Ocean House, The Big Island, Hawaii, 2003
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Do you create a space that complements art or do you use art to enhance architecture?
JO: Many clients come to me with a collection already assembled. In those cases, I study each piece and the collection as a whole to know how best to design space for it. Architecture and art can work together. When I design space for art I let the art become the focus. I provide a strong architectural framework that lets each work of art have its own space.
Art and architecture are disciplines that both embody aesthetic design, what do you think connects art and architecture?
JO: The connection between the two is poetic expression. While architecture is functional, it is also a poetic expression. Like art, it is a voice of the human spirit.
Your work has been celebrated for intelligently blending into its context. What, do you think, is the importance of designing a building to suit/complement its context?
JO: We should all strive to be good stewards of the earth. By taking inspiration from a given context and learning what it has to offer, we can work with a site’s natural attributes (topography, wind, sun, shade, rain, etc.) rather than fight against them.
What are you working on that you can tell us about?
JO: I like to work on a mix of project types. I just finished a house in Hong Kong, and I am currently working on houses throughout the United States, in Mexico and in Seoul, Korea. I have a museum project in Washington State that is currently under construction, and I am just starting on a religious building.
What goals do you have for the future of the firm?
JO: Our firm has always been interested in urbanism and projects that contribute to the community in which they are built. We have a wonderful variety of projects to work on: houses, museums and exhibits, religious buildings, commercial buildings and educational facilities and I am very excited about the increasing opportunities to work both close to home and afar in all of them.
Other projects by Jim Olson include:
• St Mark’s Cathedral renovations, 1997
• Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, 2007
• Pike and Virginia Building, 1978
• House of Light, 2006
• Gig Harbour Heritage Centre, 2004
• Whatcom Museum, in progress
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