BEAUTY

I believe architecture is art, with a beauty that transcends the visual into what it means to be human, to dwell.

I see myself as an evolving modernist, one that holds the universal and humanitarian ideals existent in the roots of modernism while embracing the needs of a changing environment and the phenomena of humanity as the things that make the world beautiful.

To create this beauty I always begin by trying to understand, as fully as possible, the people for whom I design along with the specific place and purpose for building. Then, I try to create a building that is both uniquely derived from that specificity and universal in its human affections like honesty and compassion, health and well-being, presence and absence, perfection and imperfection, ethics and aesthetics, hospitality and equity.

ECONOMY

I believe architecture is building, which makes it one of the most resource intensive human ideas. So I believe I carry a great responsibility to all of humanity, as an architect, to be resourceful.

For me, this begins with a holistic vision of resources, where all forms, natural, human, material and monetary, are integral to each other. Materials, labor, energy, money, water, time, social equity, relationships, are among the many resources of building, both during construction and in the life of a building, for which we each attribute our own values.

So I aspire to create beautiful, resourceful, and truly sustainable dwellings that embody the specific values of those for whom I am priveleged to work.

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JOHN DWYER, AIA

John is a licensed architect and member of the American Institute of Architects. He began his career as a carpenter, working for his father, and after years of apprenticeship, attended the University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. He received his Masters of Architecture in 1999 and completed his internship with SALA Architects in Minnesota and CVDB Arquitectos in Lisbon, Portugal.

In 2004, John founded his first private practice. Among his early works was the first LEED Platinum home in the state and one of the first in the nation. In 2005, he began teaching as a lecturer and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota College of Design.

In 2007, after Hurricane Katrina, John moved to New Orleans and founded a community design studio in the Lower 9th Ward. In the first 6 months, he provided pro bono design services to over 60 returning households.
In 2009, he returned home to pursue new design ideas within the changing economy. Among them was a single family home which came to be known as “the house for the new economy” as well as one of the winning entries in a national competition for affordable, sustainable multifamily housing.

In 2010, he returned to his family business and developed a practice centered on integrated project delivery, a process specifically crafted to make beautiful, modern, sustainable dwellings attainable within the new economy.

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Honors


Best of Remodeling, Houzz, 2012
Young Architect Award, AIA Minnesota, 2009
Design Fellowship, Architecture for Humanity, 2009
Emerging Practice Award, AIAS National, 2008
Residential Architecture Vision and Excellence Award, AIA Minnesota, 2008
Top 10 Modern Green Homes, Jetson Green, 2008
“Design Like You Give A Damn” Exhibit, University of Minnesota, 2007
Residential Architecture Vision and Excellence Award, AIA Minnesota, 2007
“Home House” Exhibit, Weisman Art Museum, 2006
“Phylogeny of Home” Exhibit, Form+Content, 2010
“Designing to Stay” Panelist, AIA Minnesota and Star Tribune, 2011
First Honorable Mention, Bearden Place Design Competition, 2010
Top Honor, Whazit International Design Competition, 2002

Media


The New York Times, February 9, 2006.
Discovery Channel, Planet Green, Winter 2009
Innovative Home, Spring 2008
Utne Reader, “Inspired Infrastructure”, May-June 2006.
DIY Network, Sweat Equity, 2009-2010
Eco-Structures, “5ive Promotes Sustainable Living”, April 2009.
Minnesota Public Radio, Morning Edition, April 29, 2007
ArchDaily, Bearden Place, May 3 2010
Competitions Magazine, Bearden Place, Fall 2010
MocoLoco, December 17, 2009
Treehugger, “Diary of a LEED-H Home”
Residential Architect, “Redelivering Architecture”, June-July 2007.
Metro Magazine, “Dwell Lightly”, Jamie Thomas, October 2009.
Star Tribune, “The Idealist”, March 2, 2008
Architecture Minnesota, “45 Degrees North”, Spring/Fall 2009.
Design Like You Give A Damn, “The Clean Hub”, December 2005.

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