For PKA Architecture of Minneapolis, Minnesota, architecture is both a science and an art. It is a science of data and analysis, of structural engineering and material science, and of technology and innovation. It is about spatial planning and sustainable design practices, stewarding both the built and unbuilt landscape informed by a commitment to enduring design and an understanding of…
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Optima Verdana
In 2023, Optima, Inc., a family-owned, vertically integrated and design-driven real estate development firm based in Glencoe, Illinois and Scottsdale, Arizona, realized a multi-family, 100-unit apartment building in downtown Wilmette, Illinois, delivering rental residences and an amenity-rich development to the North Shore market. For the privately-held firm, the residential and commercial project is more than its visual composition of glass…
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Zachary Verhulst, AIA, NCARB, NOMA
Founder, CEO Pure Architects | Grand Rapids and Detroit, Michigan When Zachary Verhulst, AIA, NCARB, NOMA, founded Pure Architects in 2020, it was with a powerful purpose to create spaces and places that uplift communities, positively impact the environment, and inspire people through inclusive and healthy design. To Verhulst, architecture is a vehicle and a platform in which to…
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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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Scarcliffe Cottage
Built on granite-clad, terraced foundations on the northern edge of Lake Muskoka in Ontario, Canada, this modern cottage is a dynamic, volumetric response to its site as it quietly settles into its natural landscape. From the water’s edge, it gives a linear impression as its deep rooflines provide horizontality to the series of forms as they cascade down the steeply…
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A culinary tradition
Today, many Americans have easy access to pre-prepared food—whether it be slabs of meat packaged at the grocery store or a ready-to-eat meal from a fast-food chain, acquired from just five minutes spent in a drive-through line—and the life cycle of each plant or animal behind the meal is often not thoroughly considered. With an outlook inspired from more than…
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Rhythm and scale
Built at the intersection of W. Fulton Street and N. Halsted Street, 800 Fulton Market is an intentional composition of materiality, form, and function, where architectural expression is informed by the grit, the resilience, and the innovation of an industrial past and vibrant future. Its three-story podium, from which the 19-story, mixed-use office building rises, is inspired by the rhythm…
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LoveITDetroit
In 2015, Detroit’s creative potential was recognized on an international stage with its designation as a UNESCO City of Design. It is a designation that not only recognizes a long history and legacy of creativity and innovation, but also a forward-thinking vision championing design-driven businesses and their role as a cultural, social, and economic catalyst in a larger regional and…
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The boardwalk connection
“I look at design as a creation of how humans interpret the natural world. I think there is this connection between the natural world and the built environment, and it is up to us—those in the design field—to interpret what that is, and to create our own values on how we intersect the natural world and the built environment,” said…
