Tom Kundig has created some really cool houses. I started noticing him just after the Katrina disaster when I was still living in Seattle and had started researching current trends in prefabs and cabins. Somehow I stumbled over his ChickenPoint house and then found his Delta shelter.
I bought his book Houses, and in it I found the Studio House which is very close to what I would love to build.
So I like most of the exteriors; I love the use of strong materials that age with beauty, and I am completely taken by the mechanics element, like the cranked window wall where ingenious design make the action super-easy (I would like to know the proper terms for this magic: something about transfer of forces). I am less thrilled about some of the interiors where I think he is too "raw" and also a bit too dark - and I have no affinity for the medieval/mystical elements.
I met with him in his Seattle studio and we spent an hour talking about my site and ideas. I went away with a neutral feeling. Perhaps he would be great - perhaps not. I didn't get any particular ideas from him - besides the general concepts I have already described in this blog. But that is of course not to be ignored; it means a lot to have these general concepts validated by a an expert.
We did discuss the dilemma of remodel versus building new, and he seem to echo the sense I had: that rebuilding might end up being more expensive - and perhaps less satisfactory - than tearing down and starting from scratch. On the other hand, he had himself been remodeling for 6 years.
And somehow the question is simpler in my case: I cannot currently afford to build a new home from scratch, and I need to do something on the existing home to make it pleasant to live in (like stopping roof leaks in a roof that is way beyond its functional lifetime). Where it matters is that I will rather live on in the current home than spend 3-400K on something mediocre.
We ended the meeting with a kind-of loose agreement that he should come by and see the property when he next time visits the Bay Area. I think that will be important, and hopefully move my neutral stance to one of enthusiasm: I really need the power of architectural vision to end up with something I am totally happy about.
