Green Line Station Designed by Local Firm 4RM+ULA African American Architects with Deep Rondo Roots
- August 15, 2014
- By: Danielle Mkali
- In: CET, Communities of Color, Equity
Owners of the architectural firm 4RM+ULA, located in Lowertown Saint Paul, believe the METRO Green Line has revived University Avenue and Saint Paul.
“There is something awesome about feeling that you are connected again,” said the firm’s founder, James Garrett Jr.
Garrett, who grew up on Saint Paul’s East Side and then in the Rondo neighborhood, remembers when Saint Paul seemed vacant. “When I went to school in Saint Paul, University Avenue was pretty much given up for dead,” said Garrett. “The METRO Green Line project added a whole bunch of energy to the area.”
The local architect said that one of his favorite things about the project was watching the construction.
“I couldn’t get enough of driving up and down University Avenue and seeing the construction,” said Garrett. “After having worked on it for several years and actually seeing the structures go up, just driving down University and seeing steel framework going up made me realize this is real and this is really happening.”
Green Line station design was ‘fun and challenging’
Garrett and his partner at 4RM+ULA, Nathan Johnson, designed the stations along the Green Line. They started working with Metro Transit in 2007 – their first transit project.
“The whole project was fun and challenging,” said Johnson. Johnson said they visited each station along the Green line and spent quality time with each station’s artists.
“It was really interesting meeting the artists and seeing how they approached representation of their station/platform,” said Johnson. Read more…