Journal

Working notes from the studio.

Short essays and project updates from the people in the studio. We post six to eight pieces a year, usually after a project move-in or a site visit that taught us something.

May 2026

By Maren Holloway

On site at North Shore Cabin, one year on

We returned to the cabin a year after move-in. The cedar has greyed unevenly, which is exactly what we wanted.

March 2026

By Theo Lindgren

Why we still build physical models

Renderings show a building you have already designed. A scale model shows you the building you have not yet designed. There is a difference.

February 2026

By Priya Subramanian

Adaptive reuse and the carbon question

The greenest building is the one that already exists. A note from inside the schoolhouse work in Saint Paul.

November 2025

By Maren Holloway

A house on a hill, a hill on a house

Working notes on a new house in Lake Elmo, where the site is the most interesting client we have.

September 2025

By Garrett Olson

Practice notes: ten people, twenty years

What we have learned about staying small on purpose, with a few numbers from the last fiscal year.

July 2025

By Elena Park

Visiting Saarinen at Cranbrook

A weekend at the Cranbrook campus, drawings of the windows, and what they still teach about scale.