Seattle's Olson Kundig Architects just gifted the world with a rendering reveal that's a bit on the unconventional side, to say the least. The House that Jack Built, an installation the firm set up in Seattle's Mercer Gallery as part of a collaboration with conceptual artist Jack Daws, gives a straight-faced retelling of the artist's imaginary foray into the world of architecture. The Charlie Kaufman-esque, life-imitates-art fable follows Daws as he builds a cabin on stilts made out of pilfered railroad ties in the middle of Walden Pond, causing a freight train loaded with toxic chemicals to plunge into its waters. As the firm explains, the installation is "meant to be a starting point for self-reflection and a critical inquiry into contemporary society, engaging such topics as reincarnation, artistic attribution, admiration, false identity, thievery, tribute, injury and environmental degradation to ruin." Yeah, we're a bit stumped here, too.
The installation reaches a peak level of meta with a rendering that purports to show firm head Tom Kundig at the exhibit's opening unleashing a beating on Daws for ripping off his style. Whatever's going on here, props to Kundig for take a break from creating some of the most buzzworthy houses in recent memory to have a little fun with his high profile through Olson Kundig Outpost, the firm's new visualization studio, and Itinerant Projects, its recently created installation program.
· Olson Kundig and Jack Daws imagine a house on stilts above a polluted lake [Dezeen]
· All previous Olson Kundig coverage [Curbed National]