Since starting their firm in 2003, Jeffrey Day and E.B. Min have operated in two worlds—the hilly streets of San Francisco and the flat plains of Nebraska. The origins of Min | Day date back to the early 1990s at the University of California, Berkeley, where  both partners went to graduate school and shared a love of conceptual art. While working in the Bay Area, the two considered starting their own firm, but the timing didn’t seem quite right. Only when Day decided to move to Nebraska with his fiancée and take a teaching position at the University of Nebraska did their talks get more serious. “Most people thought we were crazy to start a firm right when Jeff was leaving for Nebraska,” says Min, who stayed in the Bay Area. “But we thought that unexpected opportunities might arise out there.”

Over the past six years, their unorthodox move has proved to be one of the firm’s largest assets. “A lot of people think that architecture only happens on the coasts,” says Day, “but we actually do some of our most experimental work in the Midwest.” A good example is a master plan and renovated barn shed they designed for Art Farm, an artist community in Marquette, Nebraska. “There is a lot of romanticism attached to the image of the barn, but we weren’t into that,” remarks Day. “Farmers repurpose barns all the time, so we had no hesitation cutting into the structure and inserting something entirely new.” The architects resurrected the 100-year-old weathered building by inserting a curving, digitally fabricated foam interior where visitors can recline and watch video installations by Art Farm residents.