Renowned Seattle-based architect Tom Kundig has earned recognition as one of America's most daring contemporary residential architects, bringing a unique blend of fearlessness and environmental sensitivity to his groundbreaking designs. His latest project, El Grove, a stunning desert compound in Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe, exemplifies his philosophy of creating architecture that embraces rather than fights against the natural landscape.
Valle de Guadalupe, located at the northern tip of Mexico's Baja Peninsula, presents a breathtaking desert basin with sandy soil resembling moon dust. The region offers an almost otherworldly experience, particularly at night when low humidity and minimal light pollution create a natural planetarium effect. Surrounded by mountains with the Pacific Ocean to the west, this valley enjoys a Mediterranean microclimate that has fostered a thriving wine culture, earning it the nickname "Mexico's Napa Valley." Just two hours from San Diego when traffic permits, the area has become a popular weekend destination featuring quiet, haunting landscapes interspersed with vineyards and proximity to beaches.
Kundig's introduction to this remarkable region came through a road trip with clients - a couple with two young children seeking to build their dream home. Having personally experienced Kundig's enthusiasm for discovering new territories, particularly extreme or challenging locations, observers note his infectious excitement when encountering landscapes perfect for his architectural vision. "I was so charged up going to this new place. And going there on a roadtrip. That's the way to experience a landscape - so much better than flying," Kundig explained about his first visit to Valle de Guadalupe.
The architect's passion intensified when the family guided him along a rough dirt road to an undeveloped piece of land that he describes as "a clean sheet of paper" - the perfect blank canvas for creating design magic. This barren plot would eventually become El Grove, a welcoming desert compound designed specifically for the growing family in the heart of Valle de Guadalupe's dusty landscape.
At 71 years old, Kundig brings a lifetime of diverse influences to his architectural practice. Growing up near another high desert region in Spokane, Washington, he initially resisted following in the footsteps of his Swiss-born architect father, Moritz Kundig. Instead, young Tom apprenticed with Harold Balazs, a Mead, Washington-based sculptor whose motto "Transcend the bullshit" became a guiding principle for Kundig's own work. His formative years immersed him in high modernist tradition while also exposing him to Kustom Kulture - the souped-up hot rod culture of Southern California icons like Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and Von Dutch. Additionally, he absorbed inspiration from the raw architectural vernacular of eastern Washington's farming and mining structures - unassuming, machine-like buildings that embodied American industry and endeavor.
These diverse influences converged when Kundig eventually embraced architecture, bringing what can only be described as daredevilry to the profession. His personal life reflects this fearless approach through high-risk activities like high-elevation skiing and motorcycle adventures through Argentina on his BMW 1200. This same boldness translates directly into his design work, producing boundary-pushing structures such as the award-winning Chicken Point Cabin in Idaho, which features an innovative 20-by-30-foot glass-and-steel wall that operates like a massive garage door, opened with just a few turns of a flywheel.
Robert M. Rubin, an architectural historian and cultural entrepreneur who owns the modernist Parisian landmark Maison de Verre, observes that "there's always a certain playfulness in Tom's work. It's techno-surrealist in a way." Such mechanical innovations became early signatures of Kundig's approach, demonstrating his ability to integrate functional engineering with artistic vision. Yet beneath these technological marvels lies an unwavering commitment to environmental harmony.
"The land is more important than the architecture," Kundig insists, reflecting a philosophy that has positioned him as a counterbalance to 21st-century starchitect culture. Unlike architects focused on personal branding or dramatic geometric statements, Kundig maintains what Rubin describes as the demeanor of "a normal, gee-whiz architecture buff." His buildings consistently demonstrate qualities that are simultaneously low-key yet lyrical, rugged yet refined, earthy yet ethereal.
Kundig's prolific output includes more than 460 residential projects, all documented in his recently published "Complete Houses" by Monacelli, a comprehensive monograph showcasing his globe-spanning work with the firm Olson Kundig, which he co-leads with architect Jim Olson. This extensive publication will be followed next year by "Complete Works," featuring his non-residential projects including everything from wineries to skyscrapers.
In his latest book's preface, Kundig writes poetically about "the gentle unraveling of ego beneath the weight of something boundless, ancient, and enduring - the eternal pleasure of landscape." This philosophy finds perfect expression at El Grove, where he explains that "you have to go outside to go inside." The design achieves this connection through an ingeniously simple concept that breaks traditional house elements - living areas and bedrooms - into separate structures connected by stepping stones trimmed with wild grasses.
Kundig humbly refers to these structures as "huts," each serving specific functions within the overall compound. The primary living hut contains a modular kitchen, expansive dining table, turntable-mounted entertainment island with built-in speakers, and a striking floating hearth. A separate hut houses the primary bedroom, while two villa-like structures designed for the children anticipate future use by grandchildren. This modular approach allows inhabitants to actively engage with the natural environment rather than hiding from it.
"If you're going to make a place in a beautiful landscape, you want to engage it," Kundig explains. "That's the way you experience the place, rather than sealing yourself inside an air-conditioned box." When Valle de Guadalupe's desert heat becomes overwhelming, residents can retreat to a shady olive orchard or cool off in a swimming pool constructed from a Texas-style cattle tank that nestles alongside the main hut, bordered by fragrant lavender plantings.
The structures, totaling 2,900 square feet, utilize no-nonsense concrete cinder block construction - a material choice Kundig considers perfect for the landscape. "Tough as nails and made from the earth," he describes the building blocks, whose pale gray coloring gives the huts a hushed, almost spectral presence that appears both solid and ethereal. Interior spaces feature Kundig's characteristic plywood treatments, providing what he describes as "a soft feeling of comfort and refuge."
The El Grove project exemplifies Kundig's fundamental design philosophy: "It's about using common materials in uncommon ways to make a place feel special." This approach, combining innovative engineering with environmental sensitivity and unpretentious materials, continues to establish Tom Kundig as one of contemporary architecture's most compelling and fearless practitioners, creating homes that don't just shelter their inhabitants but connect them more deeply with the natural world around them.
