Benjamin Olsen is a designer working across architectural design, construction methodology, urban research, public policy, and stage design. His residential work focuses on designing the next generation of attainable housing.

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With Ryan Hughes he co-founded Office Hughes Olsen, a broadminded design practice that focuses on architectural projects large and small. From research-driven inquiries to realized designs OHO’s work strives for simplicity, economy, and beauty. We approach both conceptualization and construction with rigor and curiosity.  Issues of local and global significance, investigated through architectural analysis, inform our practices and partnerships. Our Two-Level Infill House won AIA-MN’s 2022 Affordable Housing Design Award and is a model for densifying existing neighborhoods.

 

He is also a partner at Lagom Modular, a Duluth-based general contracting company that builds attainable single family infill developments across the Northland. Lagom Modular delivers compact modern homes via hybrid offsite-onsite prefabrication methods, including panelization, kit-building, and site-built construction.

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Benjamin holds a Bachelor of Arts from St. Olaf College and a Master of Architecture from Yale School of Architecture. He teaches at St. Olaf College and has been an artist-in-residence at Everwood Farmstead and guest critic at the University of Minnesota College of Design. He freelances as a stage designer with theater and opera companies around the country.