西雅圖的創(chuàng)意空間

When you think you've had a pretty good look at the office of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects， it shape-shifts. The pivoting walls in the conference room， you realize， are set at completely different angles than they were a few hours earlier. The huge white panel in the stair well has suddenly been etched with a new abstraction of shadows. Dozens of spiky blond architectural models migrate from one plane to another over the course of the day. And that skylight—that wasn't open before， was it? Even the staff itself scatters and shuffles.In fact， every thing about this Seattle office is a work in progress， from the zealous use of raw materials to the firm's unique collaborative philosophy. It's never the same place twice.

The inventive work that's come out of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen during its 39-year history has almost single-handedly put Seattle on the architecture map， with local landmarks such as the Frye Art Museum expansion and the Pike and Virginia building， and influential residential projects all over the world. By 2003， the firm that Jim Olson founded had grown to include three additionalpartners—Rick Sundberg， Tom Kundig， and Scott Allen--and a burgeoning staff (now about 80 strong) in need of a new office. They settled on the top two floors of a warehouse building in Pioneer Square， a hip neighborhood full of galleries and new restaurants. Since the firm's budget was modest， Kundig was the obvious choice to lead the design: He is renowned for his embrace of inexpensive and reclaimed materials(\"dirt cheap!\" is a term of endearment)， which explains the cubicles fashioned from ply wood， the exposed bolts and sheets of dinged steel， and a surprisingly warm and glossy Masonite used for walls and floors. A series of display cases that forms a central design element eventually reveals itself as old modular shelving bolted together--a veteran of no fewer than four prior locations.

Besides the new flooring， Kundig left the interior of the former Washington Shoe warehouse completely untouched. Even where they sliced through the floor to connect the two levels， the layers of century-old building materials are left exposed， the history of the place proudly on display. \" You can't buy time，\" says Kundig， leaning back in his chair 1and waving his hands around him at the exposed brick and thick wood beams. \" When you have something that looks like this， you leave it. This is beautiful as is.\"

It is Kundig's other trademark—an affinity for kinetic architecture—that forms the shop's aesthetic center of gravity. A skylight—a \"sky do or，\" really， a 3-ton， 15-foot-by -25-foot glass- paned steel door--funnels light into the rooms below. Powered by only city water pressure， one valve draws water into a cylinder， forcing its piston up with the help of a 3-ton counter weight on the roof above.A second valve releases the water to lower the skylight. A blackened aluminum apparatus inspired by a 19th-century steam engine controls the entire system. Yet the skylight performs more than simple acrobatics， says Kundig， ticking off additional uses on his fingers. It can be cranked wide open to circulate cool Puget Sound air， or closed shut to soak up solar heat. It animates a focal point of the office， projecting ever-changing shadows against the stair well wall. It's green(so on， the 12 gallons of water that are forced through the hydraulic system will be reclaimed and used to irrigate a roof garden). It serves as a piece of functional sculpture--it's quite literally a work of art. And it defines the office as an architectural testing ground: \" We get to experiment here，\" he grins， \"to try things that might not normally fly with clients.\"

Like the cogs and wheel driving the skylight， the workings of the human machinery here are apparent as well. \"This space shows our process of working rather than the finished product，\" Olson says. \"In our last space， we had all the interns in a backroom，butnowwe'vebroughtthemoutandputthem right in the middle of ever y thing. That's because this space itself is more like the back room.\"

The inside-out nature of the firm's culture is most evident during\"the Crit，\" a Thursday afternoon tradition gathering the entire staff in one of the convertible cork-paneled conference rooms. The Crit allows staff members to explain their current projects， practice their presentation skills， or simply sort through a design problem using the studio's collective brain. The exploratory vibe helps the staff feel comfortable with their own less-than-perfect ideas.

\"There's nothing precious about this joint，\" says partner Rick Sundberg. \"It's messy， it's dirty， it's funky. The process of creating is transparent， and it's right out there for everyone to see.\"

如果你留神觀察 Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects 公司的辦公室 ， 你會驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)它的形狀 正在改變! 會議室的轉(zhuǎn)軸墻當(dāng)前呈現(xiàn)給你的角度肯定 與幾小時前完全不同 ， 因此你所看到的景觀也大不一樣。樓梯邊上巨大的白色天窗也隨此倏忽給你的雙眼送來一幅嶄新的鏤刻而成的光影畫。

公司的員工也是如此， 像投注進(jìn)來的自然光線一樣 ， 在公司里面四散走動。事實(shí)上 ， 這幢西雅圖辦公室本質(zhì)是流動性的工作， 無論是從原材料的使用還是特有合作氛圍。一切都富于特色。

在39年的發(fā)展史上，Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects公司幾乎獨(dú)立承攬了當(dāng)?shù)夭簧贅?biāo)志性 的建 筑 ， 如 Frye Art Museum expansion 和 the Pike and Virginia building， 從而把西雅圖推上建筑地圖的一席之地。此外，世界上還有其他建筑名作也是出自它手。盡管用于設(shè)計的財務(wù)預(yù)算不多，設(shè)計師Kundig正是處理這類情況的好手:他熱衷并不昂貴的可回收的材料，使本來三夾板做成的小隔間在裸露的螺釘和鋼板襯托下多了時尚感覺。

除了更換新的地板，Kundig對里邊原先的華盛頓鞋子貨倉原封不動。這座建筑時間上的滄桑感是他們引以為傲的一部分。

“你無法購買時間。”Kundig對顯露著磚頭和厚重木頭橫梁的建筑愛不釋手，“如果看到有類似的這些物品，那么，就把它們保存下來吧，這是最天然的美。”

猶如這座辦公大樓采用鈍齒和車輪來調(diào)節(jié)自然光的變化的原理一樣 ， 大樓里人員的工作 也同樣明白顯見。

“這個空間顯示了我們工作的流程而非最 后的結(jié)果。這個空間就像是我們公司的后院一 樣 ， 把我們里邊的東西拿出來放在這里。”

這種設(shè)計也正是與內(nèi)部文化外現(xiàn)的公司文化相吻合。在每周四下午的傳統(tǒng)聚會“the Crit”上，全體職員會集于某一間裝了可調(diào)節(jié)的軟木窗格的會議室討論。

“the Crit”促使員工自由討論他們現(xiàn)在手頭的方案，練習(xí)演示技能，即便只是簡單地提出他們現(xiàn)在碰到的設(shè)計問題，也可以用到公司里大家的智力方案。每個人帶著他們那些幾近完美的方案展開討論，技術(shù)有些瑕疵，也會從氣氛舒適的討論中受益不少。

Rick Sundberg說:“這里或許雜亂無章，或許不夠潔凈，但這就像創(chuàng)意產(chǎn)生的過程，透明、可視，就在觸手可及的地方，每個人都可以看得到。”

LANGUAGE TIPS

pivot 旋軸

zealous 熱心的

reclaim 收回

cubicle 小隔間

glossy 平滑的

plywood 三夾板

beam 橫梁

cog 鈍齒