L'ESPRIT NOUVEAU

Everything in this picture is perfect...

2012-02-03T23:38:00.001+01:00

flickr: I got it

2012-02-03T17:56:00.000+01:00

2012-01-25T00:44:00.002+01:00

Two modern interpretations of these bathrooms:

Ok the last one may not be totally obvious, but if you note the rectangular tiles are of a similair size. I think both bear testament to a renewed interest in he bathrooms of the 70's. Bravo!

Lidingö, circa 1970.

2012-01-04T01:37:00.002+01:00

Green is the ultimate colour of a bahroom. What could be more cozy than standing under a hot shower imagining yourself in a rainforest? This also relates to Le Corbusiers ideas on colour - he basically thought that the shade of a floor/wall/ceiling should correspond to nature's palette. In this age where every bathroom is supposed to be some spa-hamam-refuge, green tiles ought to be more popular than they are.

Sadly, few people dwelve on these matters for mucher longer than it takes to look through the latest IKEA catalogue. And the two bathrooms above, with their fantastic rustic, domestically hand-made ceramic tiles so typical of he late sixties - early seventies, have a very uncertain future, now that the house has been sold. Statistically, they will not make it. And it is a great fatal irony that the possibility of the new owners having chosen exactly this house because of its spatial character, surely furnishing it with mid-century teak cabinets and Eames DSR's (Dowel legs); yet remain completely oblivious to the aesthtic kindred spirit that such bathrooms (and kitchens, mind you) are in relation to the afore-mentioned furniture that they just had to have.

But mark my words:

One day, they'll regret it.

Fiscally or otherwise.

IT'S OFFICIAL: I'm moving to Switzerland

2012-01-03T01:11:00.001+01:00

Strada del Roccolo, Ascona, Switzerland.

Casa Tuja, the house of Hans Grelling, created by Richard Neutra in 1961-3. Situated at the fot of Monte Verità, overlooking lake Maggiore. Does it get better than this? Me thinks not.

Upper floor as pictured below; first floor contains the garage, a guest room and another living room, or gillestuga as we say in sweeeden.

Another modern interpretation of the alpine chalet here.

from the immensely resourceful trianglemodernisthouses.com

Happy new year!

2012-01-02T00:39:00.000+01:00

/from Berlin

Ice Cube Celebrates The Eames

2011-12-19T22:35:00.001+01:00

This is fantastic. I watched it twice in a row. Hands up anyone who's surprised!

Christopher Eric Hitchens, 1949-2011

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My hero.

... Like this.

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Good Fit

2011-11-13T23:52:00.004+01:00

The villa below should have had some fitting furniture. Summin' like this hea:

Hans-Erik Johansson, Westberga.

Harry Bertoia, Knoll

Unknown, Swedish.

Fabricius/Kastholm, Nordisk solar.

Finn Juhl, Bovirke

And the floor should have been a carpeted, woven from jute or coconut or similar, like above, or here. "A rug on a rug?" you say? Perfeción, I say. With a Spanish accent.

Anymous Architecture: Villa by Kystvejen

2011-11-13T21:09:00.003+01:00

There are alot of solid good houses, immaculate in materials and execution, that will never make it to the design and architecture literature. L'ESPRIT NOUVEAU exists to present these anonymous objects of design alongside their more famous dito. Below you'll find one of these works of architecture that have been forgotten or probably never acknwledged in the first place. The pictures (by Mikael Strange -nothing wrong with them) come from a run-of-the-mill interior magazine article that focuses more on the boring and semi-chic owner-couple and their uninspiring collection of white shite that clutters the beautiful structure that an architect named Ole Henriksen gave birth to just north of Copenhagen, sometime on the sixties. That house is of course the true star of the article, and it is a shame that not more focus is layed upon it - or what's left of it. No floorplan. And while the owner-couple makes alot of talk of staying true to the original spirit of the house - they always do - walls have aparetly been moved, floors replaced and *surprise, surprise* a new kitchen has been installed. The best thing about the interiors of the house is not surprisingly the part that is untouched by the new owners:

The entrance, an architectural space in it's own right as was often the case with these villas of the sixties. Greenlandish marble and oregon pine, and black metal fixtures. Ole Henriksen knew what he was doing, all right.

Kongelys

2011-11-13T19:53:00.002+01:00

"King's Lighting" by Fog & Mørup. Oxidised brass. A Lamp stripped down to its bare essentials, infused with scandinavian poetry. Shown in the oak-filled apartement here.

Gillestuga

2011-11-13T02:18:00.002+01:00

In a souterrain-house in Skälderviken, Ängelholm.

from this house listing

Ari

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O A K

2011-10-25T20:09:00.002+02:00

Oak is probably my favourite wood. Look at the picures below and you'll see why.

This apartment belongs to the owner of Movement Design. Note the beautiful cabinet in the first picture, by Børge Mogensen, and the lamp, by Fog & Mørup. The chair hanging above it is one made for the H55 exhibition in Helsingborg by Björn Hultén. The art in the last picture is by Beck & Ljung; the bench, table and chairs are by Mogensen.

pictures by Patric Johansson/Söderberg Arkitektur

The Kronish House by Richard Neutra is Safe

2011-10-23T19:53:00.001+02:00

... The last remaining Richard Neutra house in Beverly Hills - The Kronish House - was about to be razed to the ground. Why? Because the former owner, Soda Partners, having themselves aquired the property in January at a foreclosure for $ 5.8 million, were having problems flipping it for an even 14 mil. They then reasoned that selling the 2-acre lot (about 8,000 sq. metres) WITHOUT the house would be easier. Luckily, with the help of a campaign to buy the house started by Neutra's son (and co-architect of he Kronish House) Dion Neutra, the house was sold to a private citizen with an intent to preserve.

About the house

The 650 square metre large single-story house is outfitted wih six bedrooms, and is one of the largest and most lavishly decorated Neutra ever built, with marble fireplaces and hardwood walls. It was built in 1955 for real estate developer Herbert Kronsih and his wife. The house and it's garden is said to be "extremely quiet". And if you would have bought the house, you would have gotten Madonna as your neighbour. If that's plus or not, I'll leave unsaid.

pictures from here.

more pictures of its current state here.

LINDHAGENPLANEN - 1866

2011-10-23T16:22:00.001+02:00

This is the blueprint of modern day Stockholm, created by politician Alber Lindhagen. They bear strong influence from Georges-Eugéne Haussman's plans for Paris.

The rough strokes are the same today, but some things have changed - majorly Norrmalm/Klara/City, one century after this plan was presented.

Wood Cabin

2011-10-17T17:46:00.004+02:00

This incredibly inspiring house is the Catton residence, designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson in 1967. It is situated on a steep rock face; it overlooks the Georgia Strait, west Vancouver, Canada.

The house just makes me think of the Macahan family in "How the West Was Won". Maybe it's just that grainy 70's polaroid effect, or the scenic landscapes, but the house does have a cowboy feel to it, no? Of course, the house is rooted in history, which we like. Sublimely, functionally, and understated.

Look at that veranda.

Could this be one of the world's most beautiful fireplaces? It is shaped like the building... The art of fireplace architecture has really gone lost...

This is a view from the house' entry, where the panorama view is not yet revealed.

The interior and exterior walls are cedar, the floors oak and the doors and cabinets are mahogany.

Photos from Arthur Erickson's homepage.

From Hans Asplund's Nordiska Kompaniet

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Photo by Stellan Herner for ELLE Interiör

When you look at these pictures you really see that this place has the potential to become once again the gem that it once was.

More about the department store where this was shot here.

oranges

2011-09-05T01:07:00.001+02:00

PROBABLY THE BEST SAKE IN THE WORLD

2011-08-31T16:54:00.001+02:00

Well, certainly the most beautiful bottle design ever made - Kozaemon, 3 years.

A House by Bertel Udsen

2011-08-31T16:38:00.001+02:00

On the Danish golden coast overlooking Öresund you will find one beutiful modernist house after the next. Particularly Rungsted seems o have many of these post-war houses, of the kind one rarely sees in Sweden - if ever. Why that is I haven't figured out. Fuel for thought on why Denmark is superior to Sweden in almost every sense, anyway.

This may not be the mos radical or interesting of these houses, but i's pretty nice alright. Though I do feel that the new kitchen island - although quite beautiful and well made, seems rather unfunctional. I am no one for mixing living rooms and kitchens either (unless your name is Seinfeld).

Notice that the end walls are lined with wood paneling on the outside as well as on the inside. The woodwork - including the new kitchen - seems to be oregon pine, if I'm not mistaken.

The house was built in 1966 by architect Bertel Udsen. More on him another time.

Buy it now at Mette Lykken Bolig

Let's Drive Through Copenhagen!

2011-07-28T13:55:00.001+02:00

...and take pictures!

Henning Larsen's Ferring centre, 1998-2002, with aditions being built now.

Yes, that's a beer can he's holding.

Facory complexes are beautiful, aren't they?

This hotel caught my eye because of the quite beautiful brickwork on it's side. Interesting 'take' on curtain wall construction for the 21st century.

"Den Sorte Diamant" - "the Black Diamond", Schmidt Hammer Lassen, 1999

Next to it was this really interesting building:

That's a greenish marble, anddetails of copper. Awesome.

Good architecture.

Danmarks Nationalbank and the architectural pride of Copenhagen. Arne Jacobsen, 1961-78

Nice bridge and...

...the Foreign Ministry, by Halldor Gunnløgsson, 1977-80

Functionalised building.

Great funkis.

More great funkis at Englandsvej/Peder Lykkes Vej, Amager.

And great attic-apartments!

2011-07-25T16:36:00.000+02:00

Those great-looking benches at the Roskilde Crematory reminded me of a couple of pieces of Danish design finished in blonde wood and tan leather:

A rare Ilse Rix dining set, oak, 60's.

Poul Kjaerholm's très japonais PK 27 lounge chairs and PK66 coffee table, PP Møbler, from 1971.

Kaare Klint's iconic Safari-chairs, here in ash,with a matching slate-top taple; designed 1933; produced by Rud Rasmussen.

An ash Wegner CH?? with the characteristic swivel-back, produced by Carl Hansen & Søn; I'm guessing 50's...

Lastly, these rarer leather-covered versions of Arne Jacobsen's Milano Triennale Grand Prix-winning chairs model 3130. Laminated beech legs; designed in '57; produced by Fritz Hansen.

All these pieces are available from Jackson's.

Roskilde Krematorium

2011-07-21T20:41:00.002+02:00

Today I drove down to Roskilde to pick up some interesting and rare Wegner chairs I had bought (but more on them later). I went by the crematory, a stunningly simple exhibiton of roman brick, bronze and copper, and oak and leather on the inside, created by a young Henning Larsen in 1963. The three buildings surround an intimate courtyard, and is flanked by a beautiful graveyard. The asymetric shape of the chapel hall does bring to mind Sigurd Lewerentz 1925 Chapel of the Resurrection, interestingly enough. I take it that even then architects were inspired by the strange neo-classicism of Skogskyrkogården.

My pictures weren't very good, so you'll have to do with these nice vintage ones:

Eskilstuna Funkis

2011-05-31T20:45:00.000+02:00

Eskilstuna is only worth a visit because of this house.

Bamsestolen, 1950

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A chair that allows for a constant changing of siting-positions - Hans J. Wegner's recipe for true comfort.

Perhaps he had ADD.

Didn't you see the sign, woman?! It's a chair for a maaan...

And by the way, it's only $395.

Here's an informative film about the chair.

2011-05-28T00:25:00.001+02:00

With the hills, vegetation and baroque church this certainly looks like Rome, doesn't it? Great looking space that seems to be a later addition to a brick building. The large terrace, and seating area suggests that this is a hotel. Notice the Gae Aulenti lamps and Timo Sarpaneva ashtrays. And the jute-rug, which I adore. I keep on coming back to this picture. Great architecture is what it is.

Who knows more about this place?

MELLOTRON

2011-05-26T14:44:00.001+02:00

Never mind a "conversation piece" - this bad boy will get any party-goer on her feet/in a bed swinging!

Mediterranean Modern

2011-05-19T14:40:00.002+02:00

... in Spain, perhaps?

Protection against the sun is en ever-recuring theme in the architecture of the mediterranean - now as in antiquity. At the same time the climate allows for window sizes and vegetation on a much larger scale than what we see here in the North.

from ARCHITECTURE, COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SUSTAINIBILITY

Via Ancona, Milano

2011-05-03T22:23:00.001+02:00

House 1:

House 2:

House 3&4:

Another set of unknown italian 60's residential housing. Italy needs stop taking this unique heritage for granted and promote it better - Milan's the design capital of the world ffs!

Osvaldo Borsani

2011-05-01T23:30:00.000+02:00

I must admit I had never cared to sudy the work of Osvaldo Borsani (1911 - 1985) as carefuly as I should have, but afer actually seeing his famous 1954 designed P40 lounge chair in Milano the other week, I needed to find out more about the strangely out-of-time designer and his unique work. Him and his brother founded the apptly-titled furniture producing-firm Tecno in 1953, and if I understand things correctly, he had by the end of his career collaborated with a respectable group of like-mindeds, including Norman Foster, Renzo Piano and Gae Aulenti.

Oz believed that design should work alongside technical innovations...

He also made some very nice shelving systems:

Interiors:

Ploum Sofa for Ligne Rosét

2011-04-28T13:00:00.001+02:00

If the Grand Prix of the Milano Triennal still existed, this year it would definately go to the Bouroullec brothers (they'ree the new Eames brothers!) for their Ploum sofa, made by Ligne Rosét.

In the words of one ove the brouvvas (who can tell them apart?!):

Erwan and I were aiming to design a sofa that would be particularly comfortable but different from anything else already on the market. "Ploum" has a very sensual feel to it. It is reminiscent of a ripe fruit, one that is almost too juicy to eat. (...) We have been interested in sponge for around 15 years now. In our opinion it is a material that is particularly associated with comfort. (...) "Ploum" has no edges, its backrest is high and its seat low. Everything about "Ploum" is designed in such a way that users can sit or lie comfortably in as many positions as possible on it - reading, sleeping or sitting opposite each other as a couple.

Franco Albini

2011-04-28T01:13:00.006+02:00

Franco Albini (b. 1905 d. 1977) is the name of the the italian neo-rationalist, proto-high tech architect/designer, whose Milan 1940 apartment we see above and further down the page. A one-off sailboat inspired bookshelf-prototype from 1938 acted as a space divider (until it collapsed); it has now been meticously re-constructed and reproduced by the technicians of Cassina. Originaly built from ready-made industrial components, its current price from Cassina should spur any Do-It-Yourself-ers to the challenge of creating one's own. Also notice the paintings hung on poles in the middle of the rooms.

If you imagine yourself seeing traces of Gio Ponti's work, then you just may be right (or lucky): Albini worked for Uncle Joe for a year after graduating from architecture school in 1929 (Politecnico di Milano. The year after he set up his own shop). Having said that, the differences in their respectice works are vast. Compared to the structure-driven designs of Albini, Ponti can come of as a luxurious décorateur; Albini instead focusing on devoting his time to designing for the common man.

Desk from 1950 for Knoll, based on a 1938 design.

The 1959 Tre Pezzi chair, inspired by the bergère`. For Carlo Poggi, Pavia, now reissued by Cassina.

Edificio per uffici INA - Parma, 1950 - 54

Galleria di Palazzo Rosso - Genova, 1952 - 62

And last but not least: The breakthrough:

A glass radio. From 1938! (Guten Morgen Schneewittchensarg!) Presented at the 1940 Wohnbedarf-exhibition in Zürich.

source: fondazione franco albini

Piazza Carlo Mirabella, Milan

2011-04-25T16:07:00.005+02:00

Fantastic house by a to me unknown architect. Perhaps You, the Reader, know something about it?

Marble Floors of Milan

2011-04-24T13:40:00.004+02:00

Douglas House

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Richard Meier / 1973 / Harbor Springs / Michigan

Illum Wikkelsø Model V11

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The chairs that go with this sofa.

By Holger Christiansen, Jylland.

2011-03-24T18:40:00.001+01:00

Hotelier André Balasz' apartment, with red Poul Kjaerholm PK-31's, on a red rug. Nice.

Good design never dies, but colours, patterns and sometimes materials do come and go with fashions. Red leather is a material that judged by auction results evidently just isn't that hot right now. It's too bold, too shiny, too vintage car-seat-y. But Mr. Balasz has managed to offset all of this by placing his red - albeit muted red - Kjaerholm reading lounge on a matching red shag carpet, creating a cozy-corner that is both rero and very fresh. The backdrop of the very simple, geometric white bookshelves do their part, of course.

A Room with a View for Improvement

2011-03-17T16:14:00.001+01:00

A typical Stockholm apartment from the 1880's, with a fantastic Nanna Ditzel desk and a Hans J. Wegner CH-35 chair, an Poul Henningsen Artichoke lamp and a small sculpture by the great artist Lars Englund, left on the 30's mantelpiece. Nice, but sure as shit not as nice as this apartment. You got a nice collection started, and your muted palette's not bad either, but you need to throw out all the ikea shit and buy some decent furniture, like here, or here. You know you can afford to.

pictures by Bobo Olsson

Give me big windows and a view, and some mid--century furniture...

2011-03-17T15:32:00.001+01:00

...And I'm happy.

pictures by Richard Foulser

Wright Modern Design, 31st March, 2011

2011-03-09T12:31:00.000+01:00

Stilnovo, Milo Baughman, Warren Platner, George Nelson. All and more at the upcoming Wright Modern Design Auction of March 31st, 2011.

2011-03-06T19:20:00.002+01:00

Carl-Harry Stålhane (1920-1990) is my favourite ceramicist. He is mostly known for his sophisticated and delicate vessels in various shapes and forms, as well as the many sets of tableware he created for Rörstrand. But he was also a master of the now forgotten and unappreciated reliefed ceramic wall.

For Sparbanken

"Dynamik" for the SAAB headquarters.

Beauty Salon Furniture

2011-03-04T22:38:00.004+01:00

Chair for Nordiska Kompaniets Skönhetssalong (the department store NK's beauty salon), designed by Hans Asplund in 1955. About six were made.

That rug ain't so bad neither.

The interior was most likely designed by him as well, it carries his trademark decorative, organic and costly shapes and materials, obviously inspired by his father - Erik Gunnar Asplund. According to Wikipedia he was employed here between '51-53, though the addition he created to the department store was built between 1961 and '64.

The boxy shape to the left is another addition, an entrance by Bengt Lindroos, built in 1973. This picture don't give these buildings any justice, they're both quite tasteful and sophisticated austere sructures. Maybe, if I'm lucky, Rävjägarn will capture it soon. But the cars are nice tough.

Suburbs

2011-03-03T23:01:00.003+01:00

"The Suburbs" by Aracde Fire, from the album "The Suburbs".

Beautiful Glass Doors

2011-03-01T15:18:00.002+01:00

"Harpan 49" on Narvavägen 25, Stockholm. Built in 1930-31, this is one of the earliest examples of Swedish functionalist architecture. A residential building built in the affluent Östermalm area, for an affluent clienteleas seen in the fine attention to detail, such as these marvellous glass doors leading in to the great room. The yellow-sained glass is the original, he clear ones are modern replacements. They don't make 'em like they used to.

Architect: B Borgström

Comissioner: Nilsson & Bredberger

Contractor: Looström & Gelin

The original radiator-covers contain storage compartments.

interior shots from Vårt Nya Hem

"Liefesteel" from Flexform

2011-02-28T18:36:00.002+01:00

2006

via Lotta Agaton

Father and Son Grung, Part II: Geir Grung

2011-02-27T16:22:00.001+01:00

Geir Grung (1926-1989) followed in his father's footsteps and became an architect. He studied alongside Sverre Fehn, under the influential Arne Korsmo, and the three alongside Christian Norberg-Schulz, Håkon Mejlva, and P.A.M. Mellbye founded PAGON (Progressive Architects Group Oslo Norway) in 1950, an influential think tank that helped spur creativity throughout Norway's architectural landscape, bringing continuation to the pre-war functionalist ideals and shaping them into architecture for a new age. Sverre Fehn and Geir Grung would work together several times over the coming years, both shaping the finest work of post-war modernism from Norway.

Above and below we see Geir Grung's own house, Villa Jongskollen. The building lies upon some great Norwegian mountain, overlooking firs and fjords, like a nordic Farnsworth house. The idea of a raised living room, enabling the firt class view, is as clever as the rest of the house's planning. It is surely one of he most spectacular villas ever built.

More information on Geir Grung can be found in the Norwegian National Museum's exhibition on post-war Norwegian architecture. Or in this book.

Photo by Jonas Aarre Sommarset

Økern Aldershjem (retirement home in Økern), a collaboration between Geir Grung and Sverre Fehn in 1955 that received the A.C. Houen Foundation diploma.

An ineresting residential building on President Harbitz gate 21, Oslo, 1967. Notice the large windows, generous balcoies and car park.

Pictures by Helen Frøyseth/Hardanger Folkeblad

The elecrical powerplant in Røldal/Suldal, by many regarded as his magnus opus. Now converted into a hotel, see below.

It has a leaf gold fireplace...

thanks Christin/fine ting og sjokolade!

Eyo, whatup, Bird?!

2011-02-26T03:39:00.000+01:00

- Omar Little

Birds have always fascinated me. They're really just flying dinosaurs you know.

Sylt House

2011-02-23T01:33:00.002+01:00

Ad-Man Wolfgang Behnken of Young & Rubicam, whose Hamburg apartment I posted here, also owns a retreat on the island Sylt (the German equivalent of St. Tropez, Malibu, Båstad ,or what have you) - equally sparsely decorated with 20th century design icons - such as the Florence Knoll sofas, Serge Mouille lamps, and Hans J. Wegner Cowhorn-chairs along Kjaerholm tables. A rare vintage Jean Prouvé Standard-chair and desk is seen on the upper floor of this traditional Friezenhaus, and stacks of books and magazines are scattered around the floor, whilst photography by superstars such as Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton are to be found here and there on the floor. I'll never understand it. Looks striking though, even though the palette is quite earthy.

from ELLE DECOR italia

Eating Pecan Pie Like a Stylish but Neurotic Texan

2011-02-22T20:13:00.003+01:00

Looks like a still out of A Single Man, don' it? Or American Psycho. Whichever.

While on the topic of food I couldn't help but to post this picture from Wallpaper*, styled by my man Tom Ford, as well as the recipe for this southern usonian tradition.

1 cup of white Karo syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs flour
1 cup pecans

Beat the eggs and sugar together, add flour, then syrup, vanilla and pecans.

Pour into a 9in prepared pie shell.

Bake in an oven at 150°C for one hour.

Kitchen by Ahlstrands

2011-02-21T20:04:00.001+01:00

Not all that is new is bad. When things are made with quality, they can last a lifetime (or two). This kitchen was made old school, by 50-year old carpentry firm Ahlstrands, in what I believe is Santos palisander.

via funkisjakten

Flöjtblåsaren 2

2011-02-21T16:49:00.009+01:00

From the mid 30's to the early 70's, apartment-buildings all over Sweden were being modernised: windows replaced, facade-ornamentations stripped, kitchens and bathrooms installed and floorplans dissected. This was done for several reasons, the most important factor being the Swedish welfare-states ambition of raising the living standard for each and every Swede - if not the largest, then by all means the most successfull such a transformation of an entire nation.

But aesthetics was an important factor too, especially when it comes to the more well-off inhabitants the inner city, who according to the architectural eqiuvalent of Laver's law were bored with the old and yearned for the new.

They still do.

In the pictures below we stumble across yet another document of time: 1968, Stockholm, upper middle-class couple. I am reminded of the Californian house I wrote about not too long ago, but also the office and home of architect Henry Haubro-Nielsen in southern Stockholm, and like the latter, I vow to the new owners to save as much of these wonderfully qualitative detailing as possible. This house has, albeit tastefully, already been tarnished with once, and we have to remember that it was still real craftsmen and carpenters who redid its interiors. This time round I am not so sure it will be updated with the same finesse. Don't get me wrong, renovation may be neccessary, but tossing out the kitchen, bathroom and doors isn't. (And while you're at it, put up some fresh but vintage sea-weed wallpaper from Tapetorama).

Hopefully Roy Andersson will buy it.

On paper Sweden has since the end of the eighties quite strong (too strong at times, not strong enough other times) protection of the built environment, but it is almost exclusively for exteriors. Few interiors, especially ones like these, are being saved.

And they are becoming increasingly rare.

Pork, mutton, lamb roast, ham, game, beef, veal, roast beaf... No teppanyaki as far as the eye can see. Need help with this?

Perstorp-laminate, pattern "VirrVarr", designed by Sigvard Bernadotte in 1958.

See the rest of the photos here, at Fantastic Frank

Union 76 Gas Station

2011-02-15T00:47:00.001+01:00

Beverly Hills, 1965, by Gin Wong and William L. Pereira.

via A nave do bom gosto

Party at the Kaufmann's

2011-02-11T22:46:00.004+01:00

The Kaufmann Desert House, Palm Springs. Designed by Richard Neutra in 1946.

Rainbow House

2011-02-10T21:55:00.003+01:00

Comparing architecture to music is quite a clichée, but with this house, considering it was built for jazz musician Russ Garcia, such an allegory isn't too far off.

This above video, featuring Devendra Banhart and his girlfriend, beautifully directed by Lisa Eisner, was made for spectacle-firm Oliver Peoples (you know, American Psycho?). It is set in the Garcia residence, also known as the Rainbow House (which was pulled down by an aussie hillbilly with a mullet and a truck in Lethal Weapon 2) on Mulholland Drive, designed in 1964 by none other the man himself - the master of googie architecture - John Lautner. It is a truly amazing house, and it only gets bettter once you see it's insides and the stunning spaces it posesses.

Picture by Julius Shulman

Pictures by Francois Dischinger

The house had seen it's best days, and at the turn of the millenia, countless "improvements" had wrecked the soul of the house, but its current owners has however had it renovated by architects Marmol & Radziner, who also worked on the restoration of Richard Neutra's Kaufmann house, and the decorator, Darren Brown, put that old-school playboy-feel to the interiors.

The binuclear floorplan of the building is as genius as it is original, and I cannot help to wonder why it hasn't been more widely copied. On the one side of the house exists the private sphere: bedrooms, bathrooms, an office and a movie room - spaces that do not demand the grand volume of the great room, situated in the other wing, along with an elevated dining area and a open kitchen. When it in 2002 came on the market, it did so at the bargain price of $1,395,000.

Middle-Class Home, California, ca. 1960-ish

2011-02-06T21:14:00.001+01:00

It is seldom that the work of the design-heroes of yesterday, displayed in producer catalogues, truly reflect the visual zeitgeist of a certain time. Normal folks hade a taste cheaper and more conservative, as well as countless heirlooms to look after, making their homes less interesting from an aesthetic viewpoint, but perhaps more from a historical one. History has most often been written with the rich and famous in mind, while forsaking the common man. It is only recently that it has changed, but along with this comes several problems. Historians are finding it difficult locating information and artefacts, while conservers are having troubles deciding on what should be conserved. This, I reckon, is especially hard when dealing with the recent history, because who cares about yesterday's news? Only when something is forgotten can it be remembered - and recherished.

So it is therefore with great joy whenever one stumbles across a true fossil of a certain time and place, like in these pictures from a real estate ad of a Californian 1958 house, not touched since the early seventies. With a tiki-bar!

You don't get to step into such a time machine every day (except when Mad Men is on).

via LA curbed

Statens normalskola

2011-02-06T14:51:00.004+01:00

Statens normalskola. The State's Normal-School.

Whatever that means.

The hour is late for you, dear old neighbour. And while it may be summer in this picture, you are at the dawn of your life. A much too short life, for you are only 62 years old. You could have lasted hundreds of years - your (then famous, now but forgotten) maker (Poul Hedqvist), chose his materials carefully: only the best of yellow brick, wood and marble would do. Now I do not know if you will see your sixty-third year. And for what? Shiny (not for long) red plastic and sub-par Stalinist housing projects? Fools, they are! Commiting the same mistakes again and again, not ever learning from history.

But we'll come back to you later to say our formal goodbye's.

I wonder if they'll be tearing down SandellSandberg's houses in 50 years?

more on Kungliga Musikhögskolan here.

Illum Wikkelsø Office Suite

2011-01-17T20:59:00.001+01:00

Need some new office furniture? Bruun Rasmussen are clubbing a desk, a conference/dining table, eight chairs and two sideboards with bookcases by the slightly obscure and underrated danish designer Illum Wikkelsø, produced by P. Schultz & Co.

Unknown Lounge

2011-01-17T13:51:00.004+01:00

A unknown lounge, probably the coolest one I've ever seen, with chairs by Warren Platner and Fun-chandeliers by Verner Panton.

from the set "mid-century modern living" on flickr, via WANKEN

Update: This was the lobby of the Verner Panton-designed interior of the office of Der Spiegel. More pictures are coming soon!

Erik Herløw's Bungalow

2011-01-12T16:17:00.003+01:00

Christmas was spent small fishers' hamlet Segelstorps strand, Skåne, Sweden, where in 1947 the 38-year old Danish arhitect and designer Erik Herløw, three years out of Kongelige Danske Kunstakademie and two years after staring his own firm, drew this summerhouse for clothing-magnate Harald Schlasberg.

Pictures by yours truly.

Erik Herløw went on to be a successful industrial designer, working for Georg Jensen, Royal Copenhagen, Dansk Aluminium Industri among others, being a founding member of Selskabet for Industriel Formgivning (the Danish Societ for Industrial Design) and becoming a proffessor in industrial design at the Kongelige Danske Kunstakademie between 1959 to 1979. He was also one in a long line of great designers to have worked for SAS, having designed the interior of the A-300 Airbus planes at the end of the 70's.

Today his most widely available design is the stainless steel flatware series Obelisk for Hackman.

2011-01-06T02:04:00.002+01:00

I can look at this picture for ages.

Angela Lindvall shot by Camilla Åkrans for Harper's Bazaar, on a DS-600 sofa from De Sede, designed by Eleonore Peduzzi Riva, Ueli Berger, Heinz Ulrich, and Klaus Vogt in 1972.

see the rest of the shoot here; via the North Elevation

Sturegatan 13 & 15, Stockholm

2011-01-03T02:48:00.001+01:00

Picture by yours truly, published in the think-tank Östermalmsnytt.

Built between 1966-1970 by Jaenecke & Samuelsson, as "Statstjänstemännens hus" ("House of Civil Servants"). This building always intrigued me. The iregularely placed windows between the bronze coloured anodised aluminum taunts me to figure out a pattern. So far without success. Today asymetry has become the cliché-decoration of choice, but it is a quite rare find in Swedish office architecture from the 60's.

Picture from Stockholmskällan's Building Inventory

The spacious and light lobby has been rebuilt into something that looks more like a janitor's closet. There used to be a full wall painting here by C.O. Hultén, made in enamel at the ceramics factory of Gustafsberg. I mailed the League of Swedish Officers, which currently uses the building, to ask if there was any possibility of seeing the piece, but with no answer.

I guess they were too busy jerking each other off, planning picnics in exotic countries like Afghanistan, or doing whatever the hell else the Swedish defense' been doing for the past 195 years, while hoping they still have a job to go to tomorrow (not bloody likely).

Halldor Gunnløgsson's Second Home

2010-12-22T18:26:00.005+01:00

It seems as if Danish architect Halldor Gunnløgsson built himself another, even nicer home after this one - and not too long after either. In the same area as well (Denmark's golden coast). Strange.

Great photos too.

Update: The second house was built between 1958-9, when Mr. Gunnløgsson had remarried. He lived here with his wife Lillemor until his death in 1985, and Lillemor may still live there. The astonishing pictures are from what seems to be a great book called Scandinavian Modern Houses. More information on Jakob Halldor Gunnløgsson and this house in particular here.

"The building is erected as a wooden framework between the two end walls. The end walls are made in stone and are white-washed, while the wooden construction is stained in dark shades... The "glass-walls" on this side have two sliding doors, also in glass, which form the entrance to the terrace. The interiors are typical of Gunnløgsson's work: simple materials and very few colours. The ceilings are constructed by means of untreated deal battens. The visible beams are stained in dark shades in the same manner as the supporting timber described above. The interior walls are made of wood and varnished black and have a polished surface. The sliding doors, which separate the main room from the kitchen and the bedroom, are painted in a light grey while the chimney brickwork is treated as the outer walls and white-washed. To keep the simplicity and the minimalist impression even the heating pipes are invisible, embedded in the floor and covered by heat-conducting Swedish marble also, in a light grey tone."

To me, this is quite possibly the perfect house.

Thanks, Derek!

via A nave do bom gosto

Matthias Hoch - Silver Tower

2010-12-22T14:43:00.003+01:00

Today is the last day at Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm (Hudiksvallsgatan 8, open until 6) to see Matthias Hoch pictures of the hollow Silver Tower in Frankfurt. The now-defunct Dresdner Bank had famous typographer and designer Otl Aicher together with ABB achitects draw the building - and everything in it - and when it opened in 1978 as the bank's headquarters it stood as the talest building in Germany.

The building's name comes from the aluminum façade it carries. The design is meticulous in every detail - all shapes and objects - including desks, lightswitches and various buttons, windows and even the floorplan, are shaped as as rounded rectangles. The building must have been immensely expensive to build - ammenities to staff included a pool on the 32nd story, and a conference room secure from wiretapping, with an amazing light installation over it's rounded- edge squared table (see above). Ken Adam, set designer famous from cold-war thrillers such as a number of James Bond flicks, as well as Dr. Strangelove, could not have designed a better set for this paranoid reality-supersedes-fiction aspect of corporate architecture during the cold war.

But alas, Matthias Hoch is not an architectural photographer per se. The architecture only serves as a backdrop to his socially investigative photography where banal pictures of stacked late-seventies chairs, or a perfectly designed but dusty control panel of unknown use, reveals a lost age - but also a preperation for a new dawn. In early 2009 the Commerzbank took over the Dresdner bank, but since they already have their own headquarters in a later, taller building by Norrman Foster, and because a sale in the midst of the financial crisis was deemed impossible, the building is under renovation by russian workers for future leasing to the Deutsche Bahn. It was during this period that Matthias Hoch had full access to the building, and even though the new owners are opting for a certificate of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen - approval that the renovation was carried out with the utmost respect for the original design, it is unknown whether the blue and red late-seventies chairs will remain, as well as many of the other designs specifically made for thebuilding.

More information at Galerie Nordenhake.

Archival photos of the Silver Tower:

by Lauren Manning

More Red Wegners

2010-12-11T16:19:00.000+01:00

Red Hans J. Wegner CH-24 "Wishbone-chars", or "Y-chairs as we call them in scandinavia. Not quiete as poetic. See the red vintage Wegner chairs here.

first picture from Lauritz.com

second probably an add from Carl Hansen & Søn on Dinesen Douglas fir floors

third from the home of Filippa Knutsson, from Elle interiör, via annagillar

Photographer Anita Calero's West Chelsea Loft

2010-12-07T01:21:00.000+01:00

Nice space, great use of colour and great collection of industrial furniture, including a rare collapsable Jean Prouvé 'Standard'-chair.

from LofLife Magazine

Ursa Major

2010-12-05T21:30:00.000+01:00

While living in Argentina in the fifties, danish artist-author-designer-inventor-mahematician-poet Piet Hein created this candelabra to remind him of his home. It is modelled after the star constellation Ursa Major, "the Plough", which is only visible from the northern hemisphere.

available from Jackson's

Oops...

2010-12-05T20:56:00.003+01:00

Apple may be the company today we think of first which actually takes product design seriously. Too bad those products don't always run nearly as smooth as they look.

Pictures by Paul Fairchild, via my new favourite blog COLT+RANE

2010-12-03T15:15:00.000+01:00

Good-looking picture of a good-looking bridge. I wonder where it is located...

Richard Neutra in Europe - Rang Haus

2010-12-03T01:53:00.003+01:00

These photos are from Iwaan Baan's series of houses built by Neutra in Europe between 1960-1970, which was showing at the MARTa Herford Museum, Herford, Germany this summer, and the Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel this fall.

Richard Neutra's post-war creations in Europe are lesser known than their counterparts in California, but no less fantastic. The house above was built in 1961 in the outskirts of Königstein for a professor at the University of Frankfurt.

In this case, pictures say more than a 1000 words, and Iwaan Baan's photgraphy really makes you feel as if you were standing right there, in the middle of this amazing house.

Man, I wish that was my office in the last picture.

Buy the book here.

Father and Son Grung

2010-12-02T15:54:00.001+01:00

When it comes to design and architecture, Norway's contribution tends to be downplayed - something which I can find no good reason for. This is a shame, but below you will find examples of great norwegian architecture by father and son Grung.

LEIF GRUNG

Leif Kuhnle Grung, born 1894, was the pioneer of functionalism in his native Bergen, Norway. Having studied in Stockholm he was heavily inspired by Erik Gunnar Asplund, but also by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Bauhaus. Being the champion of modern architecture in Bergen he became both heavily criticised and highly respected. Kalmarhuset, perhaps his most striking, almost expressionistic, work in Bergen - built from white concrete and dark-red brick, received the following statement from Bergen's most important pre-modernist architect Fredrik Konow Lund: the so-called Kalmarhuset is a school-example of what not to build in a culture-village like Bergen".

In 1945, shortly after the war, Leif Grung was accused of conspiring with the Germans, and was thus expelled from the Bergen Architectural Association. Leif Kuhnle, who was described as having "a remarkable personality with a distinctive artistic nerve" was devastated, and commited suicide.

A few days later, the first prisoners of war returned from Germany, who testified that not only was he falsely accused, but that he had been an intermediary for the escape routes to England, as well as a saboteur of German building plans.

In 1949 he was awarded the Houens Foundations Prize for Good Architecture posthumously for his Blaauwgården building.

Villa Lau-Eide, 1935

(photo by Klaas Vermaas)
Kalmarhuset, 1936.

(Photo by Thorir Vidar/panografi.com )

Blaauwgården, 1936. The building is aesthetically divided into two wings to represent its functions: offices on the left - storage to the right. The building also incorporates elements of traditional dock architecture in Bergen.

(Photo by Thorir Vidar/panografi.com )

Sources and further information:

http://kulturnett.ivest.no/tema/modernisme/default.htm

http://www.ub.uib.no/prosj/mellomkrigstid/web-mellomkrigstid/kunstogkultur/arkitektur/funkis/funkis.htm

To be continued.

Hamburg Apartment

2010-11-29T21:21:00.003+01:00

There's nothing baroque about the neo-baroque apartment of ad-man Wolfgang Behnken of Young & Rubicam, shown below. It is rather an almost miesian gallery of good design, with pieces by the Eames, Florence Knoll, Milo Baughman and Mies as well as a fantastic coffee table by George Nakashima. There are also many outstanding lamps: especially those by Serge Mouille and Christian Dell.

The apartment is mostly painted white, with few carpets and textiles, which really puts focus on the design pieces. I suppose it does, however, require a certain type of person to live in this sort of almost barren atmosphere, but that does not change the fact that it looks stunning. Mr. Behnken also seems to have two livingrooms - perhaps one being the gentleman's room?

The kitchen and bathrooms are also very plain with their white mosaic tiles, and chairs by brit minimalist Jasper Morrison. Notice the construction-site-type lamps above the mirrors, which are actually of a quite beautiful design.

from ELLE DECOR italia

Fever Ray - "When I Grow Up"

2010-11-23T19:22:00.001+01:00

Video directed by Martin De Thurah. Perfect video for this song; really beautiful shots, storyline everything. The haunting vodoo scene - set in the ideal(?) Swedish suburb, somehow captures exactly what Karin Dreijer's music is about. Part Roy Andersson - part David Lynch. Watch in full-screen.

Fabricius/Kastholm II

2010-11-12T17:00:00.001+01:00

68 diametres of copper delight. From Nordisk Solar Compagni.

KENNEDEE

2010-11-12T08:00:00.002+01:00

The picture above was not taken 40 years ago, for the sofa pictured was conceived in 2008 by Jean-Marie Massaud. Yet it could have easily been designed anytime during the last century. It stands as a definition of timeless design, like the Eames 670, the Barcelona chair or the Chesterfield furniture before it. I cannot imagine any room of any style, colour or use where it would seem out of place. It. Is. Awesome.

Gropius Residence

2010-11-10T16:59:00.001+01:00

These amazing pictures of the home of Walter Gropius in Lincoln, Massachusetts, are from the photo-book Handcrafted Modern by Leslie Williamson. The house was built in 1938 and remained his home until his death in 1969. It is declared a National Historic Landmark and is now owned by Historic New England and open to the public.

From Wikipedia:

"Set amid fields, forests, and farmhouses, the Gropius House mixes up the traditional materials of New England architecture (wood, brick, and fieldstone) with industrial materials such as glass block, acoustical plaster, and chrome banisters. The house structure consists of a traditional New England post and beam wooden frame, sheathed with white painted tongue and grove vertical siding. Traditional clapboards are used in the interior foyer, but are applied vertically. Striking as it is, the house was built with economy in mind, and total construction costs were $18,000."

All of Mr. Gropius' posessions are left in the house, which is why these pictures give you the sense of him having just left the room.

More information and pictures:

http://www.historicnewengland.org/

http://jennskistudio.blogspot.com/2009/08/mid-century-monday-gropius-house.html

Wright Scandinavian Design, November 18

2010-11-10T00:11:00.002+01:00

Poul Henningsen PH4, 1932

Frits Henningsen, 1930

Bernt Petersen, 1959

Axel Salto, ca. 1940

Acton Bjørn, ca. 1950

Hans J. Wegner, 1955

Hans J. Wegner, 1960

Bodil Kjær, ca. 1960

Ib Kofød Larsen, ca. 1960

Henrik Armtorp, ca. 1950

Timo Sarpaneva, 1964

Finn Juhl, ca. 1953

Josef Frank, 1940

Ilmari Tapiovaara, 1956

Erik Höglund, ca. 1960

Poul Kjærholm, 1960

Poul Kjærholm, 1971

Johan Petter Johansson, ca. 1930

Poul Nørreklit, ca. 1970