In a world where architecture often prioritizes practicality over emotion, Alessandra Clemente aims to reshape our experience of the built environment. As a key architectural interior designer at Olson Kundig, Clemente is pushing the boundaries between storytelling, space, and interactivity and bringing a refreshing take to modern architecture.

From transforming a serene mountaintop retreat to delicately reimagining beloved cultural spaces in Seattle’s valued art scene, Clemente’s approach centers on more than aesthetics, I aim to highlight emotional resonance and cultural dialogue. Her process begins with immersive, sociocultural research and unfolds through technical precision and tactile sensitivity, ensuring each project responds deeply to its cont

“We’re not designing in a vacuum,” Clemente explains. “The success and longevity of a space depend on how well we’ve listened to the site, to the community, and to the quiet stories the land wants to tell.”

Narrative Architecture: Telling Stories Through Space and Material

Clemente’s projects usually have spatial planning and material selection act as narrative instruments. Working for a renowned hospitality brand, her design delicately translates the rugged beauty of the landscape into a refined spatial language, where stone paths, wood textures, and open-air transitions enhance the feeling of wonder and relaxation a retreat in the mountains should evoke. From the raw materials to the selection of finishes, all work in harmony to evoke serenity, staying true to the brand’s core value of “peace.”

Similarly, her work with a renowned Seattle museum renovation exemplifies how she employs subtle interventions to enhance, rather than overshadow, existing narratives. “This wasn’t about redesigning, but about listening and enhancing,” she says. Her quiet confidence as a designer shows in these restrained yet powerful moments.

A firm believer in adaptive reuse, Clemente views each project as an opportunity to honor the past while designing for the future. Whether working within cultural landmarks or forgotten structures, her intent remains consistent: to engage history with integrity, allowing contemporary needs to coexist with the space.

“I see adaptive reuse as a dialogue across time,” she says. “The layers of history give buildings character, and our role is to translate those layers into contemporary relevance—without erasing their origin.”

With this ethos Clemente was able to preserve the museum’s artistic legacy while enhancing its function and accessibility for the future.

 Clemente’s edge lies in her ability to integrate performance, interactivity, and temporality into permanent structures, skills honed during her time working with Alex Schweder, the performance-architecture pioneer. Participating in Schweder’s Islands installation in New Taipei City, Clemente explored how inhabitants can co-create space in real time, with architecture adapting to users' rhythms and needs.

“That experience taught me that temporality isn’t the enemy of architecture, it’s a dimension we need to embrace,” she notes. “Interactive design is a sustainable path forward. When spaces can adapt, they endure.”

Today at Olson Kundig, she brings that philosophy to high-end residential and hospitality projects, designing custom FF&E and kinetic millwork that allow occupants to reshape their environments, inviting users to become co-creators of their spaces.

Central to Clemente’s philosophy is her passion for handcrafted materials and sustainable sourcing. Whether collaborating with ceramicists to imprint local flora into custom woodwork or engaging artisans from different continents, she infuses each project with a human touch that is both global and deeply site-specific.

“The materials we use are shaped by stories of nature, of laborers, of craft traditions. I think it’s our job to showcase those stories, not obscure them,” she says.

Her multilingual fluency, English, Spanish, and Italian, enables her to navigate global projects with rare ease, bridging cultures and expanding the design vocabulary across borders. It's a skill that’s increasingly critical as she leads diverse international teams through concept development and material execution.

At the heart of Clemente’s work is a belief that design should be felt before it is understood. Her conceptual process nurtures abstract ideas through every phase, ensuring that the outcome retains the emotional clarity and intent of its origin. She adds, “Concepts shouldn’t die after schematic design,” she asserts. “They should evolve. Like memory, they should thread through the space, reminding us of where we started.” Alessandra's approach is profound and is a true example of Architecture as an artform.