After Nearly 60 Years, Seattle Architecture Firm Olson Kundig Is Expanding
New offices in New York and Chicago mark the first outposts for this idiosyncratic design company. But can it still retain its distinctive culture?
The mixed-use Fourth Ward project, designed by Olson Kundig, is one of the more distinctive developments along Atlanta’s BeltLine.
Photographer: Nic LehouxWorking at Olson Kundig has always meant marching to the beat of a different drummer. For nearly 60 years, the Seattle architecture firm has followed a unique trajectory. With more than 350 employees, it’s large enough to take on major projects at a global level — but it still operates much like a smaller boutique studio, placing an emphasis on art and craft. Architects with Olson Kundig once even won a drawing contest with a cyberpunk fairy tale about cryogenic sleep and historic preservation.
Its unorthodox approach manifests in many ways. Despite working on major institutional projects, for example, Olson Kundig still designs homes; principal Tom Kundig describes residential commissions as the firm’s R&D lab. That’s how you get an accessory studio unit mounted on railroad tracks in order to put some distance between it and the main dwelling.