Lots of glass and a lot less stuff make way for art and views

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The Smith Tower is like having a piece of sculpture," Olson says of this view from the office. "The city is a sculpture garden that you can look at from all these rooms." Two Arne Jacobsen Swan chairs from Fritz Hansen and a Warren Platner side table from Knoll sit beneath a cheerful painting by Eric Corrigan.

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"You can literally open the terrace up to the living space. In the summer it feels like it's the same space," Olson says. "There's a painting on the right; you have the stripes of that painting, you have the stripes of the wine rack and you have the stripes of the buildings outside. They are the same composition, one collage of patterns." The bronze figure is by Tom Corbin.

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"With the paintings, you pop these bright colors into the apartment," Olson says of this view of the dining room. "It's really powerful how the art becomes a focal point by being different from the black and white around it."

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"You have this collage on the inside of the loft, the art and the architecture, and then you have the buildings outside. The walls are invisible, and it's sort of one with the city," says architect Jim Olson of the downtown condo he calls Transparent Loft. "A lot of times we do this with nature, and in this case it flows together with the city." Heaters overhead make the terrace usable year 'round. The painting over the bed is by Tom Bolles, the bronze figure by Tom Corbin.

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"I think of cooking as theater," Olson says. "When you're sitting at the dining-room table the glass wall divides you a little bit, but it's fun to watch people in the kitchen doing things." The painting in the dining room is by Kris Cox.

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The walls of little white rocks in this powder room are actually tile. "The bathroom is treating everyday objects like sculpture: the sink and the toilet are sculptural objects. Art is everywhere if you perceive it that way," Olson says. The mat-finished sink is from Waterworks and the Purist Hatbox toilet from Kohler.

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The kitchen and the bathroom need a certain separation from the other rooms because of acoustics, so they are in a glass box," Olson says. "But when you want privacy you can pull a blind down and it goes away. Again, it's your daily life as theater. But it's really flexible: When they want to retreat they push buttons and walls come down. I think it's kind of the apartment of the future."

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The blackened-steel wall organizes "all those everyday things that are visually sometimes not always harmonious: the fireplace, the television, the speakers," Olson says. Ferguson laughs, "The only thing they lost out on is the TV." Interior designer Ted Tuttle didn't want a TV. "Jim didn't want one either, and it's all my husband wanted. I told Ted to let him have his TVs. We got the art and the furniture." Kathy Ferguson says. The figure at the end of the hall is by Tom Corbin.

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"You can look out at the view while you're brushing your teeth," Olson says of the see-through bathroom (with privacy blinds when desired). The counters are terrazzo. Ferguson loves it because while it's modern it is also found in many older buildings. Also, it's practically indestructible.

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