Kundig's details are impeccable (I'm thinking of a two-story front door which pierces the concrete overhang above it), I'm glad you came across him. He is certainly not the most outspoken contemporary figure, nor do his designs find themselves in the public eye very much as he typically sticks to small-scale homes in rural locations, so I think he is unfortunately overlooked quite a bit but in my opinion he is doing some really beautiful and admirably honest work. (Also note the moveable guest homes he designed for one of his residences in the thread on small-scale architecture here on archinect).

Sorry I don't have much of an answer to your question, but if anyone else has a suggestion for one of Kundig's contemporaries I’d love to learn about them. His work has always reminded me of Scarpa a bit (I know, not a new face for anybody) in their shared obsession over communication through the human-scaled portions of a building as opposed to the building-scaled portions of a building. Regardless, I'm sure someone here has a better answer than mine.

Wow, citrus.grey, THAT is exactly what I was fumbling to say:

"communication through the human-scaled portions of a building as opposed to the building-scaled portions of a building."

Ok, now, anybody...?

citrus
is this the door you are thinking of?


kundig's pretty good. some of his current work is a little odd and i'm not really into a lot of his details but he works with some really good people. according to the book, it's phil turner who works out all the gizmos

(this would be a gizmo)

slantsix and others, I've found that those that dig Kundig (pun intended) usually appreciate the works of architects like Pugh & Scarpa - its a far more tactile approach to architecture, based around making/details

btw the p&s website, pales in illuminating the talent of that practice

architechno - any books on Pugh and/or Scarpa you'd recommend? The library's about 100 feet away from me.

Thanks, btw, that helps!

In addition to what's already been said, Kundig is a very down to earth, real person. I'm sure he's got an ego (like the rest of us), but he's very personable and a genuinely nice guy.

You might like the work of some of these architects:

Leslie Gill - http://www.lesliegill.com
Lead Pencil Studio - http://www.leadpencilstudio.com/
Oyler Wu Collaborative - http://www.oylerwu.com/
Williams & Tsien - http://www.twbta.com/
Randy Brown - http://randybrownarchitects.com/
M1DTW - http://www.m1dtw.com
Hype Arc - http://www.hypearc.com/
Peter Bohlin - http://www.bcj.com/

refering to that giant door holz posted. there are two gear boxes connected to the hand crank.. one, is obviously connected to the giant wheel/door but what is the other gear box? (it's the the right right gear box from the guys head in the above picture)

> ether - I would assume it is some sort of arrester/transmission/brake to prevent the weight of that very heavy door from getting away from whomever is cranking the gear to open and close it.

slantsix, I don't think there is a monograph on just them but they have been mentioned in a few other publications notably The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture

Thanks threshold but upon second inspection I put on my headphones and listened to the video on the OSKA website.. I think it's only purpose is to make noise. That small chain connecting the two gear boxes wouldn't really help brake a big heavy door like that. And on a couple of the other videos, the gear box doesn't even move/spin (I think that arm hanging down next to the crank wheel is some sort of lever to activate it.. Pretty funny.

i think its a small counter weight that acts as a governor, spinning only when someone is cranking the door too fast so it doesn't slam shut or open, when someone is opening it slowly it remains stationary.

yep. it works alright. a small child can actually crank the door open. and it weights six tons.

> ether - I'm going to have to check out their website tonight... video eh? Cool.

I have liked his work for a while now I really enjoy The Brain



Citrus Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen definitely did not get over looked at this years AIA Seattle honor awards, they walked away with two awards of merit and one commendation

Montecito

Outpost

Rollinghuts

Good to know e, I haven't seen the Montecito or the Outpost projects yet but my god they're beautiful aren't they? Do you know what the situation with that crank mechanism is on the Montecito house? Looks like it moves some part of the roof apparatus but I can't quite tell. Thanks for posting those.

but this was a bad year for projects. a lot of reduxes and resubmissions from previous years. the only exciting part was the JPR lecture a few days before the honor awards.

also, outpost wasn't even finished yet, and is a redux of the gmuer/vacchini haus am mittelmeer

Hmm...interesting. Yeah I thought it was odd after looking through the projects, I noticed the Anderson Anderson Cantilever House won an award and I remember them presenting that project in a lecture about three years ago. Seems odd.

yeah, it's really common and kinda lame/pathetic

this gem has been submitted 3 years in a row.

it looks interesting, but the interior is rather cold and banal. phenomenal views, though.

you'll be able to rent the rolling huts starting sometime later this spring or summer. reasonably priced in a beautiful part of Washington.

holz I would have to agree with you that the submissions this year were not as good as past years

I am not an Architect but my Dad is the Gizmologist mentioned in the Book (Phil Turner)

I do not work for my dad anymore but one day while building the Gizmo he (for the fun of it )put on a bell on the Gizmo and when the client came to inspect it the client liked it so much he wanted it to stay as a permament fixture.

here is a You tube link of the mechanism along with other Kundig projects

http://www.youtube.com/user/OSKAArchitects
note yes this is a little late in posting and my apologies for bumping the thread.