Shadowboxx
Lopez Island, Washington For inspiration in the Shadowboxx house, Kundig turned to the essay In Praise of Shadows by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. “In Praise of Shadows is a book about the quietness of shadows and their importance that transcends the object,“ Kundig says. “Shadows are more important than the object, just as white space is more important than the stroke of the pen. The shadows are the silent reason the objects are recognized and shaped, and [they] can metaphorically represent the soul of the place or object.” That guiding principle is evident throughout the house, as Kundig expresses that "Shadowboxx is about shadows and not the object." Guests sit and sleep on six movable sofa beds, each with its own reading light, while a glass-encapsulated bathhouse sports side-by-side tubs and a roof that retracts with the push of a button. "The idea of the house is that it quietly emerges out of the existing natural harsh conditions— wind, sun, rain—and its natural mysteriousness," Kundig says. "Its intention is to embrace the mystery of its place. The project, which took 18 months to complete, involved many specialized craft shops, says Richard Manderbach, a partner with Shadowboxx's construction firm, KrekowJennings. “Everything was considered, detailed, and fabricated for the project itself,” he says. Manderbach and company also considered the project’s impact on the environment, using ferries, light trucks, and cranes to effect “minimal impact on the land and the community.”