Join architects Alan Howell and James Garrett Jr. as they share their work and talk about the past, present, and future of architecture in Ramsey County and beyond.

James Garrett Jr. is a visual artist, writer and architect who expresses the urban condition through the lenses of art and design. His work employs diverse media to explore complex theoretical topics from a unique, ethno-experiential perspective. James is a 2019 American Institute of Architects National Young Architect Award recipient and a 2020 AIA MN Gold Metal recipient who currently serves on the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities & Transit Oriented Development Advisory Committees. James holds an A.B. degree in architecture from the College of Environmental Design at the University of California (Berkeley, CA) and a Master of Architecture degree from Parsons School of Design (New York, NY).

Alan Howell is a registered architect in the state of Minnesota, and has twenty-seven years of design/aviation-design experience and a decade of other interesting design experience to draw from as he assists and expands the Metropolitan Airports Commission’s Vision Statement To provide exceptional airport experiences so Minnesota thrives. In his role as Senior Airport Architect, he is responsible for the conceptualization and implementation of new facilities, major remodeled facilities, and facility redevelopment/repurposing at all of MAC’s airports, all with an interest and focus on sustainable practices and multi-department/multi-discipline coordination.  Born in Chicago, and residing there for six weeks, Alan spent his early-years in a first-ring-minneapolis suburb, moved to the bucolic countryside at age eight, and, later, graduated from the University of Minnesota IT/School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (now College of Design).  Alan has been a resident of the historic Selby-Dale neighborhood for roughly thirty-years, and currently spends some of his time away from the office rehabilitating his 1890 queen-anne Victorian home (with hopes to add an ADU in 2025).