Dillon Canfield

Dillon Canfield

Project Designer

Growing up near the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Dillon fostered an early connection to the landscape and a sensitivity to the way the environment shapes experience. He carried that perspective through his studies at the College of Architecture + Design at the University of Tennessee. His study abroad at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, offered an experience that deepened his appreciation for Scandinavian design principles rooted in simplicity and rigor.

In his practice, Dillon is drawn to minimalist design, approaching each project with deliberate attention to light, materiality, and the surrounding landscape. He believes good design not only elevates the quality of everyday life but also helps people see their surroundings in new ways.

Outside of architecture, Dillon finds joy in ceramics and cooking, both of which he sees as different sides of the pursuit of making. Each is a way to enrich daily rituals and explore the overlap between designing spaces for things and designing things for spaces.

How does your approach to design reflect what you value—about place, people, and the environment?

I’m interested in enhancing the rituals of everyday life by deepening our connection to light, material, and nature. In architecture I enjoy exploring how these elements shift day by day, and how thoughtfully designed spaces can enrich overlooked experiences. I see architecture as a way of revealing what we might not otherwise notice – changing light, how something is made, ways materials come together.

See Saw Ceramics – The functional ware we make serves a similar purpose of elevating the everyday ritual. Through precision and craft brings meaning to simple things like coffee, a cocktail, or a meal.
Serge Eisenstein – Film Form – Clarity through reduction. Minimalism and the conscious effort of including less can often give more powerful meaning.
Andrew Wyeth – Window by the Sea – represents a relationship with utilitarian landscapes that resonates with me, growing up near the Appalachian Mountains.
Exceptional Detailing – This Arch11 project exemplifies what I seek out in design. Elevating a daily utilitarian task, intentionally framing a view that relates us to the land.