The courtyard is just one of many open spaces that will be highly utilized—in the non-winter months anyway. Concrete worked well with developing the language of FlatPak. The second level is a wood panel that can be clad in corrugated metal or cedar—different layers that can be plugged in like covers on your cellphone.

The ever-changing, lush wooded surroundings of Minnesota, such as those experienced at this 8,000-square-foot Type Variant House outside of Minneapolis designed by Coen and Partners, are right near the small town of New Richland.

Advocacy Award of Excellence: Peavey Plaza, designed by M. Paul Friedberg + Partners in 1975 Advocacy Team: Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM), The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and Docomomo US/Minnesota>

Southdale Center, Edina, Minnesota (1956)Victor Gruen's Southdale Center was America's first modern indoor mall. Inspired by the open, outdoor social spaces of his native Vienna, Gruen intended to create much more than a shopping mall. Bothered by post-war America's move to the suburbs, Gruen's imagined social vision included houses, schools, and commerce, all centered around "a garden court of perpetual spring" that would include fountains, aviaries, zoos, and of course, shops. Though his ideal was short-lived, and never fully developed to include all the community-enriching elements he wished for, the Southdale Center spurred scores of imitators and set the pace for a most recognizable form: the American suburban shopping mall.

Tin Cup's in St. Paul, Minnesota.

University Classroom Building; Duluth, Minnesota Salmela Architect Architect David Salmela relied on plant coverage to help maintain the strict standards of a German Passivhaus design system. Passivhaus, which utilizes a thick envelope created by insulated walls and roof and triple-glazed windows is a highly effective way to structure ultra-low energy systems. Salmela added a living roof, planted with butterfly-attracting vegetation, and surrounding tree covers to shade the building.

Steel stairs flowing through native grasses

Minnesota. Ceramicist Ben Fiess crafts colorful artworks, along with these porcelain containers that can be used for storage or as a tabletop decoration.

Seemless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces

He Even Designed Modern Gas Stations This small town service station outside of Duluth may stand as an outlier among Wright’s many commissions, but its unmistakably his, from the copper cantilevered canopy to the glassed-in observation deck. Created with prefab construction and expansion in mind, the station supposedly drew from earlier sketches and ideas Wright had for gas pumps at his proposed Broadacre development. The initial plans even propose hoisting the gas pumps overhead to create a service area free from impediments, a creative but unworkable solution due to building codes. Photo by Eugene D. Becker

Californian modernism informs the shape of this Minnesota residence.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Minneapolis, Minnesota (2006)

The Walker Art Center opened in 1971 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Children's Theatre Company; Minneapolis, Minnesota (2001)

Front view of the FlatPak House in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When the architect first told his wife about his idea, she said, “It’s about time you focus on a house for me!” He continues, “It’s like the old story about the cobbler whose kids have no shoes.”

Minneapolis–based firm ALTUS Architecture + Design have designed a unique 2,850-square-foot residence in Woodland, Minnesota, by marrying glass-house architecture with a reflective "shiny" shed. The single-story property is primed for tranquility, as it sits on a peaceful woodland plateau and overlooks a lush wetland, as well as a calming lake in the distance.

Joe Limpert, co-founder of Hennepin Made in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Minnesota Standing knife rack by Carter McGuyer for Epicurean, $100 The Muscle Shoals, Alabama, design studio run by Carter McGuyer has a knack for designing mass-market kitchenware, like this knife stand. Fabricated in Duluth from eco-friendly wood fiber, it’s held together by magnets and features slats so you know exactly which blade you’re grabbing.

Antoine Predock’s Vom McNamara alumni center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sophia Jungbauer stands in the kitchen of the 324-square-foot home she built with her husband, Henry, in Duluth, Minnesota.

“The stone walls, steps, and pathways provide a wonderful warmth and contextual appropriateness to the rugged Northern Minnesota setting,” says founder David Salmela.

Michael specified that the corner window be mullion-free so sitting in the nook feels like you are outside. "By being immersed on two sides without any real obstructions, you get a sense like you are out there in the natural world, in the yard," he says. "This is a particularly wonderful feeling, especially during our long, snowy Minnesota winters, where we can enjoy the beauty and stillness of the snow but still enjoy the warmth and comfort of being inside."

McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota

“My team and I are big fans of Marvin products,” says Anderson. “Designed and manufactured here in Minnesota, they’re ideal for local modern and traditional homes and cabins, as well as our other projects across the country.”

Bagley Classroom Building, University of Minnesota-Duluth, 2010, designed by David Salmela, a Finnish-American. Photo by Paul Crosby.

Daunted by the challenge of building a new home in Oregon from their existing residence in Minnesota, Rebecca and Peter Gadd chose a prefab design by Stillwater Dwellings. “The packages and set design options kept us from feeling overwhelmed,” Rebecca says.

The accessory dwelling unit behind the home of Sonja Batalden in Saint Paul, Minnesota, has cheery yellow siding that the entrance appears to carve into. “If the yellow of the siding is the wrapper on the candy, this is kind of like the gooey middle,” architect Christopher Strom says about the thermally modified ash lining the entry.

Minnesota Rubber-dipped wood bowls by Wind & Willow Home, from $8 each The best kitchen products marry utility with elegance. Minneapolis-based Araya Jensen’s rubber-dipped wood bowls are no exception. The tactile bottoms in custom hues make the vessels slip-resistant and less prone to water damage (and look darn good while doing so).

There’s a lot of Minnesota pride in our Irving bags. The top-grain leather comes from the U.S. and is tanned in Minnesota. Craftsmen hand-cut and sew each case in a Minnesota workshop. And for a finishing touch, an outline of Minnesota is embossed onto each one.

Jules's room looks out onto the cantilevered deck with little to distract from the view. Alchemy Architects created all of the custom metalwork, including the railings. The Minnesota firm works with a handful of fabricators around the country. Here, Alchemy teamed with Oregon's Fidelity Builders because of its ability to handle the project's high degree of customization.

The McGlasson weeHouse in Two Harbors, Minnesota.

Minnesota firm Alchemy Architect’s ultra-minimal weeHouse in Santa Rosa was designed in Minnesota for a client who lived in San Francisco, built in Oregon, then shipped to a peaceful slope in Santo Rosa surrounded by rolling hills and trees.

In relocating Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mäntylä House, siting was very important. The new area selected fell within 10 percent of the original landscape with regard to its topographic map in Minnesota, and more pine trees were added to recreate the same feel. The home’s southwest orientation remained the same, and it falls in line with the same solar path.

Tiny House Project. Minnesota

Lark Toys is a family business in Minnesota.

Marcel Breuer: Starkey House in Duluth, Minnesota, 1955