Most buildings last a long time. The Chateau Co-op Dining Club in Dinkytown designed by Ralph Rapson survived only from 1964 until 1972.
The Dining Club was founded on the co-operative model in 1945 by returning WWII veterans who were attending the University. The vets were driven out of the food business when McDonald’s opened a couple of blocks away in 1963; a student could get a meal there for 47 cents.
I was a student at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture in January 1970 when we occupied the Chateau as a design studio. The building’s exterior screamed “MODERN” at the top of its lungs. Its interior was more packed with light and air than any building in town.
A perfect exemplar of what we were being taught at Ralph’s school, the building was a unicorn. No wonder it disappeared.
