American architect Jim Olson’s distinct architecture of stillness

At Archifest 2025, Olson shared a talk titled “Inspirations from Nature”, highlighting his love of the outdoors. “My whole career has been about exploring ways to bring architecture and nature closer together, to blur the distinction of indoors and outdoors,” he explains.

An example of a time when nature shaped a design decision concerns Hong Kong Villa in Shek-O, a historic fishing village in the southeast corner of Hong Kong Island. A hillside residence overlooking the ocean, the home was conceived as a frame for its surroundings. “We orientated the house so that when you walk into the house, you get a framed view of this beautiful little island just off centre,” Olson explains.

This sense of framing extends beyond sightlines into materiality. For the Hong Kong home, it was built to look as if it “just grew out of the hillside”. Inside, the home features a nature mural that runs throughout the abode, further blurring the overall perception of the landscape.

“It’s all about nature [and] bringing [it] into the house,” he says

Olson’s Longbranch cabin further captures his love of nature. His family connection to Longbranch began in 1912, when his grandparents bought the property and built the summer cottage. While the cottage burned down in the early ‘60s, the bunkhouse was left standing. “On this land, I experienced the weaving together of natural and man-made, and the intuitive understanding that nature is our home,” he says. That began his philosophy as an architect—to do things that create experiences for the people inhabiting them.

Olson believes architecture can evolve and accommodate the different stages of life. What once started as “just a little cabin in the woods” has grown and evolved with various periods in his own life. Today, the cabin is a living timeline, chronicling the decades. Despite the constant evolution, his philosophy stays the same: that the house sits in harmony with nature. “Sixty years later, it still is,” he muses.

After a lifetime of listening to the rhythms of the natural world, Olson has turned his attention to another enduring muse—art, and how it coexists with the spaces we inhabit.

His reputation for creating homes that elevate art is well-earned. He highlights how art collectors are “all different”. He continues: “There’s a sense of identity all wrapped up in their collection or the art they’re creating.” Olson first lets himself “go into the art” before thinking of framing it. However, while he enjoys immersing himself in and elevating art, he also believes it should never overshadow life.

“One client had a really great collection of glass art, and he had a bunch of grandchildren,” he shares. When he asked his client what he would do if his grandchildren broke something, his client responded: “I’ll get another one.”

He continues: “He just said he thought the grandchildren were more important than the art. So, that was a good attitude.”

Like art, Olson believes that architecture should also serve and uplift. “Every building has to serve a functional purpose… but it also has to make you feel inspired just to see it. That’s the real art of architecture,” he muses.

“Architecture is practical, but it’s also poetry, it’s art.”

Even after six decades, Olson continues to glean new knowledge—and perhaps that’s the secret to his success. “What keeps me inspired,” he says simply, “is always having some new problem to solve.”

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