Scott Rodwin : Finding Balance in Art, Dance and Design

By Ingrid Spencer

There’s no doubt that Boulder, Colorado–based architect Scott Rodwin, AIA, is a Renaissance man. But does he also possess some superhuman power that lets him have more time in a day than the average person? You’d think running an award-winning, seven-person architecture firm, Rodwin Architecture, would be all-consuming. Yet, Rodwin manages also to create alabaster sculptures that are exhibited in various Boulder galleries, as well as participate in a form of dance called “contact improvisational.”

Photo courtesy of Scott Rodwin

Above, Rodwin's alabaster sculpture White Lotus.
www.stonedancestudio.com | www.rodwinarch.com

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“Imagine pairs figure skating combined with Aikido, a game of Twister, and surfing,” says Rodwin about his chosen dance style. “It’s a partner dance, typically done without music or shoes. There are no set steps, and the main principle is to be in the moment, and just let the dance spontaneously emerge from those natural forces.”
According to Rodwin, his approach to sculpture, which he does in either translucent Italian alabaster or alabaster from a local quarry, is similar to his techniques for dance. “I look to shape the form of the stone to create a sculpture of dynamic space within. I enjoy pushing the limits of what can be done with stone—making it as delicate and gymnastic as possible, so that the grain, character, and translucency are revealed. The pieces almost always break at some point. Sometimes I can repair them, and sometimes I have to simply let go of any idea of what it should be and work with the new form as it is.”

Rodwin says that he has yet to incorporate any of his sculpture into his architectural projects, for now keeping his three interests separate and balanced. “Sculpture lets me make a physical form that is purely my own. But architecture is public art, and in that it has a higher bar—finding a human connection to a wide range of people. If I ever do create even a single really great building, I believe that will be a great satisfaction. Dance is in a different category. I do it only for the experience of that present moment. Not for the end result. In that, it is often immensely satisfying. And then it is gone.”

Rodwin may not think his architecture is great, but others do. He recently won the AIA Western Mountain Region Chapter’s 2006 Young Architect of the Year Award. Does he have time to celebrate? Hardly. He admits that not yet having a family may be why he has so much time for his multiple interests, which don’t stop at architecture, dance, and sculpture. While he’s also completed books on women’s self-defense and, recently, A Wildly Incomplete Guide to Contact Improv, he’s now working on writing a book of dating stories called Boys are Dumb, Girls are Crazy. “My life doesn’t leave much time for TV,”
he says.

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