For Megan L. Schnitker, owner and founder of Lakota Made LLC in Mankato, Minnesota, plants have a purpose. It is a purpose that can take on many forms, serving as food and medicine, teacher and healer, and to her, it is one that has also evolved organically over the years through Lakota Made to serve as a powerful vehicle in…
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The thoughtfully considered
AIA Minnesota recognizes outstanding built projects for 2023 For nearly 70 years, AIA Minnesota has recognized its members and member-owned firms for their architecture and urban design work through its AIA Minnesota Honor Awards and Commendations for Design Excellence. Over the decades, the program has challenged architects to envision what is possible, recognizing that design can be a vehicle…
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X House
Perched on rock outcroppings along the shore of Lake Superior, a Marquette, Michigan residence is a display of harmonies between residential life and a profound natural topography of forest, lichenous bedrock, and freshwater horizon. The single-story home lays about the landscape in an X shape: an architectural strategy to minimize the home’s footprint, while preserving those stony landforms that inspired…
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Work of Art
In its location just outside central Minneapolis, the Walker Art Center stands as a storied architectural fixture with a contemporary pulse on national and international arts and design across eras and disciplines, from architecture, visual, and performing, to media arts. Its famous design by Edward Larrabee Barnes in 1971 and modern steel-clad addition designed by Herzog & de Meuron—plus a…
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Foraged boathouse
In today’s post-industrial climate, literature on sustainability has become proliferated with language associated with policies, strategy, and new technologies to reduce embodied carbon, improve environmental and human health, and ultimately advance toward a more circular economy. While value-added and necessary as architects, researchers, civil engineers, and designers address what the future of the built environment may look like, there is…
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The Kohlstedt Keep
The drama of Lake Superior rivals that of any oceanic system on Earth. Its surface area makes it the largest freshwater lake in the world, in the heart of the Midwest, and its remarkably clean, cold waters are punctuated by sharp rip currents and waves that can top 30 feet. In some places, extrusions of ancient mafic rock reveal the…
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Behind the camera:
Julia Auerbach PhotographyPhotography has been an important tool in documenting the human experience since early experiments in the heliograph and daguerreotype captivated both innovator and subject alike nearly two centuries ago. It is an art and practice in visual communication; both objective and subjective in recording the cultural, social, and natural world. It is a craft that is arguably one of the…
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RADA spotlight
Text: R.J. Weick The 18th annual Residential Architect Design Awards highlights two firms in the Great Lakes region. Residential design is a dynamic field that often stretches across multiple architectural typologies and can push the boundaries of what has been historically, or collectively, considered a home. While each firm’s process is nuanced and plays to the strengths of each creative…
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Finished luxury
Text: R.Collins The Minnesota-based company known for pushing the solid surface envelope continues its legacy by offering innovative finish options and expanded designs—and its Michigan-based partner is bringing it to the table. Since entering the quartz market in 2000, Cambria has been changing the functionality and style of kitchens worldwide. Founded by the Davis family and known for producing and engineering…
