One Architect Dares to Dream Up New Seattle Real Estate

Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects may very well be the future of Seattle real estate. This 53-year-old University of Washington graduate will be traveling to Washington DC this summer to be honored with an architecture design award for the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

He compares his work to mountain climbing: “It’s not just about getting to the top,” he says, “it’s about the elegance in how you get there.” Likewise, Seattle WA real estate isn’t just about windows, but rather, “a window that opens in such a way that it gives you a little thrill.”

One of Kundig’s Seattle real estate hallmarks is his use of “gizmos.” For example, he once made a 6-ton behemoth window out of steel and glass – and yet, his six-year-old daughter could open it easily. “The idea is that every day we touch these things… Why can’t we re-imagine them?”

He also tries to create an emotional balance in his designs. For example, his personal piece of Seattle WA real estate on Queen Anne offers a formidable view of the Olympic Mountains through floor-to-ceiling windows, yet plush cave-like interiors. “It’s the yin and yang of our experience,” he explains.

Though 40% of his Seattle real estate work is commercial, he admits his real passion lies in residential. Right now his pride and joy will be a 37-story hotel-condo tower.

Daniel Friedman, dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Washington, said Kundig’s structures “are like wunderkammer – a cabinet of wonders.”

“We’ve lost sight of that in our culture,” Friedman continues. “Tom’s work recovers wonder on a very intimate scale. He enriches the ordinary experience. And no one does it better.”