Architect Jeffrey Day grabbed a block of wood from his studio bookshelf and held it as if it were an artistic treasure.
The piece was a sample from the interior of a lakefront home that his firm built in Iowa. The wood's glossy, highly polished surface resembles gentle waves and water ripples.
“We took a digital photo of the lake and then used a computerized milling machine to create an exact replica of the lake's surface,” Day said. “Digital technology is definitely the future of architecture.”
Day and his partner, E.B. Min, are riding the wave of architecture's future. Architectural Record, a monthly trade magazine, recently named Min/Day to its top-10 list of vanguard firms for 2009. Only two other U.S. firms made that list.
The magazine's annual “Design Vanguard” issue recognizes emerging firms — in operation for 10 years or less — that are shaking up the world of architecture and design. These are firms that are incorporating digital technologies, exploring new materials and are generally rethinking the way they approach construction and design.
Min/Day scored high marks in all categories. The firm not only embraces the latest technologies and materials but also has engaged in unusual — and often pro bono — experimental projects.
Day, who is also an associate professor of architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, formed a group at the school called FACT — Fabrication and Construction Team. The group — consisting of students, research assistants and paid interns from UNL — serves as an architectural laboratory partner to work on the firm's most innovative projects.
The arrangement has allowed Min/Day to specialize on experimental designs with arts organizations. Both the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and the Art Farm in Marquette, Neb., are clients.
Thomas Trenolone, an architect with HDR Architecture and a member of the Design Alliance Omaha, said Min/Day's work and recent recognition is a benefit to the region's entire architecture and design community.
“It proves that innovative architecture isn't limited to the coasts but is happening in the heartland as well,” Trenolone said.
Min/Day actually has both Midwest and West Coast ties. The partners met in the 1990s, when both were graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley.
They first talked of forming a firm in 2000, the same year Day became engaged to a Creighton University English professor and moved to Omaha. Min remained in the San Francisco area.
“At first I was dubious about whether we'd be able to operate a firm long distance,” Min said in a recent phone interview. “But Jeff and I have very similar backgrounds and approaches to architecture, so we decided, why not, let's give it a try.”
The two launched their firm in 2003 and now work out of two cities.
Min operates an office in San Francisco. Day runs a small storefront studio on Maple Street in the Benson neighborhood.
Both partners share a background in the visual arts. Min received her bachelor's degree in studio art and art history from Brown University. Day was an undergraduate at Harvard University, where he majored in visual studies.
Not surprisingly, these architects are extremely interested in — and sensitive to — the use of color in their designs.
“I talk with Jeff and E.B. as if they were visual artists,” said Hesse McGraw, curator of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, which is one of Min/Day's clients.
“They are above all creative people.”
Min and Day agree that their most creative and challenging project was the vacation house on Iowa's Lake Okoboji. It's the main work that was featured in “Architectural Record.” For Min/Day, it's what Falling Water was for Frank Lloyd Wright — a signature piece.
The owners, Paul Smith, managing director of Tenaska Capital Management in Omaha, and his wife, Annette, asked Min/Day to build them a house that provided both privacy from the neighbors and an exquisite view of the lake.
That was a tall order on a quarter-acre parcel on a packed shoreline.
“Their property was squeezed between lots of other houses,” Day said.
The solution was to build a three-level, 6,000-square-foot modern home that had huge windows facing the lake and private outdoor spaces. Windowless walls faced the neighbors.
Min and Day served as both the architects for the home's exterior and the designers for the interior. Among other things, they designed all of the furniture and furnishings in the home.
Neutral colors were used in large public rooms. Min and Day let their visual arts backgrounds dominate in private areas, where they used blazing, brilliant hues.
Min/Day's penchant for new materials is seen on the countertops of the bathroom, which are made from a color resin called chroma. This translucent material can be easily recolored and recycled.
Arguably the most innovative and far-reaching design in the house is the headboard in the bedroom, which used the wood carved with the wave and waterdrop patterns.
A computer-controlled router created the complex patterns in three dimensions using digital instructions.
“It's a real crowning achievement,” Day said.
Other Min/Day projects also drew notice from “Architectural Record.”
At the Bemis Center, Min/Day redesigned the back gallery to serve as both an exhibit space and performance venue. The space now includes a doubled curved side wall that greatly improved the acoustics.
“The room is both practical and beautiful to look at,” said McGraw, the museum curator.
One of Min/Day's most advanced projects is a proposed reflecting wall in Lincoln. Designed in collaboration with artists Leslie Iwai and Jamie Burmeister, the 1,000-foot-long, 18-foot-high retaining wall would run along a flood-control plain near UNL.
The wall would be made of stainless steel tiles that would reflect changes in the sky and activity around the wall. The tiles could also be used as a movie screen.
Min/Day hopes to do more projects like the wall.
“We'll always love private residences like the lakehouse,” Day said. “But it's a special thrill to work on projects that impact entire communities.”
Contact the writer:
444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com
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