In Evanston, Illinois—a city defined by its tree-lined sidewalks and collection of homes—architecture is a diverse language. Beaux-Arts, Prairie, Italianate, Victorian, Arts and Crafts, and Queen Anne are dialects spoken across intersections and around block corners, passing down their stories through iconic massing, decorative ornamentation, gables, brick and stone, gently sloped rooflines, and the occasional tower or turret. In the renovation of this particular Queen Anne residence, a style known for its irregular roof shapes, bay windows, dramatic massing, and multiple gables and dormers, the homeowners envisioned a design respectful of the heritage in its walls and wove in dynamic elements reflective of their young family lifestyle. Once the home…
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Revived colonial
“When you work in older homes, whether [people] are going to keep the same essence or want to be a little avant-garde—do something transitional or modern on the inside, but maintain the outside— there is stuff going on in that house from the past. Most people like to find out what is going on, and we kind of disassemble and reassemble—it is a great experience,” said Michael Menn, AIA, CGR, CAPS, CGP, principal architect at Michael Menn Ltd. in Northbrook, Illinois. Michael Menn Ltd. is an architectural and planning firm providing design-and-build services to clients throughout Chicago’s North Shore and the greater Phoenix, Arizona areas. The private practice was initially…
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Shingle-style adaptive
When creating a new residence, adaptability is a valuable term during each stage of the process, especially for the architect, whose task is to deliver a home balancing practical and aesthetic goals. Sometimes a difficult task, achieving this ideal balance can also be highly memorable and, in the case of the team of designers at Sears Architects, something that is reflected on during other projects for years to come. Sears Architects, an architectural and planning firm in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the design team behind a 2013 residential project on the city’s eastern side that highlighted the firm’s affinity for producing adaptable designs—an element that continues to distinguish it in…
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Illuminating design
For more than 50 years, the Kendall Lighting Center—a member of the Kendall Group—has supplied communities in northern Indiana and West Michigan with lighting products and fixtures featuring the latest in industry trends and technologies. Recently, the lighting center’s first showroom location in Grand Rapids, Michigan was joined by four additional showroom locations to create an expanded source for lighting collections and design inspiration. The Kendall Group began as Kendall Electric in the early 1970s, later growing to include six divisions—including the Kendall Lighting Center—that position it as a wholesale supplier serving the electrical, lighting, automation, and steam industries, among others. Its stance in industrial variety translates to the Kendall…
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Textured classics
Like many other facets of art and design, fashion provides a highly sensory method of self-expression and creativity, but it stands apart in its proximity to the user. As designs that encompass the body, garments hold a unique responsibility for their users, and as Chicago-based fashion designer Bhavana Jain knows, balancing the responsibility of designing for a specific customer while staying true to design principles can be a challenging—yet exciting—effort. “When I started in design school, I actually had ideas of designing [garments] that are commonly worn in India, and I really was enamored with the color, the fabrics, and the design features,” Jain said. “As I went further along,…
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Poetic structures
Detroit has been home to artists in their many forms—designers, architects, sculptors, and fashion creatives, among others—who have set roots in the city as a space for personal and professional practice; often drawn to its rich industrial and design history as well as its current fabrication abilities. Its resources for the arts—such as Detroit Institute of Arts, College for Creative Studies, and Cranbrook Academy of Art—also draw national and international attention as centers for artistic preservation, exploration, and experimentation. In 2015, internationally-acclaimed artist and designer Nina Cho made Detroit the base for her professional practice, Nina Cho LLC, and personal studio; going on to exhibit at the Robert Adler Gallery…
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Design for Sale: South Manitou Trail
The abundance of unique residential properties on northern Michigan’s various sandy shorelines often makes the role of the realtor important when matching property to prospective buyer. Different homeowners shape a residence according to their own design values and functional needs, creating homes with unique personalities that add interest to the market. For Tim Schaub, real estate broker and co-owner of Schaub Team Premier Realty in Suttons Bay, Michigan, pairing prospective buyers with an existing residence that can reflect them begins with knowing the variety of possibilities for design and function that each property already possesses. “Whether I’m listing a home with my clients or representing a buyer, my goal is…
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Contemporary farmhouse
In residential design, personal history and nostalgia can often influence features large and small, gradually creating the identity of a space until it merges into something that clearly signifies the homeowner. In the spring of 2017, Steve Werner, architect and partner at the Shoreline Architecture & Design Inc. firm in Petoskey, Michigan was approached by an unexpected figure from his own childhood—the owner of a Hudsonville, Michigan ice cream supplier near his childhood home—to design a seasonal cottage reminiscent of classic dairy barns. “One of the homeowners had seen a building we had done previously with this bow truss design, which is reminiscent of a dairy barn, and that was…
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Modern lodge
Reposed on a cresting dune, this contemporary, coastal lodge is built for the drama of the offshore shoals, turbulent weather, and proud lighthouses that line the Lake Michigan waterscape. It is a home whose beauty is in its implied simplicity, honest materials, and integrated design; where its rich tones are matched only by its memories as a family reprieve in a meaningful setting. Designed by Douglas DeHaan and built by the team of DeHaan Homes in Hudsonville, Michigan and Studio K Creative in Chicago, Illinois, this modern lodge is one of purposeful understatement and custom luxury. Its site, while challenging the buildability with about 100-foot-width, is intentional as it neighbors…
