Matt from our office came in to work one day with some ‘liquid gold’ -yes, homemade maple syrup. He graciously agreed to take some ‘flip video’ footage of the process. Matt elaborates below:

Making maple syrup is a very time intensive process that can consume your waking hours for 4 to 6 weeks in early spring. It starts with tapping the trees when the day time temperatures start getting into the 40’s and 50’s, but the night time temps still dip into the 20’s. Maple syrup is produced by taking the sap ,~3% sugar content, and boiling off the water until it reaches 67% sugar content. This roughly equates to 40 gallons of sap required to get 1 gallon of syrup. Last week the sap was flowing fast enough that I had to boil 3 days out of the week to keep my 55 gallon barrel from overflowing. Each boiling takes between 10 and 12 hours and consumes a large amount of wood. However the end product is very much worth the time spent. If you ever want to try it yourself, it does not take a lot of investment to get supplies, but it will require a lot of your time! Check out Backyard Sugarin’ by Rink Mann if you are curious for more how-to information. Oh, and by the way, if anyone has good suggestions on how to clean baked-on maple syrup remains off of stainless steel, I am all ears!

Ever wanted to change the entire character of a room with the snap of your fingers, or better yet, with a remote control? Ran across this video and was mesmerized by the thought and time it must have taken to accomplish. The actual room is completely white. They used two projectors to morph the room into a variety of styles. I wish it was that easy in real life! They did an incredible job working in 3 dimensions with 2 dimensional images. Note the changes at the couch armrest or the coffee table… and how do they get the rug image projected under the table? Pretty cool! You have to check this one out.

Via Mr. Beam

In this AudioPost we speak with Jay Wiederholt, President of Passive House Alliance Minnesota.  Jay and I met at a lecture discussing the philosophy and implementation of Passive House design.  I was excited to sit down and ask a few general questions explaining Passive House.  Some questions included:

-Summarize ‘What is Passive House?’

-How/where did this idea start?

-Explain a few specifics that are critical to the philosophy.

-What things do people need to be aware of if they are interested in this type of project?

-Is there special training or documentation needed to have an ‘official’ Passive House?

-Always the tough question of costs and paybacks.

-How is this different from LEED?

(sorry for the occasional electronic interference noise!)
Please subscribe to these podcasts also via iTunes. Search for the title ‘Design & Other Fun Stuff’.

For more information see Passive House Institute United States, Passive House Institute, National Advocacy Group and the International Advocacy Group.

Below are some links to other examples that I recently came across. I am sure we will be seeing more and soon.

One of the first –Saskatchewan Conservation House 1977, new in New York and the Delta Tower in Australia

This project is moving along!  We are excited with the progress and can see the finish line!  Langer Construction is the General Contractor and doing a great job with not only their work, but accommodating the sweat equity provided by the congregation.  This group of members has dedicated more time and effort in doing actual construction then any I have seen in our past church projects.  Hats off to all of you!

You can get more construction/progress images at the churches blog and please click on the images to enlarge.

As with any project, it is the details that can pull a project together, strengthen the overall concept, and just bring a smile to your face. Below is a video of how we designed an accent wall that became a headboard in a Client’s Master Bedroom. We wanted to add warmth and texture while being economical. We built a test panel for my daughter’s room and then let the pros -in this case Carlsgaard Finish Carpentry -build the final piece. Click on the video and check it out!

Ever wish you had more time or that there were a few more of you? My wife may disagree!
We have been very fortunate here at Michael Huber Architects and have been working hard (and having fun) with our clients. Thus the lack of posts this week -sorry!

This image, ironically, was created when I had some down time a couple of weeks ago. I have seen many examples of these ‘multiplicity’ pictures and thought I would give it a try! Click on the image to enlarge.

Last week, I was surfing through television channels and landed on an old Laurel & Hardy movie. I have not seen one of these since I was a young lad…which wasn’t that long ago! At the end of the movie, they played a U.S. Forest Service short film featuring Laurel and Hardy as they learn about the importance of wood to their daily lives. How times have changed?

This Laurel and Hardy footage was filmed in November, 1941. Film was released in 1942. Also includes a brief profile of the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. Enjoy!

We are just finishing up the Construction Documents for a new 11,000 sf office building for the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization. This facility will be located on the Mississippi river in North Minneapolis. The cool thing is that there will be a bunch of interpretive (educational) features focusing on water that are incorporated into the building and the site.

As the construction moves forward this spring, we will highlight some of those features and interview members of the team. Stay tuned! Click on the images to enlarge.

In this Audiopost, we speak with General Contractor Jay Cates of Cates Fine Homes.  I have worked with Jay on several projects in the Twin City area and thought it would be a great idea to have him discuss the building process.  Some of the topics include:

-What is a General Contractor?
-What steps or questions should people take or ask when looking to hire a Contractor?
-When is the best time to get the contractor involved in a project?
-What are the costs associated with hiring a contractor as well as any other project costs?
-Briefly walk us through a construction project from beginning to end.
-Any differences between new construction and a remodeling?
-What if the Owner wants to complete some of the work themselves?

You can reach Jay with additional questions at
Phone: (651)-439-2844 or Email: jay@catesfinehomes.com

Please subscribe to these podcasts also via iTunes. Search for the title ‘Design & Other Fun Stuff’.

We love taking something that was meant for one purpose and then finding another creative and unique use for that object, material or ‘thing-a-mabobber’.  We try to layer physical transformations with meaning to reinforce the design of the overall project.  One example below is using corks for a bar stool – you might drink wine while sitting on a bar stool…

Discarded Cement Sacks into a chair.

Taking paper mache to a new level.  The sacks are coated in paste and layered over a plastic lawn chair.  Once dry, the ‘Sack Chair’ is slid off the form – ready for the next one.

Finished with that bottle of wine? Save the cork!

1200 corks are placed in mesh to create a stool cushion.  It might take 10 years to for me to make one of these ‘Cork Barstools’.

Don’t know what to do with that old stove? How about turning it into a ‘Stove Lounge Chair’.

Remove a some screws and panels, add a few cushions and you have made a real ‘hot seat’!

Many of you, I am sure, are familiar with these note/sketch/catch-all books called “Moleskine“.  They feel like a special indulgence . In fact, it took a while for me to not cringe when I misspelled a word or created a sketch I didn’t like within this beautiful notebook.  I am finally over that and look at my Moleskin as a tool…and as an informal historical document of what is happening in my life.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPad but actually, the Moleskin still feels like more of a luxury.

You can get a Moleskine notebook at virtually any bookstore or via the web.  Here is a link to a cool pen holder that works with the Moleskine and a leather cover if you really want to be fancy…or a cover/pen holder in one.

Moleskine from michael huber architects on Vimeo.