Hello, we are HouMinn

HouMinn Practice (pronounced “human”) is an award-winning and internationally published architecture and design collaborative noted for innovative research. HouMinn is built on the idea that collaboration with experts outside the discipline of architecture results in work that is more rigorous and resonant with a wider group of people. By reaching beyond architecture, to both experts and ideas, unlikely juxtapositions of seemingly unrelated voices result in novel design solutions.

HouMinn is a group of self-admitted “grazers” who sample from a wide range of interests and media (video games, movies, anime, Japanese culture, books, newspapers, music, podcasts, graphics, science, technology). We believe that generally curious people have a built-in proclivity towards “switching fields.” This discontent for stasis and boundary is pivotal for life as an effective designer.

HouMinn Practice is the result of a decidedly non-practice AND non-academic approach to research and design. Instead, it represents a third approach, one distinguished by three key characteristics: first, we work in a slow, evolutionary way with each project informing the next and taking cues from the previous, second, our work requires the involvement of an interdisciplinary team of collaborators, and third, our work is fundamentally invested in the act of making.

“Slowness is not time-based. It doesn't refer to how long it takes to make or do something, but rather describes the individual's elevated state of awareness in the process of creation, the quality of its tangible outcomes and a richer experience for the community it engages.”

From www.slowlab.net/ideas.html

We founded HouMinn Practice (Formerly slvDESIGN) in 1998 in Houston, Texas. Today, we stand on the shoulders of an expanding collaborative network of design professionals and students who contribute a vital knowledge of architecture, construction, fabrication and craft to all of our projects.