This contemporary residence by Olson Kundig Architects is a 2009 project located on Lopez Island, Washington, USA.
The walls can be opened and part of the roof can be lifted to provide the occupants with the experience of camping outdoors while enjoying the comforts of home. Composed of several elements—living space, bathhouse, and private guest room—Shadowboxx sits in a natural clearing created by the strong winds that force back the trees from the rocky bank.
The building purposely confuses the traditional boundaries between a built structure and its surroundings. Its masses are modeled by winds off the water, exterior cladding is allowed to weather and rust, and shifting doors, shutters, walls, and roofs constantly modulate the threshold between inside and outside. In Kundig’s eyes, the house is more about the softness of shadows than about the hardness of objects. Tactile materials are used throughout, including rammed earth floors, reclaimed oak floor planks, unpainted gypsum board and steel walls, corrugated steel siding and roofing, and reclaimed scaffolding planks for the ceiling.
