Architecture as Adventure: In Conversation with Tom Kundig

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

About the Event: Please join us for the second Alan Golin Gass Annual Lecture featuring Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA in conversation with Sarah Broughton, FAIA, NCIDQ. This event is sponsored by Design Workshop, supported by Docomomo US/Colorado, and the venue is sponsored by the Denver Art Museum.

Doors open at 11am for book pre-sale, program is 11:30am-12:30pm, light lunch and book signing is 12:30-1:30pm, with docent led tours of the Kirkland Museum to follow

About the lecture: Drawn from a life forged across the high deserts and forests of the Pacific Northwest to the rugged peaks of the Swiss Alps, Seattle-based architect Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, has built a practice driven by context, fueled by adventure, and grounded in a deep respect for place. His architecture is an inquiry into the human experience, expressed through private homes, sports facilities and venues, wineries, hospitality destinations, museums, and everything in between. In a conversation moderated by Sarah Broughton FAIA, Kundig will trace the evolution of his design philosophy—from an elemental approach to material and structure to an enduring fascination with machinery, movement, and the mechanics of making. Exploring case study projects and insights from his latest monograph, Tom Kundig: Complete Houses, the program offers an intimate look at the experiments, innovations, and audacious risks that define his body of work.

About the speaker: Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, has spent over four decades crafting award-winning architecture across six continents. As principal/owner & founder of Olson Kundig, Tom leads a team of more than 350 across offices in Seattle, New York City, and Chicago. His approach to design is driven by a longstanding curiosity in the interaction between people and their environments, producing architecture that is quietly powerful and profoundly human. As one of the most recognized American architects, Tom has received some of the world’s highest design honors, including over two dozen AIA National Honor Awards and an Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His projects and perspectives are published in five monographs—including Tom Kundig: Complete Houses, published by Monacelli Press in 2025. A sixth monograph, Tom Kundig: Complete Works, will be published in 2027.

About the moderator: Sarah Broughton, FAIA, NCIDQ, founding principal at Rowland+Broughton Architecture. Since founding R+B in 2003 with her husband, R+B Principal John Rowland, AIA, Sarah has embraced a holistic model of practice, continuously elevating the firm’s reputation for excellence in design. A leader to her team, she champions the firm’s overriding belief that sustainable design is an integral component to delivering high quality, thoughtful projects that stand the test of time. The health and well-being of clients is critical, and inclusivity is a hallmark of all interactions.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture from University of Colorado Boulder College of Environmental Design with Honors, Sarah’s experience includes high-end hospitality and residential architecture, interior design, urban design, and historic preservation. Her design leadership spans studios in Aspen and Denver with projects ranging from coast to coast and beyond. In 2022, Sarah, a Licensed Architect, was elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, which recognizes significant contributions to the profession of Architecture and society.

Sarah promotes a collaborative approach with clients, the professional growth of her team, of which 50% are women at every level, and diversity of viewpoints via a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee. Over R+B’s tenure, she has held multiple leadership positions, including Chair of the Aspen Historic Preservation Commission and 2023 AIA Colorado President, and is frequently invited to sit on awards juries and speak on panels, webinars, and podcasts. Under Sarah’s leadership, R+B has been named AIA Colorado Firm of the Year and team projects have been awarded by AIA Colorado, IIDA, ASID Colorado, and PSMJ, among others. Her convergent philosophy led to an invitation for the firm to participate in the 2023 Venice Architectural Biennale.

About the Alan Golin Gass Annual Lecture: Created in 2025, this annual event is a platform for esteemed architects and urban designers to share ideas, foster dialogue, and inspire audiences to envision the future of Denver’s built environment. The lecture series is named to honor Alan Golin Gass, FAIA, a fourth-generation Denverite who graduated from East High School, Harvard College, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He began his career as an intern for the world-renowned I.M. Pei. Gass then spent the next six decades designing buildings in Denver, Aspen, and New York City, consulting for a dozen different architectural firms and maintaining his own, Alan Golin Gass Architect, known as AGGA.

Gass designed or worked on the design team for the following notable projects: Chatfield High School, the original Solar Energy Research Institute, the original solar design for the Front Range Community College campus, the former World Savings Building at 400 16th St., the Sentry Insurance building at 401 Broadway (now the offices of Fentress Architects), the Yale and Jewell Elementary schools in Aurora, five schools in South Dakota, and the Joan and Irving Harris Concert Hall in Aspen. He led the renovation and expansion of several designated landmark buildings in New York City, including the Swiss Bank Tower and the Compton and Goethals Halls at City College of New York.

The Gass residence, which he designed and built in 1961 on South Harrison Lane in Denver—in part to convince his girlfriend to marry him—was designated a Denver Historic Landmark in 2023.

Accessibility: Please review accessibility information at the Denver Art Museum here.

Agenda: 11AM: Doors open and book pre-sale
11:30AM-12:30PM: Lecture presentation
12:30–1:30PM: Light luncheon buffet with cash bar, Complete Houses for sale, and Tom Kundig signing
1PM and 1:30PM Docent-led tours of the Kirkland Museum, designed by Olson Kundig

Access to the Denver Art Museum: Event guests may receive complimentary general admission for the remainder of the DAM’s public hours on event day.

Student Tickets: Student tickets must be purchased using an active student/school email address.

Refund policy: The Denver Architecture Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization. Ticket sales support the Foundation in continuing to provide quality events to the public. We are unable to provide refunds or credits for any reason less than 7 days prior to the event.

Please note that DAF tours take place rain, snow or shine. If your tour includes an outdoor portion, please dress for the weather. DAF staff will contact all attendees directly should a tour be cancelled for any reason.