Interview with BECAUSE WE CAN – Jeffrey McGrew and Jillian Northrup

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We interviewed Jillian and Jeffrey from becausewecan.org.

Because we can is a new kind of Architecture firm: A Design-Build Studio. That’s a mash-up of architects, artists, builders, designers, and fabricators. With our own robot-empowered fabrication shop, we make what we design.

Because We Can is lead by a husband & wife team: Jeffrey McGrew and Jillian Northrup. Using sustainable or eco-friendly materials and finishes our goal is to make the world a more interesting, productive, sustainable, and overall better place.

Every member of our team spends time on all aspects of a single project from concept designs to computer modeling to fabrication. One designer remains physically involved with the project from beginning to completion. We do not have a single shop forman, a single designer, or a single computer expert, instead we all touch all aspects of the design production. We’re intensively collaborative, both within our office and with our clients, and we’re a lot of fun to work with.

Most of our projects consist of interior design and creative build-outs, custom furniture designs, whole creative environments, and buildings.

Two of the most creative & inspiring people we know.


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3 Comments

  1. i love these 2 people. i hope they stay together for life 🙂

  2. Hey thanks again Adafruit! Had a blast hanging out.

    Mak: we’ll have been married ten years next year (!) and we’ve worked creatively together since day one, so I’m not too worried about one of going anywhere. 😉

  3. When Woz and Jobs built the Apple I (because they could) there were painfully few women involved. Leads me to believe that people like Limor and Jillian are now doubling our tech pool by actively having genius women to compliment our genius men. I badly need a personal robot (PR) to clear the dinner dishes, load the dishwasher, feed the dirty clothes (I do have an irobot or two for vacuuming) and do a little painting now and again, all with universal interfaces for the other machines. That’ll drive our economy back up to 90s levels and beyond. I give it ten years. Hope I’m long on the estimate.

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