The Lesser-Known Ox-Chair

Designed by Arne Jacobsen for the National Bank of Denmark in 1966.

Arne Jacobsen designed this chair over a five-year period. Large, impressive, and extremely comfortable, when it was presented in 1966 it was met with surprise and admiration. “This is also how he can be: angular and with a touch of martial temperament that we could call Germanic or perhaps more properly Japanese in expression”

- Thau and Vindum, eds., Jacobsen.

pictures by seier + seier


read more about the National Bank building here

The Rainbow House

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.

flickr: I got it

from the L'ESPRIT NOUVEAU flickr page.

Happy new year!

/from Berlin

Ari

Designed by Arne Norell in 1966.

The Kronish House by Richard Neutra is Safe

... 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.

oranges

Let's Drive Through Copenhagen!

...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!