheban during the campus tour. “We’re tired of being on the defensive. We’re going to be on the offensive.”

During his brief time in the city, Landesman made opening remarks at the annual International Economic Development Council, taking place in Columbus. He also toured popular Columbus attractions the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus Musuem of Art, COSI, Lincoln Theater, and Wexner Center for the Arts.

To read more about Landesman’s visit, click here.

Design Studios on Broad is a renovated car dealership in the heart of downtown Columbus.

The finishing touches are done and CCAD’s inaugural class of MFA students have moved into 9,700 square feet of freshly renovated digs on the third floor of Design Studios on Broad.

The Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts: New Projects, is underway with spectacular learning spaces that include 11 individual studios (more to be added as the program grows), a kitchen, lounge, seminar room, exhibition space, and offices. The floor has secure 24/7 access and is wireless with high-speed broadband. Add to that plenty of natural light and downtown views from eastern, southern and western exposures. Before the grad students moved in, we took some pictures.

Design Studios on Broad

Simple and to the point, CCAD’s newest building signage installation is big, bold, red letters spelling “DESIGN” and spans down the corner of CCAD’s Design Studios on Broad (formerly Byers Auto).

Installed July 25, each aluminum, wedge-shaped letter is 4 feet 7 inches high. The audacious addition is a perfect capstone to the Design Studios on Broad renovation, which will be dedicated September 14, along with the new Design Square Apartments.

CCAD’s Design Studios on Broad is a renovated early 20th century car dealership that includes 9,700-square-foot of space.