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By Chris Lee
—Shaker lesson
The Shakers certainly got that one right. It’s true: From toothbrushes to coffee mugs, we choose products that are both useful and aesthetically pleasing. And when function fuses seamlessly with good design, a product gains mystique that can become a significant competitive advantage.
Just ask the marketers at Apple. Its current advertising campaign, featuring Justin Long’s hip Mac playing off John Hodgman’s nerdy, uptight PC, cleverly capitalizes on the design savvy we’ve come to expect from the company (thus the buzz over the new iPhone).
The business world is discovering what designers (and Apple) already know: Design matters. In fact, it matters so much that a shift to the “design economy” (the successor to the knowledge economy, which replaced the service economy, which replaced the industrial economy) is already underway. That means design has now become the differentiator that communicates value, observes Camille LeFevre in “Design in Demand,” a thoughtful article in the January/February 2007 issue of Architecture Minnesota.
Perhaps nowhere is that value more apparent than in a home designed by a talented architect. I’m proud to recognize two accomplished practitioners of that profession this month with the fourth annual Architectural Honors, awarded by Midwest Home and the American Institute of Architecture Minnesota Chapter.
In this issue, we showcase the work of Tom Meyer, this year’s Architect of Distinction, and Geoff Warner, Emerging Talent. Both have made significant contributions to the Twin Cities homescape, as you’ll see. In “History in the Making” (page 54), learn how Meyer merges old with new in both public and private spaces. His award-winning work on lofts along the riverfront and on the Mill City Museum confirms his affinity for the Mississippi and its environs. “Real Simple” (page 64) chronicles the adventures of Warner, progenitor of the acclaimed prefab weeHouse, as he practices his quirky brand of architecture and a process he calls “Frankensteining.”
With practitioners like these applying their resourcefulness and creativity to architecture in Minnesota, “design matters” is a given.
Chris Lee, Editor
clee@mhmag.com
11 ISSUES (1 YEAR)
