"The artist was looking for a sanctuary – a place with surrounding beauty
to recreate and to be inspired from. This was found in a house on the
open fields behind the famous Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in
Humlebæk. Placed in rural surroundings, near the water, it was perfect!
So
the reconstruction of the house was next: And old, land workers house
had to be turned into a modern home, with a lot more light coming in, in
order to function as a home as well as a studio.
The raw materials
were the first inspiration: Brick walls, concrete floors and a huge
steel beam supporting the first floor was actually part of the house
when the project started. And these were the elements that we decided to
make the identity of the house, together with the old wooden beams that
were revealed when reconstructing the first floor. The original
concrete floors were removed and floor heating was installed before the
new concrete floor was laid out, sanded roughly and treated with a shiny
epoxy. The floor heating allowed us to remove all wall-mounted heating
from the ground floor and then we rebuild the walls as clean-cut white,
matte surfaces. No panelling, just white walls.
Since the outside of the
house is protected by local architectural restrictions, the windows
were kept in the original style. But this gave a good contrast to the
strict square window openings."
This time a renovation beautifully crafted at the hands of Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen and Kasper Ronn of Norm Architects Copenhagen. I highly respect their work, and how much consideration goes into their design projects. This particular renovation allowed an open and inviting space - with a slight industrial feel. I can imagine the use of natural materials and finishes must add greatly to the creative inspiration the artist finds within the space.
The walls are bare and the home feels almost unfinished. I am particularly fond of spaces which allows a sense of incompleteness - I guess in my mind it metaphorically represents somewhere with a future, somewhere that still needs a touch of *this or that*, something personal perhaps to finish it off. Artist studios often have that appeal, and in most cases I imagine it to be unintentional - just unfinished, lack of time perhaps or more important projects etc etc.
In no way am my intending to say that about this particular project. My writings and musings are just thoughts and ideas, and no other intention than just that.
Polished concrete floors with underfloor heating, exposed brick walls, and wooden beams - beautifully rustic yet modern and sophisticated. A combination that only a handful of designers can pull off, and Norm being extremely talented architects has pulled it off to perfection!
