Throughout his career, Jim Olson has related architecture to either nature or art. In his very first design for a women named Carrie he created a beautiful space that embraced the nature it surrounded on the south Puget sound instead of what she had originally requested (white brick house with blue shutters). They worked together to create a home with more meaning than what she had originally requested. From the beginning Jim has used art and nature as his inspiration. One thing he stressed in his presentation was that the interchange of ideas is so important and also to get out and see the world because it will inspire you. One piece of his work that amazed me was his glass farm house. The clients requested to have a home built that reflected the style of barns in the region. The final design was sustainable and responded to the traditional architecture of barns and farmhouses in the Pacific Northwest. Another urban residence he designed that stood out to me was “The Red House” in Denver’s historic district. The building is very contemporary and modernist, inspired by Spanish Colonial Art. The residence blends a home and a museum together that is ‘contextually sensitive’ and Latin inspired. The furniture and carpet was designed to match the Spanish influence. The final design serves the client’s art collection wonderfully.
To see photographs of the “The Red House” visit the Olson Kundig Website: http://www.olsonkundigarchitects.com/Projects/135/The-Red-House#
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| My Sketch of the Glass Farmhouse |
