Marlene Chen, Principal / Owner, COO, Olson Kundig

Talk Description
Since its founding in 1966, Olson Kundig has been a consistently evolutionary practice—led by a shared curiosity and willingness to pursue the unexpected. From its earliest days designing homes in the Pacific Northwest to working on projects across the globe, the firm has experienced considerable growth in size and scope without sacrificing this core DNA. How does an organization adapt to rapid change while preserving the foundational principles at the root of its legacy? What are the strategies and solutions for maintaining authenticity in both design and culture? In a discussion about the firm’s origins and evolutions in practice, Marlene Chen will speak to the challenges of navigating an organization through change—highlighting key initiatives and investments that have guided Olson Kundig’s trajectory and will continue to inform future generations of the firm’s approach to design and leadership.

Speaker Bio
As principal/owner and COO of Olson Kundig, Marlene uses her experience as an architect and project manager to steer the firm’s governance and operations groups—working as a conduit between business units and practitioners to help communicate organizational changes across the growing firm. Since joining Olson Kundig in 2005, Marlene has worked on architectural and exhibit design projects in both design and project management capacities, helping groups large and small express their missions in built form—from large organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Tillamook and Microsoft, to private residential and commercial clients. In all of her leadership roles, as in her design work, Marlene is committed to contributing to something greater than herself, embracing a holistic view of the firm’s initiatives and investments.

Talk Timeline

Introduction
00:00 Introduction to Marlene
01:12 Olson Kundig: Perception vs Reality
06:20 Expanding Portfolio and Office Locations
08:09 Leadership + Generational Change
10:19 Expanding In-House Capabilities
11:29 “Ski the Trees”
12:24 Growth Statistics
13:19 Sharing Knowledge + Culture within a Growing Firm

13:50 Residential Work is Our Foundation
14:30 Rolling Huts —> The LeBron James Innovation Center at Nike
16:00 Mexico Residence —> JW Marriott Los Cabos
16:35 Chicken Point Cabin —> Burke Museum of Natural History

EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION
17:49 Current Initiatives

18:37 Break Down the Size and Scale of the Firm
19:35 Homeroom

20:50 Give People a Friendly Landing Spot
21:14 OK Navigators Program

21:51 Make Everything Clearer and Easier to Find
22:30 Visualization: Getting Started Guide + Follow Up
23:36 Marketing: Visual Identity Guidelines

24:34 Help People Understand the Work & Legacy
24:50 Town Halls
25:31 Olson Kundig University (OKU)

26:34 Make the Best Use of Our Knowledge: Hive Mind

27:55 Evolve Traditions
28:15 In Person vs Intra-Office Virtual Gatherings
29:30 OKCrit: What’s on Your Desk?
30:48 OKCribs: House Tours
31:40 Pecha Kucha
32:18 Monday (Hybrid) Meeting
33:11 OK Travel Fellowship

34:07 Address Today’s Workforce Interests
34:21 Embedding DEI Into Our Practice: Workstreams
36:14 Affinity Groups
36:55 Pilot Mentorship Program
37:40 Job Description & Career Pathways
38:26 Opportunities for Community Engagement

38:39 Stop Admiring the Problem
39:22 OK Internal Job Fair: Groups and Committees Worksheet

41:33 What’s Next?

Christopher Parsons of Knowledge Architecture interviews Marlene Chen of Olson Kundig at KA Connect 2024.

Q+A Timeline

00:00 How does progress over perfection square with creating beautiful built work vs just making progress on internal initiatives?
02:20 What are the focus areas for the neurodiversity ERG?
04:42 Can you talk about the job descriptions and how to identify if someone is ready to move into a new role?
07:20 What are some examples of skiing the trees where it didn’t work so well?
08:35 Is Ski the Trees partly to set the expectation that doing something new is going to be hard?
10:10 How do you decide when an office event or meeting should be firmwide or regional?
11:53 What’s the goal of sharing OK Classics?