I recently sat down with Quinn Hutson and Brooke Jacobson to discuss the history of CNH Architects, as well as the many differences in the commercial architecture world vs. residential.

Today I talk with Tim Eian about TE Studio’s primary focus: Passive House (Passivhaus) design–the world’s leading voluntary building energy standard focusing on superior energy efficiency and quality of life at low operating cost.

For me, one of the most challenging things is naming things, and when a name fits like a glove it is incredibly satisfying. So you can imaging that one of the things that I was eager to talk about with Mark Stankey and Matt Byers was the name “PLAAD”, which is an acronym for the Practice of Lasting Art, Architecture and Design… I mean, come on. So good.

In this episode of Midwest Architecture & Design, I talk with Renae Keller who is an interior designer based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. We discuss her approach to design, her background as an interior designer, and some of the project details that we worked on together.

Welcome to the MW Architecture & Design Podcast! In this podcast, I will be traveling the Midwest interviewing architects and designers in their own environments to dive deep into the creative process of these people and to learn their stories

Another project photographed for ISG, this time a brand new staple to the Mankato, MN skyline. The Eide Bailly Tower in downtown Mankato features commercial, retail, restaurant, and event space.

This past fall I had the privilege of photographing the Blue Earth County Government center in Mankato for ISG. This was my first civic architectural photography assignment.

Last week I shared the images of the rustic cabin in Grand Rapids, MN. I thought that it would be interesting to share what the editing process looks like for just one of the images. Believe it or not, this was actually a relatively simple edit.

Last week, I talked about storytelling with photos. This shoot was a perfect example how why storytelling is important. So what does storytelling have to do with photos of a fireplace? Well, how many times have you looked at a photo of a fireplace and had an emotional reaction to it like you get with a book or a movie? My guess would be never. Ok, maybe once – but probably not.

Storytelling has become kind of a cliche in the business world over the last few years, but the truth is – it does often matter when it comes to your business. When people look at your logo, or think about your business – you want them to experience a positive emotional reaction of some sort.