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photo of Kevin M. Kudo-King

Kevin M. Kudo-King

Principal / Owner | AIA, LEED AP

“Architecture is not merely shelter—it is about experience and discovery, created through a dialogue between client, builder and designer.”

Over the span of his twenty-five-year tenure at Olson Kundig, principal/owner Kevin Kudo-King has played an integral role in the design, production and management of numerous award-winning projects. In collaboration with fellow owners Tom Kundig and Jim Olson, Kevin has led the design of museum gallery expansions, large-scale international residential projects, and urban mixed-use projects, among others.

Kevin is known for his collaborative design practice, which is deeply informed by the history of craft and artistic production. His designs emphasize an integration of art and architecture that is grounded in a contextual response to the natural conditions of a site, many of which are international. Kevin’s current projects include a variety of private homes and hospitality destinations across North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Diversity of Work

Kevin Kudo-King, who began his career and twenty-five-year tenure at Olson Kundig as an intern architect, was named an associate in 2004, a principal in 2010 and an owner in 2015. He works across a broad range of project types including private residences, museums, resorts, and mixed-use and institutional design. His projects extend from the firm’s home base in Seattle to work across the nation and around the world—from India, Mexico and Taiwan to Costa Rica, Europe and Australia.

Kevin has played an integral role in the design, production and management of numerous residential projects, specializing in those for art collectors. In collaboration with fellow owners Tom Kundig and Kirsten R. Murray, Kevin led the design of the Tacoma Art Museum Haub Gallery Addition and, in collaboration with owner Jim Olson, played a significant role in the design of the Bellevue Botanical Garden Visitor Center.

The creation of architecture does not happen in isolation. It is the result of our many individual voices working in unison. Each of these voices is the product of different life experiences. It is this continuum of our individual pasts, our collective present, and our possible future creations that really excites me. Kevin Kudo-King, AIA, LEED AP
Background

Inspired to draw, design and build structures from a very young age, Kevin discovered architecture to be an ideal outlet for and means of combining these passions. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of Arizona, Kevin joined Olson Kundig based on the firm’s legacy of craft, contextual design responses to nature and the integration of architecture and art.

To date, one of the highlights of Kevin’s career was sitting next to artist James Turrell at sunrise in one of his sky spaces watching him manipulate the light in an installation that the firm integrated into one of founder Jim Olson’s designs. “It embodied everything that has kept me excited about working at Olson Kundig. I was literally immersed in the artist’s creation as he manipulated the space around us using light. It was as if I was within the painting as the artist painted it.”

The firm directly engages builders and craftspeople in the creative process and they, in turn, engage us in the crafting of the architecture. Kevin Kudo-King, AIA, LEED AP
Recognition

Kevin’s award-winning projects include the House of Light in collaboration with Jim Olson, which was honored with a Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award, and Art Stable in collaboration with Tom Kundig and Kirsten R. Murray, which received three National AIA Honor Awards. His work appears in publications worldwide including Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Art + Auction and Town & Country.

In addition to design leadership on projects, Kevin oversees Olson Kundig’s marketing and business development initiatives and serves in a leadership role on the board of trustees of Artist Trust, an organization that supports artists in Washington State.

We have grown together as a firm around a culture of conversation and an appreciation of dialogue. Everyone should feel comfortable to share their ideas, from owner to intern. Relationships are crucial to everything we do. How we work with each other, with clients, builders and artisans, is what defines us. Kevin Kudo-King, AIA, LEED AP
Art Stable
Art Stable
James Turrell at the House of Light
James Turrell at the House of Light
House of Light
House of Light