I thought it would be fun to sit down with a fellow architect and have a general conversation on architecture. John Kalmon AIA LEED AP is a friend of mine and has an office in the St Croix River Valley. Some of the things we discuss are:

-What is your process of working with Client’s?
-How do you charge for services?
-Differences in remodeling versus new construction.
-Thoughts on sustainable design.

Feel free to contact John through his website or via email at John@JPKalmon.com

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

I wish I had something like this… wait, I do! It is fun to look back and see what was anticipated in our future. Not unlike Captain Kirk’s tricorder which evolved into our cell phones, the ‘office of tomorrow’ had some good guesses.

The interior is getting closer to being finished! Still a lot of exterior work left but Spring is around the corner…hopefully. Matt and I stopped by the project site to check in and filmed a bit of the progress. Take a look!

Thought I would share a walk to my office after a beautiful snowfall overnight.

Snowy Morning from michael huber architects on Vimeo.

Kudos to local craftsman Brian Grabski for creating this fun mechanism that opens a hidden drawer. I love this kind of stuff! This whole video was shot with an iPhone to get into the tight spaces. See more of Brian’s work at Designed & Made Custom Woodworking.

Dresser w/ Hidden Drawer from Brian Grabski on Vimeo.

We are having fun with designing and building a custom sliding door for our Clients at the Bald Eagle Lake Residence. (Check out previous posts to see the progress on the home) This door consists of a steel frame that will be sandwiched by different colored pieces of glass. Should be cool when it is completed!

Custom Sliding Door Part 1 from michael huber architects on Vimeo.

Ombuarchitecture put together this video (alphabetically) of well-known architects and a signature building project. I was disappointed that I was not listed under ‘H’…. Maybe next year!

The ABC of Architects from fedelpeye on Vimeo.

We have been fortunate to have developed several projects for the Salvation Army. Here is a quick video update on the status of a bunkhouse building for one of their Northern Minnesota camps. What is unique about this project is that we needed to also have the building function as a storm shelter. We do get severe weather and possible tornado’s or high winds and this will be the safe haven for the entire camp. Take a look!

When getting dressed in the morning I make sure my clothes are clean and that my belt matches my shoes (generally). The whole ensemble is decided in a matter of seconds. I just don’t have the patience or desire to dedicate more time then that on silly things… Hmmm…

Why not spend that time studying, for sometimes hours, how a stair railing engages the stair? Or detailing over and over transitions of various materials to help define emotion, color, light, -leading from one space to the next? These are the important things! At least to us architects. Nothing is arbitrary in design. It is an intense internal study that then explodes out to create, in essence, functional art.

Take a simple box for example. How would you get access to it’s inside? Most of you might just take the top off right? To us, it can be so much more…

Position Piece 1: Door Handle from Lisa Hunter on Vimeo.

Position Piece 1 – The process from Lisa Hunter on Vimeo.