Jim Olson is inspired by the relationship of architecture and art.
In residential projects across the country, often for art collectors, Olson has profoundly explored the aesthetic interplay of art and architecture, and the relationship of light, space and mood. His work consistently demonstrates that art is not an afterthought to architecture but an integral part of it, as he creates homes that offer an appropriate environment for living with art and sensitivity to the varying space and light requirements of differing art genres. His commitment to the integration of these fields carries through other project types, as Olson at times takes a curatorial role in selecting and commissioning art for institutional and residential clients, as well as designing custom furniture.
For Olson, the relationship of a building to its context is as vital as this implicit partnership between architecture and art. In natural settings, his buildings often weave into their surroundings as if they had always been there; they are as integrated with nature as they are with art. He is also concerned with making architecture that creates and enhances community, in the urban context. Olson’s commitment to community is exemplified in his buildings in Seattle, where his work has powerfully altered the city fabric. The award-winning mixed-use Pike and Virginia project was the first new building in Pike Place Market in fifty years and originated a style of architecture in the neighborhood. This building, among other large urban buildings designed by the firm, expresses the power of contextual design—architecture that fits into the cultural, social, and economic milieu of a location as well as the built and/or natural environment.
Olson has been published in publications worldwide, including the New York Times, Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, Art + Auction, Monocle, and Interior Design. His work has been featured in many books including Jim Olson Houses (The Monacelli Press, 2009), which focuses on sixteen residences; Art + Architecture: The Ebsworth Collection and Residence (William Stout Publishers, 2006), which focuses on the home of an art collector; and a monograph on the firm’s work, Architecture, Art and Craft: Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects (The Monacelli Press, 2003).
Olson is the recipient of the 2007 Seattle AIA Medal of Honor. He is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architecture and has served on the boards of a number of Northwest arts organizations and other community institutions. He is an honorary board member for the Seattle Art Museum. Olson lectures extensively throughout North America on the relationship between art and architecture.
A graduate of the University of Washington, Department of Architecture, Olson established his own firm in Seattle in 1966. Since that time the office has grown into a diverse practice with an international reputation, becoming Olson/Walker Architects in 1971, Olson Sundberg Architects in 1985, Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects in 2000, and Olson Kundig Architects in 2010. The firm, as Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, received the 2009 National AIA Architecture Firm Award.