Working out of the Box is a series presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths.

In this installment, we're talking with Emily Hunt Turner, a Twin Cities-based architect, turned lawyer, turned restaurateur with an admirable social mission.

Are you an architect working out of the box? Do you know of someone that has changed careers and has an interesting story to share? If you would like to suggest an (ex-)architect, please send us a message.

Where did you study architecture?

I attended Syracuse University’s School of Architecture from 2002 to 2007 and could not have been happier with my education.  Syracuse is a top tier architecture school for a reason and let me tell you, I knew I was out of my league from day one.  In fact, I am still convinced they only let me in because I was a North Dakotan and they didn’t have many, if any, Dakotans.  But hey, whatever the reason was for the green light, I’m so thankful for my time there as it provided the foundation for nearly everything that I’ve done and plan to do.  

At what point in your life did you decide to pursue architecture?

You know, looking back, architecture sort of found me.  Don’t get me wrong, I was a Legos and Lincoln Logs fiend growing up.  But my childhood didn’t entail visions of becoming an architect.  

During high school, however, my uncle, Alan Kimpell, an architect in Minneapolis, took me to his office and from that point forward, I was totally convinced that architecture was for me. The space was soaked in graphite and natural light and lined with hand drawings, hand renderings, and drafting desks.  I just remember thinking: this is so legit.  Yeah, this trip definitely planted the design seed.

In addition to that experience, I had always been compelled by housing and the impact that homes can have on the trajectory of a person’s journey.  As an adolescent, I was totally enamored with giant, spacious McMansions and the ease of living that seemed to accompany them.  Yet I was even more enamored with (and troubled by) inadequate, dilapidated homes and apartments and the struggle that they so frequently embodied.  I didn’t really know how to make sense of this at the time.  But I did know, at a very young age, that housing mattered.  And once introduced to the field of architecture, it all seemed to just… fit.  So by my senior year of high school, it was architecture school or bust.    

When did you decide to stop pursuing architecture?  Why?

I never made a conscious decision to stop pursuing architecture, but I did deliberately choose to expand beyond the field itself.  During my thesis year, I remember feeling like my education wasn’t quite complete.  As much as I loved the world exposure and social awareness that came with the nuances of architecture, I realized there was still so much that I didn’t know about the pragmatics of the built environment.  I had no idea how cities and neighborhoods actually functioned or how on earth projects got funded and I didn’t really even know the difference between the public and private sectors.  So I decided to pursue a graduate degree in public policy in Atlanta.  

During graduate school my interest in housing gentrification and inner-city housing displacement took root and this eventually ignited a passion for housing discrimination and the pursuit of a law degree in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Describe your current profession

Well, my current profession is a little bit in flux.  Three weeks ago, I resigned from my position as an attorney with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) where I had spent five years working on issues of prisoner reentry, housing discrimination and housing segregation. 

During my time at HUD, I was stunned to learn that those with criminal records find it almost impossible to access housing, employment, credit, health care, and a variety of other life fundamentals.  In the context of housing, in particular, it became very clear to me that the exclusion of those with criminal records from public and private housing was one of the primary causes of the country’s segregated housing patterns.  Having both family and friends with a so-called criminal past and also knowing the disproportionate impact this practice is having on minority populations unearthed something very primal within.

During my time at HUD, I was stunned to learn that those with criminal records find it almost impossible to access housing

So, this past August I departed HUD to launch a nonprofit called All Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  All Square is centered on a gourmet grilled cheese shop that will aim to hire individuals with criminal records.  A direct response to the exclusionary practices I’ve witnessed these past few years, this social venture is an attempt to reverse what I believe to be a grave systemic trend that is crippling so many lives and opportunities across the country.   Having recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to spur the requisite funding to get this thing off the ground, there’s still a lot that needs to happen for the bricks and mortar to become a reality.  But I couldn’t be more confident that the pieces are falling into place.  

Sarah Masters, an incredible chef who was a semi-finalist on ABC’s The Taste, has come up with one hell of a menu for All Square (who knew grilled cheese could be so exotic) and the owners of The Lowbrow, a hyper-successful restaurant in Minneapolis, have become my de facto restaurant mentors.  Beyond these restaurateurs, Richard Amos, a formerly incarcerated leader in the Twin Cities, has joined All Square as an Executive Advisor which will anchor the whole project in reality and experience.  I mean it really is a collaborative effort and that, in my opinion, will foster success.

You know, I never imagined opening a restaurant (I can’t cook, like, at all), but the hope is that this grilled cheese shop will not only be a successful restaurant that yields simple yet savory cuisine but it will also become a community staple that stands for so much more than good eats.  In my mind, this project will symbolize the importance of a clean slate and community support while sending a message that those who have paid their debts to society are “all square” with society and should be afforded the right to live, unhindered, into their future.

I would also love for All Square to eventually include comprehensive services that really help make a long-term difference, such as housing, mental wellness services, and an expungement clinic.  

What skills did you gain from architecture school, or working in the architecture industry, that have contributed to your success in your current career?

The eye I developed for design, layouts, and composition, as well as my overall vision can all be traced back to my background in architecture.  As extreme as it sounds, my time at Syracuse bleeds into nearly everything that I do.  From how I (physically) write, structure photographs and craft letters to how I load the dishwasher and arrange the contents of our bookshelves: my architecture roots are ever-present.  For sure.

In addition to the design angle, my background in architecture has really given me a unique perspective from which to operate the last nine years.  During my time with HUD and during my graduate studies in public policy, it was absolutely invaluable to have an understanding of the urban fabric and the ways in which space, and structures, can inform the pulse of a city; a community.  So many of the opportunities that I have had directly correlate to my architectural foundation and I’m quite certain my life would not be nearly as rich without it.  

Do you have an interest in returning to architecture?

Architecture has remained a hobby that I am deeply committed to.  With that said, I always imagined I would return to it, in some form, eventually.  And I must say that I couldn’t be more thrilled to throw myself back into the discipline through the space and social mission that is All Square.  In envisioning, and eventually constructing, this restaurant, nothing is more important than the spatial aesthetic and social meaning of the structure itself.  Branding, ambience, functional operations; each element is so critical and I am thankful to have the backdrop that I do.  And the design has, in ways, already commenced.

An interior rendering of what All Square could look like was created in conjunction with architect Ashley Banks, one of my dearest friends from New Orleans.  I sketched a few floor plans, elevations and programmatic diagrams and sent her the palette of materials that I wanted to incorporate and she, in turn, generated a stunning rendering that I feature in the Kickstarter campaign.  

Once the project is successfully funded and a location has been secured, Architecture Office has agreed to provide the architectural services for All Square.  Led by co-principals Jonathan Louie and Nicole McIntosh, I have admired the work of this design office for quite some time and am honored to tackle this project with such talent in tow.